As Port Adelaide gears up for its run at the 2020 premiership, it has two men in its corner who share a wealth of finals experience
They’ve been there, done that as players, but the ultimate glory has eluded the Port Adelaide charges of Ken Hinkley and Michael Voss. Here’s why this could be the year for Power glory.
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Ken Hinkley and Michael Voss stood at the top of Port Adelaide’s race like two security guards outside a bank on Wednesday.
Voss with his arms crossed, Hinkley with them behind his back as the players had their final training run on Adelaide Oval in preparation for Thursday night’s qualifying final against Geelong.
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Both men have been here before. They know what it feels like on the eve of finals and what it takes to win having played in 31 of them, and seven grand finals, at Brisbane and Geelong.
So while the Power players were out on the ground with the other assistant coaches on Wednesday, it was as if Hinkley and Voss had been asked to stand and keep watch on the rooms because Port Adelaide has been protecting something all year.
They took top spot on the AFL ladder in Round 1 way back in March and have been defending it ever since.
“We’ve played for a long time and managed to protect it all through the year,” Hinkley said after the Round 18 win over Collingwood.
Now having led the competition for 30 weeks the question is can they do it for four more?
“We’re a good team, a strong team and very capable,” Hinkley said at his press conference on Wednesday.
“So far I’m proud, really proud of what the boys have been able to do and it takes a long time to get to where we are, and the boys have earnt their opportunity to finish on top of the ladder. Now we’ve got to move onto the next stage and see where we can go in the finals series.”
The top seed with two guaranteed home finals, who no one else seems to believe in, has won its past five games at Adelaide Oval.
Its last loss this season was to Geelong at Metricon Stadium in Round 12 but last time they played the Cats in Adelaide the tables were turned.
“It gives you confidence that over the whole season we’ve earnt the right to be on top, it gives us a chance to play here at home in front of the fans, there are lots of reasons you’d want to finish on top and our team has been really consistent right throughout the season,” Hinkley said.
The mood at a ‘captain’s run’ the day before a game is always high but particularly so on the eve of a final and it was no surprise that the loudest of the lot was Zak Butters who looked like a caged lion after two weeks off with suspension for an overzealous bump.
“What was that, Boaky?” he sledged his former skipper with from 30m away after a race between two groups to move the ball from one end to the other.
There was mystery over selection when Hinkley uncharacteristically kept his ins and outs to himself but if any of Tom Clurey, Boyd Woodcock, Riley Bonner and Jarrod Lienert knew they weren’t playing then they certainly didn’t show it with their body language.
Dan Houston trained in John McCarthy’s old No.35 prison bar guernsey which is given to the player who goes about it the right way each week. What was remarkable about that is Houston wasn’t even in the side a month ago while he served a covid ban after a late-night house party which led to people questioning his commitment.
But how quickly things can turn.
Port Adelaide finished 10th last year and some vocal fans wanted Hinkley sacked.
Now they’ve finished top and put themselves in pole position for a tilt at the flag and as they’ve shown all year if anyone else wants it then they’ve going to have to go through them first. Starting with Geelong on Thursday night.
THE STATS THAT SHOW PORT CAN POWER TO A PREMIERSHIP
What does every AFL premier over the past 10 years have in common?
They all rank in the top six for these key stats – inside 50 differential, time in forward half differential, points against and opposition score per inside 50 percentage.
And the stats provided by Champion Data reveal that Port Adelaide is hitting the same notes as each of the last 10 premiers.
Port Adelaide in 2020 rank number one in the competition for inside 50 differential and points against.
The Power are ranked second for time in forward half differential and fourth for opposition score per inside 50 percentage.
Despite a remarkable rise from 10th to Minor Premiers in a year, and sitting in top spot all season, Ken Hinkley’s side have never been Premiership favourites in 2020.
While the Power are favourites to beat Geelong in the qualifying final on Thursday, the bookies have the Cats at shorter odds to win the whole thing.
Former Adelaide senior assistant coach Scott Camporeale said the numbers the Power were putting up meant Hinkley’s side needed be taken seriously in the finals.
“Port are in a really good shape. They’re contested possession numbers are outstanding,” he said on Grandstand SA.
“They win the field position battle on the basis they’re a great clearance team. They lock it in their front half and they’re efficient when they go in there.”
Star Port midfielder Travis Boak and new All-Australian defender Darcy Byrne-Jones both said they were confident at how the Power’s game plan could hold up in the pressure situation of finals.
Boak said the Power would go into the finals campaign with a lot of confidence.
“It is all about the moments and you have to stay within the moment through games and I think we have been able to address that this year,” he said.
Byrne-Jones said the Power just needed to stay with what has gotten them this far.
“We just stick to the processes that have worked this year, there is a little bit more pressure but if we stick to what has worked this year I'm sure we will be fine,” he said.
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