PORT ADELAIDE senior assistant coach Matthew Nicks says he was proud of the way his side responded to a difficult week off the field to post a confidence-boosting win over North Melbourne away from home.
The Power beat the Kangaroos by 33 points at Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon, after a trying week which saw forward Lindsay Thomas banned by the tribunal, the death of
Port Adelaide was also coming off consecutive losses to Essendon and Geelong where its game plan was questioned externally.
“We got the result doing what we want to do, playing the way we want to play,” Nicks said.
“We did a fair bit of work on tweaking some small areas and we got responses which
“It was a tough week so it was a big challenge for our boys and we were also coming up against a North Melbourne side which was playing some really good footy, some really strong footy so we were able to nullify what they’d been doing but also get our own game going.”
Nicks said his side was now looking forward to its match-up with West Coast and its first chance to play at the new Optus Stadium in Perth.
He said he hopes his players are “hungry” for payback after the Eagles cruelly ended the Power’s season in
In all, West Coast has won four of the last five meetings between the sides by less than 10 points and Nicks said the Power was well aware of the challenge the Eagles presented.
"We couldn't research a team any more than we have West Coast," he said.
"When you lose games like we have to them by small margins in the past couple years, where you dominate a lot of the statistics, you find yourself really getting deep into how are going to knock this side off.
"We feel we know them really well, we just have to perform on the game day.”
Port is still waiting to learn the fate of defender Darcy Byrne-Jones who was reported for striking Kangaroo Jack Ziebell in the third quarter of Saturday’s match.
If he is cleared to face the Eagles, Byrne-Jones is set to make his 50th AFL appearance, having featured in 49 in a row since his debut in Round 3, 2016.
Nicks said the fact the 22-year-old had played 49 consecutive matches
“He’s super consistent in the way he plays his footy and let’s hope he plays another 50 in a row too,” Nicks said.
“He’s played some really good footy in an important role for us so hopefully the boys can get a win for him.
“He doesn’t like getting beaten, and that’s a really good trait to have, especially as a defender and I think it’s made his footy stronger those couple of years playing reserves footy and learning the game, and maybe that’s why he’s now playing 50 in a row.”
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