Gary Buckenara analyses Port Adelaide’s list
PORT Adelaide needs to be bold to improve its list and Hamish Hartlett might not be the only player on the trade table, writes GARY BUCKENARA.
PORT Adelaide was another team to disappoint this year and it’s time for the club to invest in the draft to take its list forward.
Injuries and the suspension of Paddy Ryder and Angus Monfries had a major impact on how their season panned out, it upset their balance — especially when Jay Schulz and Matthew Lobbe went down — but once you delve deeper, there are other issues.
TRADE NEWS: HARTLETT TO MEET VICTORIAN CLUBS
If we go back two or three years Port Adelaide’s form was fantastic and we were all talking about them being a kick away from a Grand Final. There haven’t been a lot of changes to the list in that time, but through a combination of bad luck and form they have fallen out of the eight.
BUCKENARA ON PIES: WHAT IS CLOKE’S TRADE VALUE?
BUCKENARA ON BOMBERS: WHAT JOBE WATSON’S RETURN MEANS
But that’s where the issues are. There is plenty of potential, but what has Port Adelaide done to improve its list and fill positional needs since it narrowly lost to Hawthorn in that preliminary final?
There is potential but like many clubs key-position and ruck depth isn’t the team’s strong suit and that’s where it fell down this year — Jackson Trengove had to go into the ruck and Charlie Dixon was the lone key forward.
Ryder will return from suspension in 2017 which gives them an immediate boost, but remember what happened when he and Lobbe played in the same team in 2015?
The former Bomber definitely plays his best footy as the No. 1 ruck and so does Lobbe, but Ryder is more of a forward than Lobbe. That’s where the issue arises.
Ryder has a huge impact when he goes into the ruck but he can’t sustain it because he gets tired and when they push him forward he’s too tired and players sit on him — he struggles and loses his confidence because he doesn’t compete well enough.
I like Lobbe as a ruckman and I think he does some good work around the ground but Ryder probably has more influence as the No. 1 big man because he’s better at ground level and can take big grabs, plus he kicks it well.
Lobbe didn’t want to be traded last year despite interest from the Bulldogs but now he has been linked to a move for 2017. That would solve the No. 1 ruck issue, but who’s going to be the back-up?
Let’s delve deeper.
When I look at the list as a whole, I don’t see enough A and B-grade players at Port Adelaide. Obviously Robbie Gray is a star and Chad Wingard is an A-grader. Travis Boak is a good player and Ryder at his best, Hamish Hartlett and Ollie Wines are B-graders.
Jasper Pittard has taken his game to another level to get into the B-grade category, Justin Westhoff and probably Matthew Broadbent and Jackson Trengove just sneak in. But that’s where it finishes.
That’s 10 A or B-grade players which is borderline as to whether it’s good enough to play finals.
At their best, when the Power has a fit and in-form list to choose from they’re OK, but the depth is where it drops away. They ask players to play roles they’re simply either not capable of or don’t suit the way they play their best footy.
Dixon needs to step up. The club paid a high price to get him to Alberton but there are always question marks on his dedication. With Schulz being delisted he’ll need to take his game to another level.
Players like Jake Neade, Jimmy Toumpas, Jared Polec and Brad Ebert also need to improve to elevate Port Adelaide and get them back to that form we saw in 2014.
Westhoff is a good player but does his best work as a tall utility that goes forward and can kick a goal but can also run an impact all over the ground, pushing back at times when they need to stop the opposition’s momentum. Ken Hinkley needs to keep using him in that role rather than getting caught in the trap of using him as a key forward to partner Dixon.
On a positive note they uncovered a good young player in Darcy Byrne-Jones, who really stood up this year and looks like he’ll be a good player in the future.
But a point I want to make about Port Adelaide is the club needs to invest back into the draft and get some early picks to take the best players possible, while addressing needs with later picks.
I know Hartlett is reportedly on the trade table because they are looking to get back into the draft but another name I’d throw up is Wines.
When you are going down this road there a couple of key considerations: Who can you bring in if you are going to give up some good players and can you get a player or have you already got a player who can fill that role?
Wines is a big-bodied midfielder and Port would hate to lose him but you can generally replace big-bodied midfielders easier than you can key-position players or ruckmen. Could Wines, who definitely has currency on the trade table, help them bring in a good key forward or key defender?
Having said that, both Hartlett and Wines are good players so it’s a delicate situation. You need to make sure you’re getting either early picks to get good players in the draft or bringing in proven good players from other clubs that address a positional need and will help improve your team immediately.
At the trade table Wines would be worth a first-round pick in this draft.
On Hartlett, I’ve always viewed him as an A-grade player. He has been a bit injury-prone but he was a great under-18 player and has turned into one of Port Adelaide’s better players so it does surprise me that they’re looking to move him on after doing everything they could to sign him to a long-term deal.
He is definitely worth a first-round pick — in the range of 6-15 easily — but if the club doesn’t get offered a really good deal for him, then I wouldn’t be trading him.
WHAT THEY NEED
Improving ruck depth will be a focus. I know Ryder and Lobbe are both there but if one of them goes down who comes in? Trengove has been used but they need him down back, he’s not the answer. A mature ruckman will be handy to build ruck strength.
Port also need to bring in a key defender following the retirement of Alipate Carlile and should look at another key forward given Schulz and John Butcher have been cut.
Another need is players who are used on the outside that run, break the lines and who have good skills. Their ability to use the ball well has disappeared a bit in the last few years because of the players they’ve had to use in those positions. A tall utility could be used as well, someone who is good size and can play as a tall back or forward.
WHO’S UNDER THE PUMP?
Toumpas is the big one. He was a No. 4 draft pick and it’s not as if Melbourne got that wrong. All clubs rated him very highly as a junior but he simply has not translated that talent into good AFL-level football. Port Adelaide brought him home to South Australia but that still hasn’t impacted his on-field performance. He needs to have a big summer and really knuckle down if he’s going to make a success of his time at the elite level.
Matt White was injured this year and needs to make sure he gets his body right because his pace is important to the team. He needs to get back on the park and contribute.
Riley Bonner was highly-rated in last year’s draft but despite the injuries at the club didn’t get a look in at senior level until Round 23, which is a concern. He needs to have a big summer as well and put himself into senior calculations both for the NAB Challenge and then hopefully for Round 1.
Paul Stewart is another one, if he gets another crack he needs to improve. Billy Frampton is a developing ruckman but is he good enough? That’s the big question.
WHO SHOULD GO
Carlile has already retired, while Schulz, Butcher, Kane Mitchell and Sam Colquhoun have been delisted, but to me there are better options as developing ruckmen than Billy Frampton so he’d be one I’d look at moving him on.
If Port is going to refresh its list with young talent via the draft then I’d also have Paul Stewart and Cam O’Shea on the block.
CRYSTAL BALL
Port Adelaide will be a competitive side next year and if they’re injury-free with their best side on the park, I believe they knock on the door of the top eight but lack of depth is a bit of a worry.
To really challenge you need a list of about 30 players who are a combination of A, B and C-grade talent so you can cover injuries and Port just don’t have that at the moment, which is why they can’t afford any injuries.
They can finish anywhere from 8th-14th.
Originally published as Gary Buckenara analyses Port Adelaide’s list