PORT Adelaide hopes its trio of tall but agile forwards can pose the Sydney Swans some massive issues on Saturday at the SCG.
The Power will play 197cm John Butcher, 202cm Charlie Dixon and 200-gamer Justin Westhoff (199cm) together in attack.
All three possess devastating aerial ability; the trio can split packs and hang onto contested marks but are also capable once the ball hits the ground.
Dixon has missed the past two games with an ankle injury but has recovered well and, providing he gets through training on Friday afternoon, will line up against the Swans.
“Clearly up forward it’s a much bigger assignment for the opposition backs when you’ve got 197cm and 202cm and 200cm in your front half - you’ve got to put people on them who can control them in the air,” coach Ken Hinkley said.
“The good part about the three of our talls is they’re all quite good at ground level.
“It does cause them some structural issues I’d imagine, but sides are pretty flexible now down back.”
Of course the Swans also has plenty of firepower, which will come up against a young Port Adelaide defence.
“We look forward to it … our young defence has stood up for the best part of three quarters of the season so far and again, like a number of sides have had to find out, it’s the sum of many, not the sum of one that’ll help you get it done,” Hinkley said.
“We’ll play our defensive structure the way we need to play it and yeah, Lance Franklin’s a factor, but so are a number of other players in the Sydney front half: Gary Rohan with his speed … they’ve got midfielders that rest there, there’s plenty of challenges other than ‘Buddy’.
“For us that’s going to be a collective that needs to work really closely together over the four quarters.”
In Westhoff’s 199 games to date, the quietly-spoken tall forward has proven himself capable deep in attack, in defence and playing high up the ground on a wing.
Whilst not one to “rant and rave”, Hinkley said Westhoff commanded the respect of his teammates and that when he did speak, they listened.
“If you as a coach wonder ‘who’s the bloke you turn to the most’, for us it’s ‘Westy',” Hinkley said.
“He just does everything for us and there’s never any fuss and that’s what you love.
“Because of the way he is, his personality is not one to rant and rave and scream and yell - he’s really calm with his teammates. That helps younger players - it helps all sorts of players.
“When ‘Westy’ does speak, everyone has a good listen because they know that it’s important.”
Hinkley insisted the Power still had much to work on, learn and gain from their remaining games this season and urged his players to bring the same ruthlessness to the SCG that they showed in last week’s thumping of the Brisbane Lions.
