PORT ADELAIDE coach Ken Hinkley says he will take plenty away from his side’s 17-point loss to Adelaide in the JLT Community Series, including hopefully a return to its never-say-die attitude which nearly saw it steal victory.
The Power trailed by 35-points in the final quarter having been dominated in the second and third quarters, but rallied to kick five goals in a row to close to within five points with five minutes to play.
The Port Adelaide boss also confirmed ruckman Paddy Ryder had rolled his ankle, saying it was “nothing major.”
Despite the loss Hinkley was pragmatic about his side’s resolve in the stifling heat at Port Pirie’s Memorial Oval.
“I loved the fact that we didn’t stop, we kept coming,” he said after the game.
“Hopefully it’s a good trademark that we’ll be displaying regularly, that we’re going to keep going, we’re going to keep going hard.”
The Power has spent the off-season working on a high-energy, faster ball speed style of play and it was on show at stages, particularly in the first and last quarters.
Despite seeing some positive signs, Hinkley admitted his side had plenty to work on before Round 1.
“Parts of the game were done well by us and we allowed Adelaide to do parts of the game too easily – in some uncontested marks – but if we talk about ourselves, we know there’s been significant change,” he said.
“I think there were seven players effectively out there for the first time together, we’ve had a summer of change, we’ve worked really hard in different defence, different offence and I thought there were parts where you can go away and see some of that coming together, albeit, it’s very early in the season.
“We had 40 entries and kicked 90 points or so.
“I think that’s been a significant battle for us over the last 18 months or so that we haven’t been able to score as well as we’d like.
“You talk about some of the differences in that - Ryder, Motlop more forward, Ebert is up in the forward line, we’ve got a really young group of forwards around those more experienced players, Westy was up there today but we believe that we’ve done some really strong work in that space.”
Among the new faces in the Power side were first round draftees Zak Butters, who starred with 25 disposals and plenty of score involvements, Xavier Duursma who displayed his pace and smarts on the wing and booted a goal, and Connor Rozee who booted two goals playing in the forward line.
“I think all three of the boys, without individualising too much, showed enough out there,” Hinkley said.
“I mean Duursma’s first mark was pretty courageous, Connor did some nice things and Zak had a really strong day first up.
“Again, they’re learning a lot. These are first year players coming into an AFL environment where there’s lots to understand.”
With temperatures hovering around the 40-degree mark for much of the game, players from both sides were stretched to their limits in their first real competitive hit-out.
Hinkley said the conditions weren’t ideal but he thanked the AFL for putting in place mitigating measures including longer breaks and more freedom for drinks runners on the field.
He backed the club’s fitness staff to ensure players recovered well ahead of their second pre-season hit-out against North Melbourne at Alberton next Saturday.
