PORT Adelaide coach Mark Williams says his players will have to fight harder than ever to stay on the list this season with the introduction of the new Gold Coast and West Sydney franchises over the coming years.
Williams has already flagged his intent to put a number of Power players through their paces in the remaining eight rounds with the aim of determining the club’s needs for the NAB AFL Draft later this year.
The 17th and 18th AFL teams are expected to receive draft concessions from 2009 onwards, making it more difficult for the lower ranked clubs to rebuild their lists with top 10 selections.
The Power, currently in 14th place on the AFL ladder, are likely to make significant changes at the end of the season to better manage their list for the future and secure more picks in this year’s bumper draft.
When asked if the imminent introduction of the Gold Coast team would make it harder for players to retain their spots at the club this season, Williams responded: “I would think that would be very sound analysis.”
The Power made seven changes, five forced, to their team last week and blooded four players who were yet to play a game this season. Fabian Deluca, Nathan Lonie, Greg Bentley and Damon White all showed promising signs, but Williams said no one had guaranteed their place for next year following the nine-goal loss to the Western Bulldogs.
“Some of the guys did some really nice things, but they are always mixed in with things where you say, ‘No, that’s not quite right’, so you go up and then down again [in your assessment]. There are no certainties from Saturday’s game,” he said.
“There are some small ticks against some players who are moving in the right direction. When it comes to selection in two weeks, it’s going to be difficult because there was no one that put a black texta through their name.”
The Power could regain Chad Cornes (calf) and Peter Burgoyne (hamstring) for next weekend’s home game against North Melbourne, but will be without Travis Boak (groin) and Nathan Krakouer (hamstring) for about a month.
Williams praised his side’s ability to “keep at it” despite their tough start to the season and said it would be a “great test” to see how the group responded both next year and in the latter end of the year.
The premiership coach said the players could expect a “mixed-bag” of training over the bye weekend.
“Some of the players will be stepping up their work rate because some have had a few weeks off,” he said.
“Others haven’t played much, but being a break, we like to actually give some players a break.”
