Why Adelaide’s issues seem easier to fix ahead of season 2019 than Port Adelaide’s

BOTH of South Australia’s AFL clubs finished with identical records in 2018 but the Power’s alarming late-season collapse makes it a more difficult proposition to remedy for next season.

TWELVE wins 10 losses. While the ratio for our local clubs were identical, the way the 2018 season finished for the Crows and Power could not have been more different.

Let’s run the rule over what worked, what didn’t and what both clubs need to return to September action in 2019.

Starting with Adelaide, the pre-season and player fitness is priority one, two and three.

Too many of the players who had interrupted training regimes during the summer months either struggled with injury or battled with continuity of training and performance.

Taylor Walker, Eddie Betts, Matt Crouch, Riley Knight and Kyle Hartigan were all mainstays in 2017 yet all had soft tissue concerns that kept them out of the side for multiple games.

Add in Brad Crouch with his troublesome groin, not suiting up at all.

Injuries are a part of football, but with the time and resources put into soft tissue prevention, 2018 was a disastrous result.

The old rule of getting 80 per cent of players doing a minimum of 80 per cent of the training is a good place to start. With the extra time at hand due to the early finish to the year, there seems little excuse for Adelaide not to be up and running come the start of 2019.

Safe to say the authenticity, resilience and connection the Crows requested at their pre-season camp last year will be garnered in more traditional forms next time around.

Adelaide’s Cam Ellis-Yolmen and Wayne Milera celebrate a goal against Carlton in Round 23. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

The year wasn’t without positives.

Wayne Milera grew in confidence and belief and by seasons end was one of Adelaide’s key attacking playmakers.

The thought of Rory Laird, Brodie Smith and Milera attacking off half back has Crows fans excited, and with his skill set, looks almost certain at some stage to progress to being the elite running midfielder the Crows have craved.

Tom Doedee seamlessly covered for the loss of Jake Lever and Alex Keath’s late season form has him putting his hand up as a first-choice player next year. Darcy Fogarty, Lachie Murphy and Jordan Gallucci all played double-figure games and look to have bright futures with another pre-season under their belts.

Adelaide’s Sam Jacobs and Port’s Paddy Ryder both need more support in the ruck next season. Picture: Sarah Reed

Adelaide’s needs revolve around its midfield. Pressure on Sam Jacobs in the ruck has to come from somewhere. With Riley O’Brien the only other ruckman on the list with AFL experience (two games) and coming off an injury riddled year, trading in another ruckman is a priority.

Apart from ruckmen, speed is the other commodity that is in short supply in the Crows midfield and needs addressing.

A fit Brad Crouch will help, but picture another running mid, someone in the Dylan Shiel mould who can finish off the contested ball work that Adelaide thrives on. Aaron Hall isn’t getting much love at the Gold Coast and with his attributes has to be on the Crows shopping list.

Port Adelaide’s issues aren’t quite as obvious. Their Jekyll and Hyde like performances in the last half of the season were hard to understand. The one thing that is critical to their performance is the contested ball. So good in their win against Richmond but all but deserting them in the key losses that followed.

That is a non-negotiable, particularly when you have recruited strongly in that area. Travis Boak, Ollie Wines, Sam Powell-Pepper, Tom Rockliff and Brad Ebert all count it as a strength, yet couldn’t get it done when it mattered most.

A much more subjective matter is the Power’s game style. A seemingly more conservative ball movement aimed at reducing turnovers has also succeeded in reducing their scores.

Off the back of breaking the 100-point barrier nine times last year, including seven times with 120 points or more, 2018 has seen the points dry up. Just twice this year has the Power broken the ton — round one against Freo and round 13 against the Bulldogs.

If you don’t hit the scoreboard when you are controlling the game you leave the door open for the opposition to walk through when they get control of the game. This proved costly in losses to Hawthorn, Fremantle and West Coast.

When Hinkley assembles his new coaching team, game style has to be agenda item number one.

Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley and star player Robbie Gray show the strain during Port’s Round 23 loss to Essendon. Picture: Sarah Reed

Attack is always a risk-versus-reward proposition. By now Ken has to know who can and who can’t. Building a game style to protect the team from poor foot skills just doesn’t work. The return of Hamish Hartlett and Matthew Broadbent will help but only if they replace the serial offenders.

The positives were mostly in defence. Tom Jonas had an All Australian year, while Dougal Howard improved enormously.

Jarrod Leinert and Kane Farrell both looked comfortable at AFL level after late season debuts. Jared Polec had by far his best and most consistent season and Robbie Gray again proved he is the Power’s most dangerous player.

The needs column at the Power is not dissimilar to Adelaide’s with a ruckman required to back up — and eventually take over from — the increasingly fragile Paddy Ryder.

Outside run is also a priority particularly if as widely reported Polec is on the move. The midfield balance is still skewed towards the big-bodied bulls on the inside.

Todd Marshall needs to be played every week and a fit and focused Powell-Pepper needs to learn how to find more uncontested footy which will make him a more damaging player.

The season finished on such a low, players and coaches looked absolutely drained. They need to totally refresh and reset, because when training rolls around again in November there will be plenty to do.

Although both teams are still ruefully shaking their heads at wasted seasons, the Crows’ path back to finals action looks a little clearer than that of the Power. But, predictions are like armpits, everyone has them, and some are really smelly!