Defender Riley Bonner says Port Adelaide’s honesty policy is the key to the Power’s run to the AFL finals
HOW Port Adelaide’s loss to West Coast in Perth in round seven helped bring about the changes that now has it knocking on the door on the AFL’s top four, says defender Riley Bonner.
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PORT Adelaide has singled out its round seven loss to West Coast in Perth as the wake-up call that put the club’s season on track.
The Power has since put in an honesty policy that has the club chasing a top-four finish.
It has won six out of seven games since the hurtful 42-point loss in Western Australia, which prompted a soul-searching session between the players and the coaches, and is fifth on the ladder with a 10-4 record. It is trailing second-placed Collingwood on percentage only.
The loss to West Coast was branded by coach Ken Hinkley as “soft” and made the players take notice.
Defender Riley Bonner said something had clicked after the dissection of the team’s efforts in the Eagles game.
Chief among them was bringing out a no-holds-barred honesty policy - and the accountability that led to Darcy Byrne-Jones being dropped for last week’s game after being late to training.
“If something isn’t done right, we’ll say something, and that goes for everybody,” Bonner said.
“After the West Coast game we sort of came together.
“We knew that they were on top of the ladder and we had to regroup and see what we did wrong, offensively and defensively.
“We found out in that game that we sort of played as individuals, a little bit. We didn’t gel as much as we wanted to.
“It’s been really good to see the improvement … it was a massive wake-up call and since then I guess we’ve shown to the rest of the league that we’re hopefully a top-four contender this year.”
Bonner, with his raking kick and ability to take the game on, has been a revelation this season.
He had only played a handful of games before coming into this season but hasn’t missed a match this year.
Bonner credited another pre-season for the growth in his game.
“I really wanted to cement my spot in the team early,” Bonner said. “I came off good form last year and had a good pre-season.
“I just try to keep building each week.
“It was my third pre-season just gone and I’ve been building on my strength and my endurance.”
But Bonner warned St Kilda, which beat Melbourne last weekend in its best game for the year, would be no easybeat.
Just as Carlton - another struggler - challenged Port Adelaide in Melbourne last weekend, the Saints had the ability to match it with the top sides on their day.
“They have come very good; they obviously beat Melbourne on the weekend who we played a really good game with them a couple of weeks ago.
“It’s another opportunity to show everyone what credentials we might deserve or might not deserve.
“But St Kilda are dangerous when they come to play, the same as Carlton were.”
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