No one is safe: Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley can’t settle on his best 22
With another three unforced changes at selection on Thursday night, Ken Hinkley’s Port Adelaide has made the equal most switches of the 18 AFL clubs this season.
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Port Adelaide has now made the equal-most unforced changes of any side in the competition this season after dropping three players on Thursday night, including high-profile recruit Scott Lycett.
The Power pulled a selection shock by axing West Coast premiership ruckman Lycett, along with Dougal Howard and Joel Garner, for their crunch away match against Essendon Saturday, taking the number of players they have omitted in 2019 to 26, according to Champion Data.
And Adelaide isn’t too far behind its crosstown rivals on the list with a total of 24 players axed this year after dumping four last night — Josh Jenkins for the second time, along with Paul Seedsman, Patrick Wilson and Tyson Stengle.
Figures show Melbourne is equal with Port with 26, while Richmond (23), St Kilda (22), Hawthorn and Essendon (both 21) round out the top six in the competition for omissions this season, based on players who are outs from team line-ups but not suspended or injured.
The Power’s big men depth was meant to be a strength heading into the season after adding Lycett to their swag of 197cm-plus players that already featured Paddy Ryder, Charlie Dixon, Justin Westhoff, Howard, Marshall, Billy Frampton, Peter Ladhams and Sam Hayes.
But finding the right mix of talls has become a giant dilemma for Port, as form fluctuates and coach Ken Hinkley tinkers with who to play in the ruck and in attack to try to save the 10th-placed club’s season.
Of that group of bigs, only Hayes, who is yet to debut, has not been dumped this year, while Marshall and Ladhams have been omitted twice and the others once each.
Marshall, Ladhams and Dixon return to face the Bombers on Saturday.
Lycett joins Ryder, Dixon, Westhoff, Steven Motlop (twice) and Sam Powell-Pepper (once) as the biggest Power names to be dropped this season.
Against GWS on Saturday night, Lycett gathered 20 disposals, had 22 hit-outs and four tackles and The Advertiser named him in Port’s best players.
Jenkins is the biggest name to lose his spot at the Crows this round, getting dropped after registering just six disposals, three marks and one goal in the team’s 27-point loss to Carlton on Saturday.
Bryce Gibbs (four times) and Eddie Betts (once) are other high-profiled axings at Adeladie this year.
Selection for the two SA clubs has become something of a chicken and egg scenario.
Port and the Crows will say a string of inconsistent performances has forced them to regularly drop players struggling for form and promote those doing well in the SANFL, and chop and change more than they like.
But is a lack of continuity at the selection table translating to inconsistencies on the field?
If dumping players from week to week is meant to keep the squad on edge and axing stars supposed to be a wake-up call, it has not always worked.
The Crows’ poor display against Carlton after dropping fan favourite Betts — and Hugh Greenwood — last week was an example of that.
MOST AFL OMISSIONS 2019
(To Round 20)
Port Adelaide 26
Melbourne 26
Adelaide 24
Richmond 23
St Kilda 22
Hawthorn 21
Essendon 21
Sydney 20
North Melbourne 19
Fremantle 18
GWS Giants 17
West Coast 17
Brisbane 17
Gold Coast 16
Western Bulldogs 15
Carlton 15
Collingwood 12
Geelong 11