HEAR from skipper Dom Cassisi on PTV above. Can't view the video? Watch on YouTube
PORT Adelaide captain Dom Cassisi says there's no confusion when it comes to the Power's game-plan, just a lack of skill.
In the words of Fremantle coach Ross Lyon, the Power were "annihilated" in the first half on Sunday's contest at AAMI Stadium, managing just 12 inside 50s.
Their routine turnovers accounted for 7.6 of Fremantle's 11.9 total.
But in the first half especially, the side looked confused when in possession.
They moved the ball backwards and sideways and Cassisi was one of the worst offenders, finishing the first half with a net metres 'gained' of negative 44.
The skipper said the players knew exactly what they wanted to do, but just weren't good enough to get the job done.
"There's no confusion, we spent so much time during the week planning for the game … so we know what we want to do," Cassisi said.
"The best teams in the comp switch the footy, Hawthorn switch the footy more than anyone, get it to the open side of the ground, but their skill level is optimum.
"You can have the best game-plan in the world, but if you can't execute it with skill for four quarters then it just makes it really hard."
Cassisi said he had faith in the Power's plan and would stick by it, but conceded there would be short-term pain.
He said the club would shoot itself in the foot in the long term by reverting to safe, down-the-line football rather than push through and persevere with a riskier game-plan.
"The easy thing yesterday, as a coach, would be [to say], 'boys, let's not switch the ball, let's not go through the corridor, kick long down the line, make it boring, but eventually that footy's not going to hold up," Cassisi said.
"When we do turn the corner that footy's not going to win us games.
"The style of footy we're trying to execute we need to keep at it, we need to persist with it, we need to keep trying to improve, because when we do get it right, we'll be able to kick winning scores against good opposition sides."
Unfortunately for Power fans, Cassisi admitted there was no "magic wand" coach Matthew Primus could wave to fix the side's ordinary skill level, claiming it was up to the players to simply work.
"We'll get better in time, there's no doubt about that, but at this point in time, all we can do is keep working at it, keep reviewing it, keep looking at the footage, looking at our decision making," he said.
"It feels like we lost by 80 points yesterday, but we lost by 27 and that's not acceptable.
"But we're on the right track and it takes time for our list to evolve, we've got a lot of young guys out there and I'm not trying to make excuses, it's just part of the evolution we're going through."
Harry Thring covers Port Adelaide news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_Harry
