Port Adelaide to work pinch-hitters while All-Australian Patrick Ryder sits out with injury
PORT Adelaide is a very different team without All-Australian ruckman Patrick Ryder. The Power wants its midfielders to cover the gap for the big man
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PORT Adelaide has made its call - for this week, anyway.
No Patrick Ryder (left Achilles tendinitis). Plan B, as declared at selection for the clash with Sydney at the SCG tomorrow, is to go with the pinch-hitters, Justin Westhoff, Jack Watts, Charlie Dixon and Dougal Howard rather than call up an unproven, untried ruckman.
And there could still be a Plan C and D and E emerge as the Power works the next month, perhaps the next six weeks, without its game-defining All-Australian ruckman.
Port Adelaide has been here before.
It started 2016 with Ryder forced to the sidelines to serve the WADA-imposed, year-long ban from the Essendon supplements saga at Windy Hill in 2012. Injuries – and form lapses – with fellow prime ruckman Matthew Lobbe and the AFL’s reluctance to grant the Power a top-up ruckman only complicated coach Ken Hinkley’s planning and power to restore Port Adelaide to the league’s top-eight rankings.
The Power’s solution in 2016 – to lean on lion-hearted key defender Jackson Trengove (now at the Western Bulldogs) – leaves a volume of notes for midfield boss Michael Voss to dust down while reaching into the filing cabinet at Alberton.
“There’s a heap of lessons from 2016 that help us now,” Voss told The Advertiser this week as the Power worked through its options for the round two clash that has many primed to say, “No Ryder, no Port Adelaide”.
“We learned a lot about ourselves in 2016 and what makes for a successful midfield group. What 2016 taught us was to get our hands dirty at ground level and they were harsh lessons about what wins football games and the type of football we need to play.
“And that challenge to win at ground level does not – and will not – change when Paddy returns.”
Port Adelaide is vastly different with and without Ryder who earned All-Australian honours last season in a remarkable rebound.
Champion Data analysis of the Power against its direct opponents in 2016 and 2017 reaffirms Ryder’s importance to Port Adelaide and his status as one of the AFL’s top ruckmen.
On hit-outs – even with the brave efforts of Trengove and the evergreen Justin Westhoff with pinch-hitting work from key forward Charlie Dixon – the Power ranked last of 18 in 2016 with an average game count of 30.4 taps. This rose to 44.6 (third in the AFL) with Ryder last season.
But hit-outs are only part of the bigger story, as Voss noted with the much-questioned Sydney ruck battery on Sunday as the Swans more than coped against returning West Coast ruckman Nic Naitanui at Perth Stadium.
“If you are not winning the hit-outs, the pressure rises to be effective at ground level,” Voss said. “Are you prepared to get your hands dirty?
“You know with Sydney that they have bulls who come from everywhere to do just that. The Swans have built their game with that reputation of being strong at the ground level, regardless of the rucks they work to.
“If we develop the same characteristic, it will not only help us in the short-term but also in the long run when Paddy is there.”
Port Adelaide’s numbers at stoppages – the measure of just how dirty the midfielders’ hands do get – with and without Ryder do make for a red flag; a challenge that must be met if the Power is to set up a strong foundation for a potential top-four push this season. In 2016, without Ryder, Port Adelaide lost the total clearances in direct comparison with its opponents and scored an average 33.2 points from stoppages (ranking ninth of 18).
Last season, with Ryder, the Power lifted its clearance ranking from ninth to sixth and critically was the league’s best for scoring from stoppages.
The demand noted by the Port Adelaide midfielders to deliver more without Ryder does run the risk of one player trying to overload his shoulders. This is particularly noted with a new player – such as former Brisbane captain Tom Rockliff – wanting to make a strong impression at his new club.
“That’s not what Tom Rockliff is about and he has expressed that to me,” said Voss. “Every midfield group will have four or five players to lean on. Every strong midfield group knows there could be one player having an off day and the other four step up.
“It is not one player who is going to make this team.”
And as Ken Hinkley has said, his Port Adelaide will not be defined by one player - not even an All-Australian ruckman.
RYDING HIGH - AND LOW
HOW Port Adelaide has delivered in the midfield key performance with and without All-Australian ruckman Patrick Ryder in the past two AFL seasons.
2016
RYDER suspended by WADA for the entire season in the fall-out of the Essendon supplements saga in 2012
Hit-outs 30.4 ranked 18th/18
Hit-outs won 31.2% 18th
To advantage 7.6 18th
Clearance differential -1.5 14th
Score from stoppages 33.2 ninth
Win-loss 10-12
Ladder position 12th
2017
RYDER returns to earn his first All-Australian honours.
Hit-outs 44.6 ranked third/18
Hit-outs won 47.6 fourth
To advantage 13.5 second
Clearance differential +0.7 sixth
Score from stoppages 38.4 first
Win-loss 14-8
Ladder position Fifth
Champion Data statistics for home-and-away games in 2016 and 2017 with Port Adelaide figures in direct comparison with its opponents on match day
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