Power veteran Justin Westhoff to return for 13th AFL season knowing Port Adelaide will change again next year
PORT Adelaide veteran Justin Westhoff will return to Alberton next year for this 13th AFL season with a determination to complete an unfulfilled dream at the Power.
- Port finals hopes ended by Bomber pride
- How did it come to this for Power?
- Ken wounded by horror end to season
PORT Adelaide veteran Justin Westhoff will return to Alberton for his 13th AFL season next year — and appreciates others will not be so lucky.
The Power’s collapse — from top-four contender at 11-4 to also-ran with a 1-6 win-loss count in the last two months of the home-and-away series — demands a rethink at Alberton.
“There will be change,” Westhoff told of the fall-out to unfold at Port Adelaide after the team’s fall from fifth in the home-and-away rankings last year to miss the top eight this season.
“(Coach) Ken (Hinkley) has made it very clear what it going to look like from here. He will not be taking any passengers going forward.
“We need to become a harder working team — and a tougher team.
“It is easy for me to stand here and say that, but it is now about delivering that as a team on a consistent basis. Results say we don’t have that yet.
“And the guys who are not committed to that change won’t be here next year. Those who are not ready to change will be left behind.”
Port Adelaide’s fall will leave many tough questions to answer in both the internal and external reviews of a team that was rebuilt last summer to challenge for a top-four run at the AFL premiership.
“We put ourselves in a bad position over the last six weeks — and that is really disappointing,” Westhoff said. “We’ve wasted another year with the group we have.
“It is the way we were not able to stand up in big games — not just the last one against Essendon. We shot ourselves in the foot in the last two months.
“It is not acceptable what we dished up (from the start of July). We have to put up our hand to own that — and be prepared for what is coming next year.
“We have to come back (for pre-season training) ready to be fitter and stronger — and tougher than ever. And if you are not prepared to do that you will find yourself out of the club.
“Ken’s message is pretty firm — so is his grasp of what it is going to look like at Port Adelaide next year.”
Port Adelaide completed season 2018 with a 2-5 record in games decided by nine points or less — and the nine-point loss to Fremantle in Perth in Round 17 marked the start of the Power’s slide on the AFL ladder with just one win in the last seven weeks of the qualifying season.
“We put ourselves in a pretty good position in many games — and we could not come through,” Westhoff said. “That is from not working hard enough or not hanging tough when we needed hang tough.
“That is the disappointing part of our year. We were not able to win the tight ones — games that decide if you are going to go anywhere in this league. We were not able to do that consistently over the entire year.”
Westhoff, 32 in October, finished his 12th AFL season with a five-goal return in the 22-point loss to Essendon at Adelaide Oval on Friday night. Personal success amid team failure left Westhoff with little consolation.
“There’s not too much that comes out of that game,” said Westhoff, a 248-game stalwart at Alberton.
“You always want to have a good year,” added Westhoff who finished the season having played in all 22 games — and in a variety of roles — with 24.15 on the scorecard.
“But you want team success — and we have not had that.
“I’d rather have a crap year and play finals rather than have a good year personally and not be there with the team in September.
“I want to be here next year because I believe we do have what is needed to do it. I would not come back if I did not think that. I’ll be here as long as it takes to get that success.”
michelangelo.rucci@news.com.au
‘Fifth major’: Smith revels in Open change
His strong criticism helped prompt officials to dump a format players didn’t like and Cam Smith declared just what the Australian Open should now look like.
The rival Aussie gunning for Gout Gout’s crown
Teen sensation Gout Gout already has people gunning for his title as the hottest prospect in Australian sport - with a race on to become our next sub-10 second 100m runner.