Has contested-ball gun Willem Drew done enough to force Ken Hinkley’s hand after Power’s North Melbourne debacle?
If Ken Hinkley sticks to his selection mantra, as he outlined when dropping Scott Lycett for Pete Ladhams, midfielder Willem Drew must be close to a senior recall after outstanding SANFL form.
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“I think we’ve done that pretty well all year, we’ve rewarded pretty consistent form below.”
If Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley sticks to his selection mantra, as he outlined when dropping high-profile recruit Scott Lycett for Pete Ladhams in Round 20, tough midfielder Willem Drew must be close to senior recall.
On Saturday night against the Kangaroos, Hinkley’s side was smashed at the contest, losing the contested-ball count by a staggering 51 — the Power’s worst differential since Round 20, 2016.
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“We were belted in areas of the game we’re consistently pretty good at, around contests, around stoppage. Defensively we couldn’t control much of the game at all,” Hinkley said post-match
Travis Boak played a lone-hand in the midfield, finishing with 19 contested possessions but prime movers Tom Rockliff (4), Robbie Gray (7), Ollie Wines (8) and Sam Powell-Pepper (5) combined for just 24 between them.
Back in Adelaide the next day, 20-year-old Drew tallied 16 contested possessions, to go with 23 disposals, 12 tackles, eight clearances and 129 Champion Data ranking points, as the Port Adelaide Magpies ran out 15-point winners over Sturt at a rain-soaked Peter Motley Oval.
While the conditions suited big-bodied inside-midfielders, like Drew, the third-year on-baller has been putting up similar numbers in the SANFL all year.
After playing in the Power’s first eight matches this season — including a 21-disposal, 10-contested possession performance on debut — Drew was sent back to the Magpies and has averaged 28 disposals, 13 contested possessions, seven clearances, seven tackles and 127 ranking points per game since.
He was recalled by Hinkley in Round 15 but was back in the SANFL a week later, after tallying just 10 disposals against in the disappointing loss to the Bulldogs.
But on the past two weeks alone, Drew deserves another crack.
Drew’s 16-contested possession display against the Double Blues was impressive but his performance a week earlier was even better.
In the 62-point victory over the Eagles, Drew tallied 38 disposals, six tackles, 1.2 and 153 ranking points.
Hinkley’s immediate thought after Saturday’s 103-point drubbing was to “not overreact” despite his side’s struggle with consistency rearing its ugly head again.
When Port Adelaide has lost the contested-possession battle this season, its win-loss record is 0-5.
“When we’re inconsistent, we are very, very poor around the contest and that’s something we have to continue to work at,” Hinkley said.
“If you look at the players we played against tonight, Goldstein, Higgins, Cunnington, Ziebell. If you put up the names we’ve got against them, you go, well, we’re capable of being way better than we were tonight.”
Will Hinkley back the same group in for the final-round clash with the Dockers, who boast the best contested-ball player in the competition, Nat Fyfe, or will Drew’s form, just like that of Ladhams, force Hinkley’s hand?