LEADING goal kicker Jay Schulz says that the Port Adelaide playing group is ultimately responsible for the club’s on-field performance after the club’s loss to Hawthorn in Tasmania.

The Power led the premiership favourites in the first quarter, holding them to just nine points at the first change before the Hawks kicked eight unanswered goals to take the ascendency at half time.

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Despite closing the gap to less than three goals in the opening stages of the final term, the Hawks proceeded to clinically score eleven goals to two in the remaining twenty-five minutes of play.

Schulz acknowledged that the primary challenge facing the players is finding the durability to keep in touch with good sides at the tough stages of the game.

“It’s been a very frustrating year,” said Schulz.

“I guess if the game went for three quarters this year we’d be a very good side.

“Unfortunately it doesn’t and for parts and pieces we do look good and we can take it up to the best and we’ve shown that all through the year.

“But when we drop away it can really drop away and that’s certainly happened in the second half of the year.”

The 27-year-old booted four goals for the Power but described himself as “shattered” after the Hawks broke the game open in the fourth quarter.

It was Hawthorn’s tenth win by more than fifty points for the year.

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Despite the loss, Schulz believes that Port Adelaide’s potential was on show for most of the game.

“I don’t think that we are that bad a side to end up losing by that amount and I think we certainly showed that especially in the first quarter and the third quarter,” he said.

“We try and take it up to them and we outscore them in those quarters.

“But we can’t afford to be in the wrong spots or not doing things for five minutes in a game because we’re not a good enough side to be able to do that yet.”

With three matches left in the season including next week against top four contender West Coast, Schulz said that players need to take responsibility for their performances and play their best brand of football.

“We need to improve for everyone’s sake - for ourselves as players, for the coaches, the club and our supporters,” said Schulz.

“We understand that.

“It’s not like we’re trying to go out and play the way we’re playing at times.

“We don’t want to do that, we’re competitive players and we want to be winning games.”