Port Adelaide assistant coach Tyson Goldsack has blamed a failure to capitalise on scoring opportunities and an inability to execute key fundamentals for the side’s disappointing loss to Essendon on Thursday night.

Goldsack spoke with the Adelaide media upon the side’s return home on Friday morning, following the 12-point defeat.

The defence coach said the backline held up well under the pressure of repeated inside 50s, and was full of praise for the performances of Jase Burgoyne in defence and second-gamer Christian Moraes on the wing.

Goldsack also discussed how the leaders in the side will review their own showing and how the club will approach a longer break until the game against St Kilda.

Tyson Goldsack on the mood in the group after returning home to Adelaide on Friday morning:

“It's never a fun trip home when you lose. But we weren't disgraceful. We took a loss. We didn't play the game in the fashion we would have liked to. You'd like to go into a ten-day break with a nice win under your belt. But now we're one and two and looking forward to St Kilda.”

Tyson Goldsack on why the side was not able to stop Essendon’s last quarter momentum:

“Why weren't we able to is probably a hard question to answer. What we weren't able to do was match their run, their outnumber balls. We weren't able to take our chances, but, I mean, neither were they, but ours were probably more through the mid part of the ground, so we're talking the possessions that would open up the scoring opportunities. We weren't able to nail those. It's just the fundamentals of the game you have to get right. We thought we created opportunities moving the ball but just went able to capitalise.

“They had a five-day break as well so it couldn't have been physical. It must be the willingness to go or the timing of when to go and when to defend. I think we didn't quite get that balance 100% right. They were able to still defend or put some pressure on our ball movement. When they got it on their terms, they were able to take it forward and score.”

Tyson Goldsack on how the club will approach a longer break until the St Kilda game in Round 4:

“We do have time. We only had five days to enjoy our last win. Now we have 10 days to combat the loss, which is a good thing, because there's things to work on. Like I said at the start, we weren't terrible so it's not like we have to revamp that whole game. We just have to get those fundamentals of the game right, where there are opportunities to score or move the ball. You need to make the most of those opportunities in the AFL these days, otherwise you're going to get hurt the other way.”

Tyson Goldsack on Captain Connor Rozee’s performance on Thursday night:

“It wasn't his best game. He’s a quality player, (but) our midfield were down as a whole, so I don't want to single out just Connor. I think, as a whole, we were down, and there was some of our backs at the same and some of our forwards. So he wasn't alone.”

Tyson Goldsack on whether Jason Horne-Francis is carrying any injury:

“He's 100% fit as far as I'm aware. Last week he got some really good opportunities and just wasn't able to grasp those chances forward of the ball, all around the stoppage. He was a step off here, a step off there. His work rate is there for the most part, it's just we saw him drop a couple of marks  he wouldn't usually take so I don't know if it's a confidence thing. I don't know where he's at, and I can't really speak on behalf of him, but still, he did a couple things late in the game which looked more like him.”

Tyson Goldsack on whether he’s like Jase Burgoyne as a permanent defender:

“I'm always happy to have him. He played 100% game time for us at half back, which is no easy feat, and did a really good job. I think we're talking earlier 27 (disposals), eight intercepts. He used the ball really well so like I said, I'm happy to have him if I get the chance. But he plays some really good games on the wing as well. So it's whatever the team needs and balance of the team needs, and he's happy to do that, which is great.

“We lost Ryan Burton and Lachie Jones from last week's game so that makes the decision easy. The balance of the team is really important so we thought we needed another tall in defence this week, so Esava (Ratugolea) came in to take that role. That took care of one medium, and then the other one was just finding out what we needed. We knew that (Jase) could run long minutes, and we've got say, Josh Sinn and Kane Farrell who are still kind of working towards their best. So, we needed that for the rotation point of view, and getting the minutes required in defence. Jase was an easy fix for us. Now, are we robbing Peter to pay Paul, putting him in defence? Maybe, but, but maybe not, because Christian (Moraes) was really good for us (on the wing).”

Tyson Goldsack on the performance of second-gamer Christian Moraes on the wing:

“He was really good coming on as a sub last week and playing quite a few minutes last week was probably a bit of a shock to him, but he had good composure this week, and again, another one that used the ball well in offence, which we needed in a game that was really scrappy. For him to have that composure going forward and run with a bit of speed and still use the ball well is good for him, and good for his development.”

Tyson Goldsack on Miles Bergman’s hamstring tightness:

“He's stayed in Melbourne. He'll get scanned today on that. He thinks it was a corky so, I haven't quite got to that stage of the game (on the video review) to have a look at, but he seemed to think he tested well. He was still able to run the game out so hopefully there's nothing too serious to that.”

Tyson Goldsack on how the backline held up under significant pressure at times:

“I think they did a really good job. You know, if I'm going back to the Collingwood game, which I don't want to spend too much time there, but we were really poor defensively as a backline. And then last week, we were quite good, probably not quite at our best, but we were really good, not under as much heat. And then this week, I thought the guys stood up fairly well for the some of the balls that were coming into our D50, they held up pretty well. Aliir, for as good as he was, I think he can still get better. I thought he was a little bit flat. For Esava to come in for his first game of the year. I thought he stood up really well and was involved in some big contests. So, on a whole, they were reasonably good, but they still hit the scoreboard a lot, so I'd like to rectify that.”

Tyson Goldsack on how the leaders in the playing group would take Ken Hinkley’s criticism of their performance on Thursday night:

“The best part is it's not just Ken saying it to them and them not believing it. I think they understood, and they recognise that they their form wasn't as good as it could be. So naturally, they'll take most of that themselves, and we'll be there for when they need the detail from the game itself.

“We've got a group of guys that are pretty honest with their own performances. Not too often do we review their game, and their review of their own game is poles apart. They're generally pretty honest. They'll evaluate their game. We'll give them a little helping hand if we need but generally speaking, they're pretty good at that.”

Tyson Goldsack on whether Jeremy Finlayson needed to re-earn the coaches’ trust before he can be recalled to AFL level:

“Trust is a strong word. He needs to play. He needs to prove to us the position that he can fill, and whether that is forward, because we're lacking tall forwards or whether it's defensively, he needs to play a role and show us that he's really committed to what he can do.”

Tyson Goldsack on the SANFL season opener at Alberton on Friday night:

“It's exciting from the AFL list point of view, but also the Maggie's boys that have been training tirelessly, and they don't get a lot of minutes when the list is healthy. There's a few guys that get a good crack tonight. Glenelg at home under lights, is exciting.”