AT the halfway mark of Port Adelaide's season, we take a look at four things we've learned...
1. Port’s best is pretty damn good
But it hasn’t been there consistently, or even regularly.
Combine the first quarter against Hawthorn and the final three against Melbourne and you’ve played a pretty good game. Even the Round 1 loss to Freo in Perth was a pretty good effort overall, as was the win against North Melbourne.
Clearly, Port can win the ball and score quickly – as it did in 2014 – the issue simply comes back to the team being able to produce the performance consistently, often and against the best teams in the competition.
STATS: Review all the players after 12 rounds
2. Port’s worst is pretty bloody bad
That first quarter-and-a-bit against Melbourne, the skills against Carlton, the whole game against Brisbane, the lack of killer instinct at times, the lack of confidence to take the game on. At times it’s been a pretty rough journey to be a Port supporter in 2015, and the on-field inconsistency is certainly reflected on the ladder and in other assessments.
HINKLEY: We're playing spooked
3. The B&F race is wide open
In an inconsistent year with form dips, players can come in and out of best and fairest contention, the trick is to find the names who generally perform well regularly.
Reigning club champion Robbie Gray will be around the mark again this year, as will regular runner-up Travis Boak and vice-captain Brad Ebert. Chad Wingard has flown under the radar this year, but his recent form should see him ranking around the mark midway through the count. Jack Hombsch has also been uber-consistent in 2015 and may well be in the mix.
And then there’s our smoky, Alipate Carlile, who is having a top year.
4. Port must find something
Like any side suffering a form slump, it’s easy for things to spiral out of control with unexpected losses and indifferent performance.
The easy throw from the outer is to change around the game plan, to chop out players and mix things up. Sure, a few tinkerings in the day-to-day can make things fresh, but Port still needs to roll out its best 22 each week and focus on the execution of its game plan.
Execution, or lack thereof, has been a theme this year, and has been at the heart of the Power’s recent malaise. Missing targets, unforced errors and skills under pressure need to improve in the second half of the year – and it’s been acknowledged across the board.
BOAK: We need to worry about process, not outcome
First test is against Sydney next Thursday. It’s about as big as they come…
