Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley is optimistic but has the Power’s list improved enough across the board to warrant such optimism?
With the help of Champion Data, The Phantom breaks down the Power’s playing list and how it performed in 2019. Did the good outweigh the bad? HAVE YOUR SAY
- Jonas opens up on first year as co-captain
- How to get the most out of your Advertiser digital subscription
At 11-11, for the second year running, Port Adelaide finished in 10th spot on the AFL ladder.
But Power coach Ken Hinkley says “it feels like there is a fair bit of difference” this time around.
“I’m optimistic about 62 games into three first-year draft choices, six debutants, two new people in Scott Lycett and Ryan Burton to come to the club, the change of leadership,” he said.
Has Hinkley’s list improved enough across the board to warrant such optimism?
CROWS: Who improved and who went backwards at Adelaide this season?
From the kids and the middle-tier, absolutely, it has.
Karl Amon (+21.6), Darcy Byrne-Jones (+15.4) and Dan Houston (+11.8) were three of the six Power players, who have played more than five games, to increase their Champion Data ranking-points average by more than 10 this season.
Stream every match of the 2019 Toyota AFL Finals Series before the Grand Final live and on-demand on KAYO SPORTS. Get your 14-day free trial and start streaming instantly >
All started 2019 rated average in their respective positions.
At the completion of the minor-round, Houston and Amon are classified as elite, while Byrne-Jones is now considered as above-average as a general defender.
Byrne-Jones led Port Adelaide for effective kicks and intercept possessions, while Houston ranked second and fourth in each category, respectively, as he made his move into Hinkley’s midfield in the second-half of 2019.
Big-name recruit Scott Lycett topped the list for the Power, increasing his average from 77.9 to 101.1 as he took control of the No. 1 ruck role, for the first time in his career, in 18 games in his debut season at Alberton.
The 26-year-old, who was dropped for the Round 20 clash with the Bombers, despite being the seventh-ranked player in the competition between Rounds 13 and 19, ranked second for intercept possessions, fourth for ranking points, fifth for effective disposals and seventh for contested possessions of all ruckman in 2019.
In a return to the midfield, former captain Travis Boak wasn’t far behind, recording the highest ranking-points average of his 13-year career.
Boak averaged 107.2 per game, 19.2 more points than in 2018, after finishing the season as the sixth-ranked player in the competition for contested possessions and clearances, while his 637 disposals was the seventh-most in the league.
Despite an injury-interrupted year, former Hawk Ryan Burton added 8.3 points to his average in his first year at Port but it was still short of 83-point mark he set in 2017.
Key-defender Tom Clurey took his game to another level, recording the lowest loss-percentage of the top-15 players in the competition for total defensive one-on-ones contested, while playmaking left-footer Riley Bonner’s year earned a two-year contract extension.
Elite = Top 10% of position.
Above Average = Top 35% of position.
Minimum 5 games in 2019.
But there’s been no signature from underrated small-forward Sam Gray, who is set to explore his options elsewhere this off-season.
As a general-forward, the 27-year-old rates elite for disposals and uncontested possessions and above-average for goals, score involvements, tackles and marks inside-50.
While 21-year-old ruckman Peter Ladhams showed his potential, making five senior appearances and averaging 75 ranking points per game.
Another huge tick for Port Adelaide is the 61 matches it got from 2018 draftees, eight more than any other team in the competition.
Connor Rozee was one of only two players to play all 22 games and the 19-year-old finished the year with more goals (29) and tackles inside 50 (34) than any other player at the club.
The Power’s top draft pick from last year is one of only four players in the past 25 years — Giant Jeremy Cameron the most recent — to lead the club’s goalkicking in their first season on an AFL list.
Running machine Xavier Duursma averaged 20 disposals, five score involvements and four intercept possessions, while also booting 11 goals, in 19 matches, while Zak Butters, who the Power took at pick No. 12, recorded the equal-most goal assists in his debut year.
But that’s where the optimism ends.
The numbers say senior players Justin Westhoff (-21.2), Charlie Dixon (-13.9), Robbie Gray (-13.1), Brad Ebert (-10.3), Tom Jonas (-9.6), Ollie Wines (-9.1), Steven Motlop (-8) and Paddy Ryder (-7.2) failed to improve in 2019.
Hinkley stuck true to his word by rewarding form, dropping Westhoff, Dixon, Motlop, Powell-Pepper and Ryder to the SANFL at different times this year.
*Minimum 5 games in both seasons
While Ebert’s 10-point decrease can be attributed to a new forward role, which saw him win less possession — and then injury — the seasons of Wines, Dixon and Motlop, despite interruption, were disappointing.
Co-captain Wines played 12 games as he battled injury at different stages through the year, including an interrupted preseason after dislocating his shoulder in a waterskiing accident, but his averages for disposals, contested possessions, clearances and tackles were the lowest they’ve been since 2015.
After increasing his average to 78 in his second year in the game, the No. 18 pick from the 2016 draft, Powell-Pepper went backwards in 2019, with reports suggesting his name will be thrown on the trade table during the off-season.
But what will they get in return for a player who only rated average for disposals, uncontested possessions, clearances, effective kicks, groundball-gets and score involvements this year?
In the wake of the Round 23 victory over the Dockers, Hinkley said “I know we’ve had some bad moments, but we’ve had some good moments”.
And the same can be said of his playing list in 2019.