PORT ADELAIDE assistant coach Jarrad Schofield doesn’t believe his side is fading late in games despite giving up leads in the past two weeks.
Speaking on FIVEaa’s Rowey and Bicks on Monday evening, Schofield said it was more about the Power’s execution in final terms.
“We had 19 inside 50s and they took nine intercept marks in that last quarter,” Schofield said.
“That probably suggests we got enough of the ball but we just didn’t execute it.
“At the end of the day, we had enough ball going forward to execute and we couldn’t finish it off.
“We definitely gave ourselves opportunities, so I wouldn’t say we faded, if anything we were going strong at the end.”
Richmond defender Dylan Grimes had six intercept marks in the final quarter on Saturday and Port’s midfield coach said his side’s inability to make a contest in the forward 50 was costly.
“Some more efforts in the marking contest late in the game would’ve helped,” he said.
“We definitely had numbers at the fall of the ball, and it’s one of those things that you look at in the review.”
The Power only laid 39 tackles against the Tigers, 20 fewer than their next lowest tally in 2019 and nearly half of the tackles laid against Melbourne (71) and Carlton (72) in the opening two rounds.
It was a statistic Schofield said the coaching staff were very disappointed in.
“We are not accepting those numbers,” the 44-year-old said.
“It was inconsistent throughout the game and when you’re playing against a side like Richmond that really hunt and really look to play that surge mentality type game, you’ve got to make sure you stay on.
“When you’re -16 in comparison to them - obviously only having 39 tackles for the game - it’s not a good look.”
Ken Hinkley’s men have tried to play a more attacking and bold game-style in 2019 but Schofield said it was important to get the balance of attack and defence right.
“We definitely want to try and move the ball a fair bit bolder,” he said.
“There were times where we got it right and there were times when we obviously got it wrong (against the Tigers).
“We need to make sure we get that connection right moving forward to West Coast.”
West Coast host the Power at Optus Stadium in Perth on Good Friday.
Schofield: We just didn't execute
Power’s execution in final terms an issue, says mids coach