AFL 2021: Port Adelaide news ahead for Round 3

Port Adelaide will unleash Connor Rozee this weekend, but it means a tough call for Ken Hinkley — and it’s not the only selection headache he has.

Todd Marshall at Port Adelaide training at Alberton, Saturday March 13, 2021. Picture: Brenton Edwards

Port Adelaide’s young gun forward Connor Rozee is expected to play his first game of the season on Saturday against West Coast, three weeks after surgery fixed a mysterious foot injury that had baffled doctors.

Power assistant Michael Voss said Rozee would likely slot straight back into the team, which is undefeated and on top of the AFL ladder.

“If he gets through the full week and it’s uninterrupted, we feel like that’s the final piece of the puzzle that he needs to put together and then he’ll be available to play,” Voss said.

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Connor Rozee will slot straight back into the Port line-up to take on the Eagles.

“Him in our side is much more dangerous, adds to our versatility and depth in our side, and that’s been a strength of ours so far.”

Voss wouldn’t be drawn on who might make way for Rozee and it’s not the only selection headache facing Port as it prepares to head west to face the Eagles on Saturday.

Tall forward Todd Marshall has recovered from his back complaint and will be available, but after Charlie Dixon, Peter Ladhams and Mitch Georgiades combined for 10 goals in a 54-point, Round 2 thrashing of Essendon, Port must decide if it can play all four in the same side.

“We’ve always said form will determine what happens, so certainly coming in, Mitch couldn’t do anymore, really … (if he can play with Marshall, Dixon and Ladhams) it’s certainly a conversation piece we’ll have very early on in the week and find out where we go with it, but it’s always nice when you have players in form, that can determine your direction,” he said.

Rozee goes through his paces at Alberton Oval.

Rozee and Aliir Aliir hit the training paddock.

“You can look at what their height measurements are (but) we tend to pay more to their attributes and they all can get on the floor and all have got speed. I wouldn’t want to be chasing any one of them.”

Voss agreed with coach Ken Hinkley’s post-game assessment that this team was better than the one that finished minor premier in 2020. “We targeted some key areas,” he said.

“One of those was our ability … to transition the ball and be more dangerous when we have the ball in our hands.

“Our ability (now) to be able to transition the ball and get it up the other end with some speed is proving a challenge for opposition and it’s nice a little weapon to have.”

Champion Data stats confirm Voss’s analysis, but it’s the Power’s ball movement out of defensive 50 that is most improved.

Todd Marshall has recovered from a back complaint and will be available. Picture: Brenton Edwards

Port has jumped from 14th last season to first this year for its percentage of score out of defensive 50, and jumped from eighth to first for total points scored out of the defensive half.

“We like to think that we’re a front-of-centre team,” Voss said. “It’s a little too early to tell exactly what the implications (of the new rules) have been across the entire competition, but it certainly seems like there’s more opportunities to be able to transition the ball with some speed and we’ve been able to do that well so far.

“I think the competition’s been able to take that little challenge on as well, so we’ll have to manage the risk of that, but at the same time it’s presenting some good opportunities for us.”