Port Adelaide assistant coach Scott Thompson says the race is on to get settled for new Power group

WHY time is of the essence for Port Adelaide to get settled.

Jack Watts walks off the ground after kicking six goals against Adelaide. Picture: Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images

PORT Adelaide assistant coach Scott Thompson says the Power’s greatest challenge is to get the playing group to gel quickly enough after an enormous turnover.

Crows great Thompson, who joined Port Adelaide as a development coach after a decorated career at Melbourne and West Lakes, said there were upsides to the club’s turnover of 11 players that had barely been discussed.

The six players traded in from other clubs — Jack Watts and Jack Trengove (Melbourne), Lindsay Thomas (North Melbourne), Trent McKenzie (Gold Coast), Tom Rockliff (Brisbane) and Steven Motlop (Geelong) — have added an enormous amount of leadership and intellectual value from other clubs.

The key issue was to get them settled at Alberton quickly.

“Since my time there, and I started early December, there’s been a lot of change,” Thompson told The Advertiser. “A quarter of the list has turned over during the off season and a lot of fresh faces has come into the club.

“That’s a challenge in itself — to upskill everyone to playing the Port Adelaide way and to the game style we expect.

“Some of those guys are experienced heads and have been in the AFL system for a long time.

“The challenge is to make the group gel when your turnover is that big in one year.

“But it’s exciting and it’s exciting to see the club go in the direction it is.

“You just hope that everything is clear and that the players understand the expectations. We want everyone on the same page.

“The terminology is different, breaking the habit of the language you’ve had in the past and adopting to the Port Adelaide way.”

But Thompson pointed to Watts — who kicked six goals against the Crows in a trial game last weekend — as a prime example of the forgotten gifts players from other clubs bring.

He and Rockliff have immediately begun acting like leaders who can fast-track the Power’s youngest players and speed up the club’s climb up the ladder to be a premiership threat.

“Wattsy was fortunate enough to get at the end of a few on the weekend,” Thompson said. “He’s trained well, as have both of the boys, and is looking forward to a fresh start in 2018.

“The beauty of Wattsy is that he’s flexible in the way he can play different positions. It’s a luxury we have now with a new player coming in with a number of years experience in the AFL system.

“Not only for his own game. He can also help educate some of the younger guys.”