IF JARED Polec believes he’s redeemed himself in the eyes of coach Ken Hinkley, having been reintroduced to Port Adelaide’s senior side, he’d better think again.
Polec will play for the Power against Richmond on Saturday but he’ll continue to skate on thin ice.
Slip up with his effort and Hinkley insists he’ll find himself back in the club’s SANFL side.
Polec was sent back to the Magpies last week after a disappointing performance against Greater Western Sydney in Round 4 and a terrible five-possession showing against Adelaide in Round 2.
Hinkley said there was now no excuse for the 23-year-old wingman to play SANFL football.
“He shouldn’t be in the twos, it’s as simple as that,” Hinkley said.
“Jared wasn’t playing in the form that he needed to be, but he’s got enough quality to play AFL football week-in, week-out and he should never need the reminder.
“But if he wants me to give him a reminder I’ll give him another one if I have to.”
Hinkley was more forgiving about the form of ruckman Matthew Lobbe, who has been offered a “circuit breaker” this week to find his feet.
Lobbe has been replaced by Dougal Howard, a young ruckman/forward who made his senior debut in the Showdown in round two.
Howard has made a name for himself at Alberton as a young tall who throws himself into contests and attacks the ball with intent.
“Lobbe’s all-round game hasn’t been at the level he’d like it at. His ruck work’s been serviceable and he’s been competing reasonably well… but his influence around the ground and other parts of the game I’m sure he would like to be doing a bit more,” Hinkley said.
“We hope it’s only a short little while for ‘Lobbes’ to be out of the side.
“We’ve got great faith in [Howard] as a young up-and-coming ruckman and he’s got some challenges, there’s no doubt about that, but he’ll give his all.”
Without Alipate Carlile (wrist) or Jackson Trengove (suspended) in defence, Hinkley conceded there was the potential for the Power to be exposed by a tall Richmond forward line.
The Tigers will play both Shaun Hampson and Ivan Maric on Saturday night - although Hinkley joked they would only pose a threat if they were able to get their hands on the football.
He backed his mid-sized defenders to play taller and pointed out they had the likes of Charlie Dixon and Justin Westhoff to help add height down back if it was required.
“If they mark the ball it will [be a challenge], it’ll cause us some problems…but we are where we are, we’re a little bit restricted with what we can and can’t do in that area,” he said.
“We’ve got Trengove and Carlile both unavailable…we’ve certainly got some taller blokes in our side who can still help us.
“Jonas has always been able to play tall for us, we’ve got O’Shea at 193cm - so they’re not small blokes - and we’ve also got Westhoff and Charlie (Dixon) up the other end and Dougal Howard who are all around 200cm.
“We’re not small, but on face value you’d suggest they’ve got a couple more talls in their front half that might cause us some problems.”
MORE ON PORTADELAIDEFC.COM.AU
