Port Adelaide won’t hesitate to discipline players for off-field indiscretions
PORT Adelaide will not hesitate to discipline a player for an off-field indiscretion, like that of Darcy Byrne-Jones last week, regardless of their status within the team, assistant coach Brendon Lade said.
PORT Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley’s search for the Power to be defined by “unconditional” football on the field is to be matched by a similar demand off the park.
Forward-ruck coach Brendon Lade expects the leadership group — in tandem with the Power’s match committee — to ignore the “star factor” if the AFL club again needs to discipline a player.
Young defender Darcy Byrne-Jones’ one-match ban — for being 45 minutes late to Alberton last week for a training course after confusing the start time as 11am rather than 10am — has drawn scepticism outside the club.
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There are questions on both the severity of the punishment and, Power premiership midfielder Kane Cornes asking if the precedent would hold with a tardy arrival to practice by a star such as Robbie Gray.
Lade does not expect justice to work on differing scales at Alberton as the Power seeks to make the most of the opportunities — such as a top-four ranking for the first time in the Hinkley era.
“(The players have been handed) a clear expectation of our standards,” Lade said.
“The leadership group have been super in developing those standards.
“For them to implement those expectations (with a ban on Byrne-Jones), a player who was in the side — and a strong player in our backline — was a big message to the rest of the group. It sends a message to everyone.
“We have lifted our standards as a club — and we are accepting anything below them.”
Asked if this theme would apply to all, Lade said: “I assume so.”
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Port Adelaide’s selection options to recall Byrne-Jones could come from the loss of halfback Jasper Pittard, who was icing a sore hamstring late in the win against Carlton at the MCG on Saturday.
But there is also All-Australian-contending defender Tom Jonas to consider if he is free of his hamstring woes.
The other big question at Alberton is the placement of high-profile Melbourne recruit Jack Watts, who has missed the past three games as Hinkley has worked with Charlie Dixon, Todd Marshall and Justin Westhoff in attacking roles.
Watts again played in the SANFL on Sunday as Port Adelaide’s AFL coaches scouted their next opponent, St Kilda against Melbourne at the MCG.
“He was very competitive again, kicking 2.3,” Lade said.
“He was really good in the air. He got the ball to ground; (his) pressure was up. So (Magpies coach) Matthew Lokan is really happy with his effort.
“That is two weeks in a row that he has shown some really good effort — and as he keeps competing, we’re sure an opportunity will present at some stage.”
Lade concedes there is a difficulty in working Watts as a forward with Dixon, Marshall and Westhoff.
“How Westhoff has performed as a forward — kicking nine goals in four matches — has been very handy for us,” Lade said. “I don’t think we can play four talls there. Three is the maximum and whoever is playing best, will play.”
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