Twist in Port Adelaide’s ruck dilemma with Howard now in doubt
THERE has been a twist in Port Adelaide’s ruck dilemma, with a hand injury to Dougal Howard possibly forcing the club to debut either the untried Billy Frampton or Peter Ladhams for Sunday’s clash against the Western Bulldogs in Ballarat.
- Dream come true for Jarrod
- Players ratings Port and Crows
- Crows shining Knight
- The one big area Port is falling short
- Hinkley laments poor skills, ruck shortcomings
THERE has been a twist in Port Adelaide’s ruck dilemma, with a hand injury to Dougal Howard possibly forcing the club to debut either the untried Billy Frampton or Peter Ladhams for Sunday’s clash against the Western Bulldogs in Ballarat.
With the Power suggesting it will abandon its experiment of using key forwards Charlie Dixon and Justin Westhoff in the ruck while All-Australian big man Paddy Ryder is sidelined with a hip injury, Howard's untimely injury — he was hurt in the third quarter of Sunday's 22-point loss to GWS — has thrown a spanner in the works.
Assistant and defensive coach Nathan Bassett said Howard loomed as Port’s No. 1 ruck option against the Bulldogs after a solid performance in the centre square in the second half against the Giants.
But he revealed defensive spoiler Howard suffered a hand injury in the third term and while he played out the game he is in some doubt for the must-win clash against the struggling Dogs, whose ruck is led by Jordan Roughead.
He said this could force the Power to promote either Frampton or Ladhams.
“Howard’s in some doubt with a hand injury but hopefully he’ll play,” said Bassett while acknowledging that Ryder is likely to miss at least another week through injury.
“It was a bit sore yesterday (Sunday), so it’s less than 24 hours since we played. We’ll learn more soon but he should be able to play with it.’’
Howard moved from defence to the ruck after half-time to allow Dixon to go forward where he kicked three goals as Port stormed back into the contest.
Bassett said the Power — averaging just 82 points a game this season — needs Dixon as a focal point in attack and that if Howard is sidelined it opens the door for either the athletic Frampton or rookie-listed giant Ladhams to debut.
“Our rucks at SANFL level are improving towards a place where we could potentially pick them this week,’’ he said.
“The decision is whether it’s one of the guys who played Saturday (against Glenelg) or Howard moving from defence into the ruck.
“They (the Bulldogs) have got some talls in their forward line but I think we can cover them with who we’ve got in our defence.
“The improvement in the SANFL ruckmen’s form has been better, probably not quite where we’d like it, but the cost is probably greater at the moment from moving a forward into the ruck.
“They both had one of their better games for the year on the weekend.’’
COMPLETE THE SURVEY BELOW AND YOU COULD WIN AFL GRAND FINAL TICKETS
Bassett said Ryder — hurt against Fremantle in round 17 — starts running this week but is “unlikely for this week’’.
Skilful wingman Steven Motlop will return from illness after being a late withdrawal against the Giants while No. 1 defender Tom Jonas (knee) is a chance to return for the round 20 Showdown with Adelaide.
andrew.capel@news.com.au
Watch every match of every round of the 2018 Toyota AFL Premiership Season. SIGN UP NOW >
Dons’ dual half-back threat lights up match sim
Majority of Essendon’s best 23 had the chance to play together in match sim on Saturday as the battle for a list spot heated up. Get the latest intel.
Port mid endorses Carr – but admits it came as a ‘surprise’
Port Adelaide young gun Jackson Mead says the news Josh Carr might soon be announced as the club’s next coach was ‘a bit of a surprise’. But he only had good things to say.