Port Adelaide relishes hot weather and tweaks training to lift for 2018 season, as Tim Watson turns up heat on Rory Sloane
PORT Adelaide is hoping for a long, hot summer as AFL legend turns up heat on Rory Sloane.
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PORT Adelaide has embraced the heatwave sweeping the state as it provides an ideal training climate ahead of the 2019 season.
The Power, under previous fitness coach Darren Burgess, were among the first in the AFL to embrace heat training — rather than high altitude training — and spent time in the desert heat of Dubai.
It means they have welcomed rather than shunned the hot weather that has enveloped Adelaide and made the most of it to get their players in top shape.
Assistant coach Matthew Nicks had a chuckle when asked whether the heat had meant they had gone easy on the players.
“It’s actually really good training, the heat,” Nicks said. “We’ve only had one day that was a real stinker, 40-plus, and that was Friday last week.
“We had some matchplay going on so that was a tough grind. But they did really well and they’ve been training really well.”
Among the areas that have been given close attention has been the delivery into the forward line.
Port Adelaide scored heavily last year but was still wasteful.
They ranked 13th in conversion from inside 50s and 16th in retention rate for kicks inside 50s.
It hasn’t led to a vastly different pre-season but Nicks said tweaks had been made.
“Not so much different, we’re just working in areas we have to improve on,” Nicks said. “We haven’t got it done the last few years.
“So we’re trying to get our weak areas up to complement the rest of our game.
“But at the same time we’ve let the guys play as well.
“The best way to work things out is through making mistakes.”
Meanwhile, Essendon great Tim Watson has called on Rory Sloane to be the first player to announce his intentions when contract speculation swirls around him.
Watson said it would take away from the club dealing with the distraction of a player’s future for another season, the way it had previously had to handle the out-of-contract Patrick Dangerfield and Jake Lever.
“I believe if he knows now what he wants to do, he can avoid a year of speculation and in turn help the Crows avoid a possible distraction again, like they experienced last year,” Watson said on Melbourne radio.
“If he’s already decided — make an announcement before the season begins. Say I’m returning to Melbourne at the end of the season, where I end up I don’t know, but I want to finish my career in Melbourne.
“I’m not going to pretend for one second that’s it’s going to be a popular decision in Adelaide — they love him over there.
“(But) anyone that falls out of love with him, they will fall back into love with him because of the way he plays.
“I think he is a rare talent, Rory Sloane. He’s not the most gifted player, but he gives nothing but 100 per cent every time he plays.
“He’s a competitive beast, he knows no other way how to play.”
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