Decisions were made six weeks ago about the line up for the first NAB Challenge team, with the club focused on preparations for AFL Opening Round in mid-March.
Yesterday’s game exposed our younger players to the pressure that AFL can bring. The end result was always a risk but hopefully the fans saw glimpses of the ball movement and personnel that Port Adelaide will look to play this year.
It was obvious on Sunday that a big focus for Adelaide over the off season was contested possessions and this area was a big disappointment for the Power (down 29 on the Crows on Sunday). Last year we really prided ourselves on being competitive in this area, so to be so far behind really impacted the final result.
We were beaten at stoppages where Adelaide’s pressure and our inexperience combined to heavily count against us in the clearance count. Down 12 at the end of the day, the Crows superior clearance work allowed them to gain field position and get their ball movement going.
Adelaide’s ability to gain possession in space allowed their forwards to gain a split on our backs with 21 marks inside 50.
The benefits of this game for the younger players will be substantial, especially for the first years like new Irish recruit Daniel Flynn.
Flynn, in his third game ever with the oval ball, finished with nine disposals at 66% efficiency. He showed some promising signs and will be a great to see him take on the game in the prison bars for the Magpies this season.
Jarman Impey impressed many with his ability to win one-on-one contests against one of the competition’s elite small forwards in Eddie Betts.
Betts finished the game with 5.2 but most of that was before Impey played his shutdown role.
Jared Polec’s first outing for the club was impressive, moving well in the midfield and showing signs that he can go on the inside (10 centre bounce attendances) to add to the outside skills he was drafted for.
A great crumbing goal from Darcy Byrne-Jones showed his great reading of the play and his chase in the last quarter with 11 minutes to go proved he has the desire to play and contribute at the highest level.
Karl Amon finished with 13 disposals and five uncontested marks after finding some space on the outside. He will add some needed outside polish to the Power list.
It was great to hear from leaders like Hamish Hartlett and Jackson Trengove on the bench and new director of coaching Shaun Hart (from the coaches box) giving fans an inside look at how the club goes about game day from the coaches box.
With the likes of Travis Boak, Brad Ebert, Matt Lobbe, Kane Cornes, Jay Schulz and Justin Westhoff among others absent from Sunday’s team, the remaining three games for the Power’s NAB challenge campaign will provide lots of interest as the competition for spots will heat up!
