AFL teams 2022: Selection news for Power and Crows
A playmaker who laid 10 tackles last week was surprisingly dumped for the Power’s clash with the Eagles. Coach Ken Hinkley has shed light on the call.
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Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley says the omission of Karl Amon for the Power’s clash against West Coast is down to form, even though he says the gun wingman isn’t the only one struggling in the side.
Despite 10 tackles and helping the Power reign in Carlton star Sam Walsh in the second half last week, as Port nearly came back from the clouds to shock the Blues, Amon has been dropped to take on the Eagles.
SCROLL DOWN FOR THE WEEKEND’S CROWS AND PORT 22S
Amon has 18 and 15 disposals in his last two games and Hinkley said the gun wingman wasn’t at the level he and the team wanted.
“It’s a form situation and Karl will be the first to admit that he isn’t in the best form,” he said.
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“He’s a real important player for us and we need him in really good form and we are just trying to help and support him get back to this good form.”
Along with Amon, Jackson Mead has been dropped as the Power search to shed the unwanted tag of the only side this year still without a win.
Hinkley said Amon wasn’t the only Power player not at their best form.
“No that would be unfair to Karl, we are clearly not all playing good football collectively,” he said.
“There are some decisions you can and can’t make and we took the opportunity this week to give Karl an opportunity to find some better form.”
Ollie Wines and Kane Farrell return for the Power and Hinkley said this was part of giving Amon an opportunity to find his best form again.
“Sometimes you have to do these things to get some movements,” he said.
“Karl works hard, incredibly hard in training… he is doing everything he possibly can.
“He’s had an unbelievable two or three years in a row.
“We just need to see Karl at his best.
“His game is a rounded game, it’s very much a help in defence and then an attacking player around the contest.
“There is lots to his game, it’s not as simple as saying he’s not doing A, his game as a whole is not where he would like it to be and where we need it to be.”
The Power nearly came back from 50-points down against the Blues last time out.
Hinkley said while the second half was pleasing the Power’s first half made it too far of a bridge to overcome.
“I’ll be honest the first half against Carlton there were alarm bells around a lot of our game,” he said.
“When you sit there and reflect on that it was so far off what we are capable of and we showed in the second half more of what we are capable of.”
Tom Jonas is expected to be fine after copping a knock to the knee while Zak Butters has overcame illness from earlier in the week.
Wines returns after a week off after he was taken to hospital following a heart issue against Melbourne in Round 4, which has resolved itself.
Hinkley said Wines had to get medical clearance to return against the Eagles.
“That was the crucial part. We were never going to take a risk,” he said.
Farrell returns to AFL action nine and half months after he ruptured his ACL against Hawthorn.
Hinkley said it had improved morale at the Power.
“It is a significant effort by Faz to get back, it is only nine and a half months,” he said.
“Clearly we rate him and that’s why we’ve got him back in the team.
“We were really disappointed when he went down because we thought he was just about to breakthrough as an AFL player.
“Talk about keeping the mood up, when you tell the players that Kane Farrell is going to play after nine and a half months that brings some energy back to the place.
“It was a special moment, as it always is.
“The good moments in footy are still there. Even though we aren’t getting the results we want we are still enjoying those moments.”
Crows adjusting to life without Rory
Adelaide star Tom Doedee has praised the positive influence of injured Crow Rory Sloane as they prepare to tackle the rest of the season without their injured skipper.
Doedee said Sloane was full of positive energy in a Monday team meeting before undergoing surgery on his ACL on Wednesday.
The Crows named Jackson Hately for his first game this year as they prepare to take on the Western Bulldogs in Ballarat on Saturday.
Hately, 21, has averaged 25.3 disposals across three games in the SANFL this year and slots into an Adelaide side looking to capitalise on its barnstorming win over Richmond last weekend.
Doedee, who will join forces with Brodie Smith, Ben Keays and Reilly O’Brien in Sloane’s absence in sharing the captaincy, said every midfielder would need to go up a notch to cover the club champion’s absence.
“(He suffered the injury) and then comes in Monday to leadership group meeting and is straight into ‘lets make sure we’re doing this’ and ‘hey, great game on the weekend’,” Doedee said of Sloane on FiveAA on Thursday.
“It was as if nothing had happened.
“He is one of the most positive humans I’ve come across, and he has been so influential in my career … it’s a huge loss that we probably can’t replace.
“We’re going to try to in terms of that everyone is going to have to step up.”
Doedee said he was “gutted” for Sloane, particularly given his own experience with an ACL injury in 2019.
“Having been through that journey, it’s not an easy one,” he said.
“But if there’s one bloke who can come through the other side stronger and a better person and athlete, it’s him.”
Doedee said the four Crows sharing the leadership role planned to serve in blocks of several weeks rather than rotating through for each game.
“It’s going to be huge for our group … (for the captains to) build that development with the group and build that bond, going forward I think it’ll be great for us,” he said.
Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks said Hately was one of “a couple of guys who deserve an opportunity at AFL level”.
“Jacko Hately … (has) knocked the door down and played some good (SANFL) footy,” Nicks said.
“The pleasing thing for us is the form below warrants selection.
“So when an opportunity like this (Sloane’s injury) presents – albeit not one we really want – but it is an opportunity for one of our younger guys … to step in.”
AFL SA TEAMS
WESTERN BULLDOGS v ADELAIDE CROWS
Saturday April 23, 1:45pm at Mars Stadium
BULLDOGS
B: Richards, Gardner, Duryea
HB: Daniel, O’Brien, Dale
C: McNeil, Macrae, Scott
HF: Liberatore, Cordy, Treloar
F:Bontempelli, Naughton, Weightman
FOLL: Martin, Smith, Dunkley
I/C: McComb, Ugle-Hagan, Schache, Williams
EMG: Crozier, West, Khamis, Sweet
IN: Martin, McComb, Schache
OUT: Garcia (injured), English (injured), Hunter (personal reasons), Wallis (personal reasons)
CROWS
B: Doedee, Butts, Frampton
HB: Smith, Dawson, Brown
C: Cook, Laird, Sholl,
HF: Rachele, Murphy, McHenry
F: McAdam, Walker, Himmelberg
FOLL: O’Brien, Keays, Berry
I/C: Gollant, Hately, Crouch, Jones
EMG: Rowe, Soligo, Thilthorpe, Hamill
IN: Hately
OUT: Sloane (injured), Rowe (medi sub)
PORT ADELAIDE v WEST COAST EAGLES
Saturday April 23, 4:35pm at Adelaide Oval
POWER
B: Burton, Aliir, Clurey
HB: Bergman, Jonas, Byrne-Jones
C: Houston, Drew, Bonner
HF: Butters, Georgiades, Rozee
F: Gray, Marshall, Powell-Pepper
FOLL: Hayes, Wines, Boak
I/C: Farrell, Dumont, Motlop, Finlayson
EMG: Amon, McEntee, Mayes Jones
IN: Wines, Farrell
OUT: Mead (omitted), Amon (omitted), McEntee (omitted)
EAGLES
B: Hurn, Barrass, Witherden
HB: Nelson, Edwards, Duggan
C: Redden, Kelly, Naish
HF: Rioli, Darling, Cripps
F: Waterman, Kennedy, Ryan
FOLL: B. Williams, Yeo, Shuey
I/C: O’Neill, Foley, West, Strnadica
EMG: Langdon, Windler, Rotham Jones
IN: O’Neill, West, Strnadica
OUT: Rotham (omitted), Langdon (omitted), Jones (omitted), Dixon (injured)
Power keeping faith in Kenny
—Matt Turner
Port Adelaide is maintaining its confidence in coach Ken Hinkley to turn its results around, starting with the crunch Anzac round clash against West Coast on Saturday.
The Power will enter the home game with a 0-5 record – its worst opening to an AFL season – and with a slim prospect of playing finals.
Hinkley, who is contracted until the end of 2023, is under pressure after the side’s slump from consecutive top-four finishes.
But the club’s chief executive Matthew Richardson said he had “great faith” in the 10th-year senior coach and the team.
When asked if he could guarantee Hinkley’s job for the entire season, Richardson said he did not “think there was any point in dealing with hypotheticals”.
“We are playing West Coast this weekend in a really important game for our club, certainly from a football sense … and for a whole range of reasons,” Richardson said.
“We have just got to stay really focused on the things we can control.
“We’re five games in and we haven’t had the start that we want but we’ve got great people and we’ll back them in to turn it around.”
Richardson said he understood the scrutiny about Hinkley’s position.
He said the team was really well led and connected as it sought to change its fortunes.
“There’s no misalignment there,” he said.
“But the reality is there’s one group of people who can do something about that (0-5 start), it’s Ken, it’s (captain) Tom (Jonas) and the playing group.”
Jonas said although there was “a lot of outside noise”, he was really confident in the team’s ability and connection.
“We are all sticking together,” Jonas said.
The skipper described the Power’s first half against Carlton at the MCG on Sunday, during which the visitors trailed by 50 points before fighting back to lose by three, as absolutely unacceptable.
He said focusing on the round’s themes of selflessness and sacrifice was exactly what the side needed ahead of playing the Eagles.
“It’s about being committed to working harder than the opposition, doing things for your teammates rather than doing things for yourself,” he said
“What’s happened in the last month is gone now and all we can do is look forward.”
Jonas was confident Brownlow Medallist Ollie Wines would be available to play after missing the Blues match because he was recovering from a heart issue.
Defender Lachie Jones (Covid protocols) is also expected to be in the selection mix.
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