WATCH Matt Primus speak to the media on PTV above. Can't view the video? Watch on YouTube.
PORT Adelaide coach Matthew Primus has demanded more of onballers Hamish Hartlett and Travis Boak ahead of Saturday's clash with North Melbourne at AAMI Stadium, with the pair failing to fire in 2012.
Taken with picks no. 4 and 5 of their respective NAB AFL Drafts, Hartlett and Boak have long been heralded as the future of the Power's midfield.
But the talented duo have had indifferent starts to the season and Primus said the struggling side needed more.
"We need him to develop quickly… Hamish is certainly not happy where he's at at the moment," he said.
"Travis has been going ok without setting the world on fire.
"We need a bigger output from them.
"[More is expected of Travis] because he's played quite a few more years and played quite a few more games than Hamish."
[ Related: Selection - Five Changes ]
In a week where Primus wielded the selection axe at Alberton and dropped four players from the side that suffered a 40-point loss to Fremantle last weekend, the coach said it wasn't just Hartlett and Boak that need to lift their games.
He said standout performances were needed from "three or four" of the Power's midfield brigade.
Veteran 28-year-old midfielder David Rodan and 23-year-old forward Daniel Stewart were both left out of the side to face North Melbourne; dropped for the second time in this season.
Despite their omissions, Primus denied the club would seek to discover their trade value and insisted they still had a place on Port Adelaide's list.
"Daniel Stewart's still a key component for us, his form in the NAB Cup, his form in the first two or three rounds was pretty good for us, it's more the balance of the team this week,
"He's a very exciting player for us and he'll go back to North [Adelaide] and play very well.
"We're excited by what [Rodan] can do, but we've got to keep on working at what he's struggling to do.
"A lot of onballers have struggled to find a lot of the ball and David's struggled to do that the last couple of weeks, so that's why he's found himself going back to Norwood."
[ Related: Pearce a proud teacher ]
North Melbourne's coach Brad Scott was publicly unhappy with his side's effort in its loss to the Western Bulldogs last weekend, labelling it "un-North-Melbourne-like".
Primus said the Bulldogs' victory had uncovered the key to North Melbourne's demise.
"We know exactly how they're going to play, their form for the first three or four games of the year was pretty good, they were disappointing last week but I thought the Bulldogs brought great pressure to them," he said.
"If we can replicate that then I'm sure we'll get the same result as the Bulldogs did."
He said the inclusions of Jay Schulz, Chad Wingard and Danyle Pearce meant the Power looked "a pretty good team" on paper, while he also praised the SANFL form of Darren Pfeiffer and Matt Thomas.
Harry Thring covers Port Adelaide news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_Harry.
