Port Adelaide answers some vital questions — and a few critics — with a hard work ethic against the Western Bulldogs in tough conditions in Ballarat
PORT Adelaide dealt with some big tests — and big questions — to settled into a top-four position with a hard-earned win against the Western Bulldogs in tough conditions at Ballarat.
- Hinkley responds to ‘whingeing’ claims
- Can tough win elevate Port to bigger things?
- Rolling blog: Re-cap all the action
THEY say skills are tested to the limit in windy (more so than rainy) conditions. And everyone knows Port Adelaide’s players are very much tested with their skills, particularly off their feet.
On a day — and in an unusual setting in Ballarat — with hail and gales turning a very important game for the top-four chasing Power into a lottery, there were going to be many longstanding questions answered in country Victoria.
Is Port Adelaide truly a blue-collar team, as promoted by team vice-captain and midfield bull Ollie Wines? Or when the going gets tough does this group give Sydney premiership coach Paul Roos and former Melbourne captain Garry Lyon more reason to question the character and relevance of the Power players?
This game against the also-ran Western Bulldogs gave Port Adelaide the opportunity — a fortnight after not dealing with Fremantle’s close-checking tactics and choking on repetitive turnovers at the new Perth Stadium — to answer a heap of pressing questions.
Blue collar? This certainly was not a game for well-pampered players who now work in airconditioned bowls with lids to keep out the winter themes that once defined football.
Remarkably, the Power players — with true blue-collar effort — managed high-50 per cent kicking efficiency in the most-testing conditions and put enough pressure on the Bulldogs to expose their players to costly mistakes.
Whingers? With the exception of the heated moments from midfielder-forward Steven Motlop (one foolish act in the second term will certainly put him on the match review officer’s agenda), the Power players were as cool in their temperament as the thermometer that read the “apparent temperature” at -0.6C.
Under-achievers? Port Adelaide (12-6) is holding a top-four ranking that is more than living up to the pre-season expectations that have chewed up others in this bizarre home-and-away season that has just one real pacesetter, AFL premier Richmond.
Not in doubt is coach Ken Hinkley’s honesty. He declared early — hours before team sheets were to be filed — that ruckman Patrick Ryder and prime defender Tom Jonas would return from injury (and quicker than many expected).
Ryder’s critical return — after missing six quarters with a left hip-flexor strain — put him in a grand ruck duel with former Power spirit Jackson Trengove, the player who carried the ruck duties in 2016 in Ryder’s absence. Again, Ryder proved his importance to the Power’s team game — and to the supply to key forward Charlie Dixon.
And now to Showdown 45 knowing the 12th-ranked Crows have plenty of dirty water to clear off their chests.
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