AFL: Port Adelaide coach says even star veterans like Justin Westhoff have top earn their place after being axed

Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley has laid down the challenge to star veterans Justin Westhoff and Brad Ebert to work their way back in to the Power’s best team after being dropped for Saturday’s clash with North Melbourne.

Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley has laid down the challenge to star veterans Justin Westhoff and Brad Ebert to work their way back in to the Power’s best team after being dropped for Saturday’s clash with North Melbourne.

The Power are two games clear on top of the AFL ladder but Hinkley conceded he was yet to lock down his best 22 and with hardly any injuries said he would use the remaining three games of the regular season to “explore” what that looks like.

Westhoff, the club best and fairest in 2018, has played 12 games in 2020, his 14th season with Port and is also out of contract at the end of the season.

But Hinkley said the club’s premiership ambitions demanded he find the best side over the next three weeks and it was up to Westhoff and Ebert to show they deserved their spot.

“People have got to play well to get their spot in the side and to keep their spot in the side. It’s a good challenge,” Hinkley said on Friday.

“We still haven’t settled on what we would prefer to be our lock-in side and injuries always interrupt that so you’ve got to have a squad that is big enough to cater for that.

“Clearly we’re really comfortable we have a fit and available squad, so now we are just maximising the form as best we can.

“We’ve got three more games so we are exploring lots of opportunities. But there’s gone come a time when we want to get very close to that (best side).

“We’re close, we’ve used 30 players for the season, we haven’t used a depe list, but we do have a deep list available. We’r eot putting anyone out of the picture at the moment.”

Port #Adelaide makes 3 changes for tomorrow's clash with North Melb - Houston, Motlop & Farrell replace Westhoff, Bonner & Ebert. More @7NewsAdelaide 6pm pic.twitter.com/Re0T05hZ0j

— John Casey (@JohnCasey2880) September 4, 2020

Hinkley conceded there could be some tough decisions at season’s made on a lot of players, particularly if list sizes have to shrink.

But he was adamant that was not a concern for now, and he wouldn’t be distracted by it.

“I have to stay away form list management decisions right now. They come big on the radar, but we are not in that story at the moment we are in the performance story, and beating North Melbourne.

“That’s really easy to do, there is too much to play for right now to get distracted by anything.”

Dan Houston is back after his ban for biosecurity breach, with Kane Farrell and Steven Motlop also back for the clash with the Roos.

Hinkley said memories of last year’s 86-point thrashing by NOrth was also ever-present, ensuring his mind was full focussed on only one thing.

“We’ve got some pretty terrible memories of what North Melbourne did to us last year late in the season. We should expect pretty fired up and angry North Melbourne on Saturday night,” he said.

“We’ve got a lot of tings we still need to play for. Winning is all I care about. Wining will protect our spot on the ladder.”

Originally published as AFL: Port Adelaide coach says even star veterans like Justin Westhoff have top earn their place after being axed