Port Adelaide should move key forward Charlie Dixon into the ruck role to replace injured Paddy Ryder
With Port Adelaide’s Paddy Ryder facing an extended period on the sidelines, it’s time for Charlie Dixon to break the shackles and lead the ruck, writes Mark Bickley
LAST Friday may have been Friday the 13th, but for Port fans the horror show was reprised on Sunday. Not just for the obvious reason of losing the game and potentially kissing goodbye the chance to finish in the top two, or at worst consolidate a top-four position.
The injury to Paddy Ryder has much wider ramifications. His absence earlier in the year appeared to unsettle Port, and when combined with the already absent Tom Jonas it makes the next month look quite challenging.
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Matches against the Giants, Crows and Eagles will test the Power and force Ken Hinkley to remodel his team to cover for Ryder while still searching for his team’s best form.
When faced with the same predicament for a five-week stint at the start of the season Hinkley opted for multiple options, dependent on the opponent. Sometimes Dougal Howard, often Justin Westhoff and more reluctantly Charlie Dixon.
Dixon reluctantly, because in 2017 he was linchpin to the Power’s forward line.
Coming off a career best season and 49 goals for the year, Ken Hinkley was quite rightly keen to explore other options and leave his spearhead in the front half.
Fast forward three months and what has changed?
Firstly, Dougal Howard has consolidated his position in the Power defence. Playing every game so far this year his confidence has grown, and with Jonas already missing it’s unlikely Nathan Bassett will be keen to give up another key defender.
Justin Westhoff is a similar story. Having one of his most consistent years, his ability to insert himself into the game wherever his team needs him is remarkable. Whether it’s on the wing, floating back into defence or sneaking forward to kick a goal, he has that knack of appearing in the right place at the right time. It’s hard to play with that freedom when burdened with the ruck duties.
So that leaves Charlie Dixon. His output of 17 goals from his 16 games is well down on his tally from last year. In fact it’s almost half of the 33 goals he had after round 17 2017. This is not entirely his fault as the Power’s scoring has dropped this year and with a more conservative attacking style, Port have been happy to get it in long to Dixon and have him compete against multiple opponents. This in some way explains Port Adelaide’s lack of efficiency going into their forward 50. Although they rank top four in the competition for entries their ability to convert those entries into scores is ranked 12th, something that needs to improve before finals.
Dixon has been the target of Port Adelaide’s forward 50 entries on 140 occasions, the second most in the AFL behind North Melbourne’s Ben Brown. This is not a problem, as most key forwards draw the footy. The problem is his ability to retain possession of the ball.
His retention rate is the lowest of the top-10 Port Adelaide forward targets. As I said earlier this is not all Charlie’s fault as he is often competing against an outnumber, but it does point to being predictable, and easier to defend.
With Ryder facing an extended period on the sideline, it’s time for Dixon to lead the ruck.
Remembering, he has played plenty of footy as a ruckman at the Gold Coast before arriving at Port, and arguably played his best game this year leading the ruck and Port Adelaide in their second-half comeback victory against Sydney in round two. His aggression and follow up after the ruck duel was first class.
Ken Hinkley and his coaching staff can take this opportunity give the Power forward line a new look. Most teams are opting for smaller forward groups and a Port Adelaide forward line boasting names like Wingard, R.Gray, S.Gray, Thomas, Motlop, Rockliff along with Watts still looks more than capable of posting a winning score.
Having played mostly as a stopgap measure in the ruck, Dixon looks like the type of guy who would embrace the challenge of leading the ruck in Ryder’s absence. The freedom of running around without two defenders following his every move, could see him return to the form that had him finish a narrow second in Port’s best and fairest last year, just behind the man he is being asked to replace.
Could the need to cover Ryder in the ruck help get Dixon in form?
And at the same time give Ken Hinkley a chance to trial and small, high-pressure forward six?
They say that necessity is the mother of all invention.