How Port Adelaide reversed a six-week slide in contested possession ahead of bumper clash with Melbourne
THE tipping point for Port Adelaide that something had to change this season came after the Round 7 thumping to West Coast in Perth. See how they reversed a six-week slide in contested possesion ahead of bumper clash with Melbourne.
- Ban bringing out best in Powell-Pepper
- No fiery reunion for Port’s former Demons
- How Power can recreate Watts
- The ‘father-figure’ bond that helped seal Wines deal
THE tipping point for Port Adelaide that something had to change this season came after the Round 7 loss to West Coast in Perth.
After losing contested possession for five weeks in a row, the Power was smacked by the Eagles by -40 in arguably the most important statistic other than score.
“You can’t win games of football when you get beaten that badly in contested possession and that’s a strength of ours,” coach Ken Hinkley said post-match.
“You can’t win big if you lose contested possession consistently and we’re not shying away from it, we’re doing contested possession training during the week consistently at the moment and working to improve it.”
The Power could either continue down a path of inconsistency where effort and workrate was selective rather than non-negotiable and it would be a bystander in this year’s race for the flag.
Or it could roll up its sleeves, toughen up around the footy and become a contender.
Hinkley’s words weren’t lip service because in the five games since, Port Adelaide has won the contested possession count in them all.
“It certainly needed some attention and it got it, players took responsibility for it and we’ve seen a change in it,” Port Adelaide’s midfield coach Michael Voss said.
“Those discussions happen all the time, it’s more the importance of it to our game.
“It’s the hardest part of the game to deliver week after week after week, but if we want to go where we think we can get to, then it has to be a weekly occurrence.
“It has to be consistent in our game and we feel like we’ve made some really big in-roads but we don’t think we’re there yet or the job is done.
“We know we’ve made some really good progress but we’re not satisfied and we still know we’ve got a lot to prove and lots of unfinished business and can grow as a group.
“We’re really pleased we’ve taken some steps but we’re far from satisfied.”
On Friday night at Adelaide Oval the Power hosts Melbourne in one of the most anticipated matches of the year.
Fourth versus seventh with both teams locked on 8-4, Port’s rejuvenated and multi-pronged midfield will go head-to-head with one of the most hardened in the competition led by Max Gawn, Clayton Oliver and Jack Viney, with support from Angus Brayshaw, James Harmes and Christian Pertracca.
“We look at the opposition and it presents a pretty good challenge, a well and truly noted ruckman and the contested bulls inside and a few of them,” Voss said of the Demons.
“That presents a few challenges, nothing we certainly can’t overcome but at the same time they’re a genuine pure midfield and have been in some incredible form so it’s going to be a key part of the night.”
Port Adelaide is 4-1 in its past five games and overall +81 in contested possession, on the back of the work of Ollie Wines, Sam Powell-Pepper, Travis Boak and Tom Rockliff.
With cameo roles from Robbie Gray and Chad Wingard who are moved from the forward line into the midfield when required and Brad Ebert playing on the wing, Voss and Hinkley have multiple options around the ball.
“We forget a little bit that at the start of the year we probably didn’t have that group together much at all, Paddy was injured, Pepps wasn’t there, Chad was playing a lot more forward, Rock was battling his body a bit,” Voss said.
“So we thought once we’d overcome those things then we could get it where it needed to be, and we’re certainly closer but we want to maintain our consistency and when we play against Melbourne we can do it at a really high level.
“I think we’re closer to it (finding the best mix) now, in games you always make adjustments based on who’s playing well. Obviously Robbie (Gray) comes in as needed and he’s a fair player to have up your sleeve, he adds a different dynamic.”
PORT ADELAIDE CONTESTED BALL IN 2018
Rounds 1-7
+14 v Fremantle
- 11 v Sydney
- 4 v Brisbane
-2 v Essendon
-14 v Geelong
-11 v North Melbourne
-40 v West Coast
Rounds 8-13
+20 v Adelaide
+5 v Gold Coast
+4 v Hawthorn
+33 v Richmond
+19 v Western Bulldogs
In team meetings, Voss said the midfield judges its performance on how well it works as a collective unit but there are still standards that individuals have to meet and no surprise what’s on top of the list.
“There is an expectation that every single person has to deliver minimum things and that for us is to compete really hard from the body and we win our contest and that has to be the 101 of a midfield, and that’s our expectations of each other,” he said.
“We still benchmark ourselves and I won’t go into particular details but the first and foremost thing that we write up on the wall is contested ball and we try to get a bit more specific than just a general contested ball but it’s about effort and workrate because if you don’t have that as a group then you break and opposition can find that weak point and go through it.”
reece.homfray@news.com.au
Watch every match of every round of the 2018 Toyota AFL Premiership Season. SIGN UP NOW >
SSP watch: VFL star, ex-Docker battle for Hawks spot
