Power looking for strong finish
Dom Cassisi says a win in Saturday night's clash with North Melbourne can rebuild his side's confidence
The Power, despite their heartbreaking 15-point loss to the Brisbane Lions last Saturday, still has a slim chance of making the eight.
Port Adelaide must rely on Hawthorn narrowly beating Essendon on Saturday afternoon, and then needs to win its own game against the St Kilda-slaying Roos by over 100 points to make up a 4.5 per cent gap on the reigning premier.
On Monday, Cassisi said his side was simply focused on ending a roller-coaster home-and-away season on a high.
“We’ll just prepare for North Melbourne like any other game, and that’s to go out there and win,” Cassisi said.
“At the end of the day, if we win and it gives us enough percentage to make the finals, then that’s all well and good, but we’re just focussing on getting our preparation right for the week to give us an opportunity to bring some happiness to our fans for the last game of the year.”
Port Adelaide kicked 10 goals without miss in the first quarter at the Gabba last weekend, but – reminiscent of last season – surrendered a seemingly unassailable lead to go down to the Lions.
The Power also fell apart for two quarters against Carlton in round 20, and Cassisi conceded his side’s confidence was shot.
“It [our losses] has turned into a confidence thing. When you’re playing confident footy, you take the game on and your skills seem to be better,” he said.
“When you haven’t got the confidence, you tend to go into your shells, you make skill errors and you don’t take the game on. I guess that’s what happened after quarter-time on the weekend, and it’s reared its head a few times this season.”
On Sunday, former skipper Warren Tredrea called for the club to “turn” the playing list over next season, and Cassisi said he would support the club bringing in new players during trade week.
“As a club, we want to improve," he said.
"If that means we need to get better players in to make us a better team, then that’s what we’ll have to do.”