AFL 2023: All the latest Port Adelaide news ahead of round 6 clash with West Coast
Out-of-contract Port Adelaide forward Mitch Georgiades has been leapfrogged by untried tall Ollie Lord this week – so what does it mean for his future? Here’s the latest.
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Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley is not worried about rival clubs circling Mitch Georgiades while the forward is in the SANFL, saying the Power typically keeps players “who are invested in our program”.
Georgiades falls out of contract at season’s end and has been overlooked for AFL selection for a fourth consecutive week.
Untried tall forward Ollie Lord was preferred to replace the injured Charlie Dixon for Saturday’s home game against West Coast.
Hinkley said Georgiades was focused on the Power and would not be thinking about anything outside the club.
Asked if he was concerned about WA interest in the 21-year-old, Hinkley said: “No, I’m not”.
“We’ve got a lot of players … who are somewhat disappointed that they’re not playing AFL football, but that’s what you expect everyone to be like who’s on an AFL list,” Hinkley said.
“Mitch is learning to play football at the highest level still.
“The reality is we’ve shown over a good period of time that people who are invested in our program typically make decisions around staying.”
Hinkley would not specify what Georgiades needed to show in the SANFL before he would earn a recall.
The coach said a young forward’s development path was never linear or smooth, referencing the external spotlight on Todd Marshall until last season.
Lord, a 197cm swingman who was drafted at pick 49 in 2020, kicked four goals in the Magpies’ trial match against the AFL academy in Mount Barker last Saturday.
Hinkley said the Victorian had made a remarkable turnaround since suffering a lacerated kidney in a training collision in January and losing 10kg.
“He’s back playing really well … and deserves his opportunity,” he said.
“He’s quite combative and he’s replacing a really combative player.”
Lord’s inclusion was among three Power changes.
Ruckman Scott Lycett and half-back Dylan Williams were both omitted, as Brynn Teakle and captain Tom Jonas came in.
Hinkley did not think increased speed and athleticism in the game was hurting 30-year-old Lycett.
“He’s a combative player who’s always used his aggression in the contest, which has been his one wood, and at the moment he’s struggling to be at his absolute best,” he said.
“As long as he gets his combative stuff right and his around-the-ground intensity and effort to go to the right spots … that’ll make a difference.
“We’ll just give him an opportunity to take a breath now and make sure he goes back to the SANFL and works on a bit of confidence, and plays with some belief.”
Hinkley was unsure if Dixon (knee) would be back next week and said three-gamer Williams was very unlucky to lose his spot in the 22.
The coach said the Power, sitting ninth with a 3-2 record, would not underestimate the 17th-placed, injury-hit Eagles.
Teams: Lycett axed, Georgiades snubbed for debutant
Port Adelaide swingman Ollie Lord will make his AFL debut on Saturday, three months after sustaining a lacerated kidney.
Lord was involved in a training collision in January that led him to lose 10kg in four weeks but on Thursday night he was named to replace the injured Charlie Dixon against West Coast.
Power players cheered Lord’s news in the middle of Alberton Oval at training earlier in the day and the 21-year-old spent the last part of match simulation in the A team.
Dixon, who jarred his knee in Saturday night’s victory over the Western Bulldogs, left the track early.
Along with Lord being promoted, Brynn Teakle has replaced out-of-form ruckman Scott Lycett and captain Tom Jonas returns from knee soreness for Dylan Williams.
Drafted as a forward from Sandringham Dragons at pick 49 in 2020, Lord played in defence in the SANFL during the back half of last season before returning to attack over summer.
Then he got hurt.
Last month Lord told the club’s website he was in significant pain and initially thought it was a rib issue, only to realise it was something worse when he urinated blood in the showers.
“The doctors just went into fast mode and sorted everything out thankfully,” said Lord, who returned to full training last month.
“I was in hospital for three days as a precaution.
“The first four weeks I didn’t do a lot because I couldn’t.
“The kidney just needed me to take a step back.”
Lord’s inclusion means fellow forward Mitch Georgiades will spend another week in the SANFL.
Georgiades was dropped after the round 2 loss to Collingwood.
The West Australian is an emergency for Saturday’s match, along with Williams, half-back Riley Bonner and last week’s substitute Jackson Mead.
Coming off a two-goal performance against the Bulldogs, Darcy Byrne-Jones appears likely to feature in attack again, having spent match simulation playing at half-forward.
Byrne-Jones was recognised as the Power’s hidden hero on Thursday and wore the No. 35 prison-bar guernsey, honouring the late John McCarthy.
Adelaide looks like it will go in unchanged against Hawthorn in Launceston in Sunday.
The Crows included key forward Elliott Himmelberg, midfielder Jackson Hately and second-year player Luke Nankervis in their 26-man squad.
Both SA clubs head into their matches with 3-2 records.
THE TEAMS
PORT ADELAIDE v WEST COAST EAGLES
Saturday April 22, 1.45pm at Adelaide Oval
Power
B: A.Aliir, T.McKenzie, T.Jonas – C
HB: M.Bergman, R.Burton, D.Houston
C: T.Boak, O.Wines, X.Duursma
HF: J.McEntee, D.Byrne-Jones, S.Powell-Pepper
F: J.Rioli, O.Lord, T.Marshall
FOLL: J.Finlayson, C.Rozee, Z.Butters
I/C: K.Farrell, W.Drew, J.Horne-Francis, B.Teakle
EMG: D.Williams, R.Bonner, J.Mead, M.Georgiades
IN: T.Jonas, O.Lord, B.Teakle
OUT: S.Lycett, D.Williams, J.Mead (all omitted), C.Dixon (injured)
Eagles
B: A.Witherden, T.Barrass, L.Duggan
HB: J.Jones, J.Rotham, J.Hunt
C: L.Edwards, L.Shuey – C, G.Clark
HF: S.Petrevski-Seton, J.Darling, R.Ginbey
F: J.Petruccelle, O.Allen, J.Waterman
FOLL: B.Williams, T.Kelly, A.Gaff
I/C: Z.Trew, L.Foley, C.West, J.Culley
EMG: X.O‘Neill, H.Barnett, R.Bazzo, C.Jamieson
IN: L.Shuey, Z.Trew, L.Foley
OUT: X.O’Neill (omitted), B.Hough, N.Long, E.Yeo (all injured)
HAWTHORN v ADELAIDE CROWS
Sunday April 23, 1.10pm at University of Tasmania Stadium
Hawks
B: C.Jiath, D.Grainger-Barras, S.Frost
HB: J.Impey, B.Hardwick, J.Sicily – C
C: C.Nash, J.Worpel, K.Amon
HF: H.Morrison, D.Moore, C.Macdonald
F: C.Wingard, F.Greene, L.Breust
FOLL: N.Reeves, J.Newcombe, N.Long
I/C (FROM): C.Mackenzie, L.Meek, S.Mitchell, T.Brockman, J.Scrimshaw, J.Ward, F.Maginness, M.Lynch
IN: J.Scrimshaw, F.Maginness, M.Lynch
OUT: Nil
Crows
B: T.Doedee, N.Murray, M.Michalanney
HB: B.Smith, J.Butts, M.Hinge
C: L.Pedlar, J.Dawson – C, L.Sholl
HF: I.Rankine, C.Jones, J.Rachele
F: T.Walker, D.Fogarty, L.Murphy
FOLL: R.O‘Brien, R.Laird, B.Keays
I/C (FROM): N.McHenry, J.Hately, R.Sloane, J.Soligo, R.Thilthorpe, W.Milera, E.Himmelberg, L.Nankervis
IN: J.Hately, E.Himmelberg, L.Nankervis
OUT: None
Chad backs Ken, blasts media over JHF treatment
— Simeon Thomas-Wilson
Port Adelaide forward coach Chad Cornes has joined the condemnation of the booing and “attention” Jason Horne-Francis is getting, saying the young gun hasn’t done anything wrong.
And while Cornes did concede that brother Kane, one of Horne-Francis’ strongest supporters, might have gone a “bit overboard” in his constant commentary, he said there were “a few other media figures” driving it more.
The Port Adelaide assistant coach said he was perplexed at the attention the former No. 1 draft pick, who requested a move from North Melbourne after one-season at the Kangaroos, was receiving.
“It is something I have never really seen before, it isn’t just the fans, it is the media, it is everyone involved in the media,” he said.
“For a kid to be at that age and get that attention it is something I have never seen.
“I don’t really understand it. All I have seen is a kid who wants to get better, is really resilient and loved by his teammates and his coaches.”
Cornes also backed coach Ken Hinkley’s passionate post-game media conference in which he hit out at the coverage of Horne-Francis.
“He (Hinkley) like myself and a lot of others don’t understand why there has been so much attention on a 19-year-old who hasn’t done anything wrong but leave a club,” he said.
Cornes’ brother Kane has arguably been Horne-Francis’ chief supporter in the media, and hit out at North Melbourne fans on Sunday – labelling people booing the Power young gun as “disgraceful”.
Kane has since come under fire from multiple former players for putting the issue on the radar.
Cornes did say that Kane’s views had irked North Melbourne fans but said he wasn’t to blame.
“Kane has been really strong in his support of Jase and he has gone quite hard at North Melbourne so that does get a bit of pushback from North Melbourne supporters,” he said.
“But I think there are a few other media figures driving it more than Kane, but I think Kane can at times go a bit overboard with his support of it and that no doubt does fuel a little bit of it.”
Cornes said he had previously had chats with his brother about what he says in his media roles, but said it was “not my place”.
“That is probably for people above me,” he said.
“In the past we have had a couple of chats, when I did come first back to the club he did have some personal commentary around players we had here.
“So we had a chat about that … he tries to do the best thing for me and sometimes I get put in an awkward position.
“But since about 2016/17 we haven’t really had a chat about his role in the media.”
In his playing career, Cornes thrived off the hatred he got from Adelaide supporters, especially in Showdowns.
He said maybe Horne-Francis would get to a position where he laughs this attention off.
“It is a little bit different because I didn’t really start revelling in that until I was a bit older, I was 24 or 25 when that real hate from the Crows fans came towards me,” he said.
“The amount you learn between 19 and 24 or 25 is a lot.
“But yeah I did love it, maybe in time does Jase get to a level where he laughs it off? Where he is right now he is really resilient and it doesn’t seem to be bothering him but I don’t really understand it at all.”
After Port’s gutsy win over the Western Bulldogs, Power coach Ken Hinkley hit out in a carefully-orchestrated plea following Horne-Francis getting booed by neutral fans at Adelaide Oval.
Hinkley said he would be “embarrassed by my performance if I was those people” booing Horne-Francis.
On Sunday, Power footy boss Chris Davies said it was “time to draw a line in the sand” and the scrutiny on Horne-Francis was “overwhelmingly designed to bring him down”.
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