TACKLE pressure and contested ball work from the victorious Magpies on Saturday could provide Port Adelaide’s coaching panel the form they need to make changes at AFL level this week.
While the Power struggled at the contest, the club’s SANFL team dominated the Panthers to take another comfortable win with three games to play.
SANFL Head Coach Chad Cornes praised the work of his team on Saturday.
“I’m not sure it would have been a great game to watch due to the conditions, but the tackling pressure was a real highlight,” Cornes said.
“93 tackles is huge and we won the contested possession, we really focused on those stats pre-game and the boys played them well.”
The Magpies stated the game strong and kicked five straight in the opening term, only conceding one goal to the Panthers in the dying minutes.
With a strong breeze blowing towards the scoreboard end, it was vital the Magpies made the most of the conditions.
“We had two different plans if we were going with or against [the wind] we were unsure if the rain was coming, so we had a real focus that if we were going with the wind to make the most of it,” Cornes said.
Cornes highlighted the efforts of some of the club’s younger players including Todd Marshall who kicked three goals for the game, and Riley Bonner who also kicked a goal and had 16 disposals.
“[There were] some really good signs from some of the younger guys,” Cornes said.
“Todd Marshall showed some really exciting stuff, no doubt Ken [Hinkley] will be impressed with that.
“Riley Bonner played a good game, Will Snelling one of our more unheralded guys lead the way with disposals and had 13 tackles, so some good signs over all.”
Port Adelaide is now back to second on the ladder after the weekend’s win, but Sturt and Norwood are still hot on its tail with only percentage separating the three.
“There will be a big fight for a top three spot between us Sturt and Norwood, we play Norwood here in a couple of weeks which will be a huge game.”
“[But] it is really important we don’t take West lightly.
“Last time we played them, we won by a lot, they were really undermanned, but they’ve found some good form over the last couple of months.
“There is no way we will go into that game thinking it’s just going to happen, so we will review this game properly and have another good week on the track.”
Port Adelaide takes on West Adelaide at Richmond on Saturday 12 August at 2.10pm.
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