Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley lays down the challenge to his midfield group ahead of Lions clash
After his matchwinning 43-disposal, 15-clearance effort against Port Adelaide in round three, Brisbane’s Lachie Neale will have a target on his back at Adelaide Oval on Sunday.
Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley has put the heat on his midfield to curb the influence of Brisbane superstar Lachie Neale at Adelaide Oval on Sunday, saying the Power “hasn’t been able to control the opposition’s best midfield player that well’’.
“So that is a challenge for our midfield group,’’ Hinkley said as he plots to snap the high-flying Lions three-game winning streak in a battle of two top-eight teams.
Former Docker Neale — a product of SANFL club Glenelg — has been outstanding in his first season at Brisbane, averaging 32.4 disposals and eight clearances.
He has been the spark plug of the Lions’ engine room.
Second favourite for the Brownlow Medal behind Geelong’s Tim Kelly, Neale had a whopping 43 possessions and 15 clearances when Brisbane came from behind in the final quarter to beat Port by 17 points at the Gabba in round three.
“I think every side in the competition has tried (to stop him) but I don't think it’s been very successful,’’ said Hinkley.
“As a team you’ve got to limit the damage that their team does to us and Lachie is one part of their team.’’
Hinkley said the Power was likely to take an “all hands on deck’’ approach to curbing Neale rather than rely on one player to blanket him.
“Our midfield group, we back them in against other midfield groups,’’ he said.
“Sometimes it works for you and sometimes it hasn't worked for us. Clearly in a couple of our most recent losses we haven’t been able to control the opposition’s best midfield player that well.’’
Hinkley said the midfield battle would go a long way towards deciding the match as both clubs (Port is seventh and Brisbane fourth) jostle for top-eight spots.
“The game is won and lost more often than not from the dominance of your midfield and they’ve got a really strong one,’’ Hinkley said of the Lions.
“And they’ve got an emerging one. Obviously they’ve got Lachie and (Dayne) Zorko who are pretty established players but they’ve also got (Hugh) McCluggage and (Jarrod) Berry as younger players coming through and they’ve got a good ruckman in (Stefan) Martin, good wingmen and great flexibility.
“They are a really strong midfield group who run really hard, so we are going to have our work cut out.’’
Port will be attempting to win consecutive games for the first time since rounds five and six in its rollercoaster season, having followed a win with a loss since losing to Adelaide in round eight.
It thrashed the Crows by 57 points in Showdown 47 last Saturday.
“We’ll be doing our absolute best this week to get it done because the competition suggests at the moment that we win, then lose, then win, then lose,’’ Hinkley said.
“I’m really confident that we can get it done, I really believe in the team, but the reality of the competition is that we're not the only team in the comp that has had some problems winning every week because it’s such an even competition.
“We’re playing a team that’s in the top four, so we’ve got a real challenge on our hands.’’
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