New AFL rules and loaded attack has Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley keen to keep scoring
Port Adelaide has put high-scoring back on its agenda at a time when the new AFL rules seek the same end game.
Michelangelo Rucci
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PORT Adelaide’s pre-season appetite for more goals has delivered the team’s highest scoring average since the Power’s 2004 AFL premiership season.
And Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley does not intend to put the brakes on his remodelled midfield to favour defensive strategies at the expense of high scoring in the premiership season.
“I’m not going to stop the boys from attacking the game,” said Hinkley who has deepened his midfield rotations to take advantage of space amid the new AFL push to clear congestion in the forward 50.
“We have good forwards in front of the ball. I am going to back our blokes (to win centre-bounce plays to load up with inside-50 entries).
“I like the idea of getting the ball in our front half first. There is some risk in that ...”
Port Adelaide has scored at an average of 106 points in the pre-season - three off the Power’s 2004 premiership standard, but four goals better than last year’s average of 81 points.
Port Adelaide also has been accurate in the pre-season, scoring 33.14 (70 per cent conversion) compared with 12.10 average (55 per cent).
Port Adelaide’s 19.9 (123) on Saturday in the trial game against North Melbourne was the Power’s highest score since the 20.12 (132) against the Western Bulldogs at Adelaide Oval midway through last season.
“That is really positive ... and an exciting Port Adelaide,” Hinkley said.
“That is the Port Adelaide we like to see - and the Port Adelaide I love being involved with.
“It is not always going to be like that. But it won’t be from us not wanting to take the game on, I can guarantee that.”
Hinkley’s reworking of the Power playbook - that failed to deliver any score of 100 points or more in the last 10 weeks of the home-and-away season - is timely considering the shift in the AFL rules, in particular the 6-6-6 starting positions.
Notable in Saturday’s pre-season closer against North Melbourne at Alberton Oval is how Hinkley kept his midfielders, in particular his wingmen, in attacking positions despite the Kangaroos scoring six unanswered goals in 10 minutes in the first term.
But whether Hinkley pushes his wingmen to the defensive corners of the centre square - to stop such bleeding on the scoreboard - when premiership points are on the line remains to be seen.
“In that first quarter we gave up too much risk,” Hinkley said. “We do like to attack the game. But there is some responsibility on us as coaches to make sure we are giving ourselves a chance to win, first and foremost.”
The Power attack is still to regain key forward Charlie Dixon (ankle). His return date to competitive football - after a shocking set of leg injuries late last season against West Coast at Adelaide Oval - remains undeclared.
A significant change in attack is the move of midfielder Brad Ebert, who is noted for his accurate finishing, and the tandem with ruckmen Patrick Ryder and West Coast premiership hero Scott Lycett.
Port Adelaide opens the AFL premiership season against Melbourne at the MCG on Saturday week.
michelangelo.rucci@news.com.au
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