After fighting his way back into the Power line-up, Paddy Ryder was so determined not to give up his spot, he put in extra work
Paddy Ryder cut a lone figure in the middle of Alberton Oval on Thursday, putting in the hard yards to make sure he would keep his spot in the Power line-up.
Port Adelaide
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Last Thursday was a day off for Port Adelaide’s players, but Paddy Ryder came into the Power headquarters anyway.
Angry with himself that he’d scored only one behind — a poster from a set shot from 30m out — in Port’s round 19 one-point loss to GWS, Ryder was determined to reset.
So he came in to the club alone and walked out into the middle of Alberton Oval where he set up decoy defenders in front of goal. He then wheeled out two big green bins filled with footballs and he kicked. And kicked. And kicked.
And when he was out of balls, he went and picked them up and did it all over again.
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Having fought his way back into the senior side after a month out finding form in the SANFL, Ryder was determined not to make the same mistakes in front of goal against Essendon.
He didn’t. In Saturday’s 59-point win over the Bombers, Ryder kicked one goal as part of a forward line that finally found its accuracy.
Power forwards coach Nathan Bassett commended the 31-year-old ruck/forward on his determination.
“Ryder was pretty flat with himself last week for the one where he hit the post, and he came in Thursday and had 60 shots and he spent some time with our psych on getting his head in the right place,” he said.
But Bassett said a player like Ryder couldn’t necessarily do that extra work every week.
“The challenge within our game is the load you put on your body when you have a heap of extra kicks like that,” he said.
“Shooting the basketball, you could shoot all day without getting sore, so it is that balance on ensuring that when you’re working on your goalkicking that you’re doing it with purpose.”
Going into the game against Essendon, Port Adelaide was the most inaccurate team in the league, but the chop-and-change Power forward line turned that around and booted 19.12, including 14.2 from set shots, which Bassett said was the best result for set shots since Ken Hinkley took over coaching in 2013.
Bassett said the forward line hadn’t done anything dramatically different at training to turn around that accuracy, but it was pleasing to see everything click together.
“I think we were quite simple with the way we used the ball, took the easy option, kicked down the line a little bit more than we have this year,” he said.
“The forwards are getting a clearer picture of what they need to do for each other and the rest of the team’s understanding how they need to connect with those guys.”
And with Ryder and Peter Ladhams — who came in for out-of-form Scott Lycett — combining well in the ruck, Bassett hinted that Lycett could play in the SANFL this weekend.
“Pete was very good, particularly in his follow-up post ruck contest and gave us some off-ball defence and Paddy played his role well enough in the forward line.
“When the ball’s kicked in his area more often than not the ball comes to ground and gives our guys a chance to compete — his ruck craft’s very good, so imagine we’ll go with those two again.”
Co-captain Ollie Wines could also be in for a recall for Port’s clash against Sydney after recovering from a broken thumb.
“I’m expecting Wines to be available and we’ll make that call at match committee to whether he plays or not,” Bassett said of Wines, who has missed the past three games with the injury.
Four-goal hero Robbie Gray will also be free to play after escaping any suspension for his hit on Essendon forward Orazio Fantasia during the second quarter on Saturday.
He was changed with rough conduct, but offered a $2000 sanction with an early plea.
The match review officer also fined Rozee $2000 for a dangerous tackle on Aaron Francis.
And as Port focuses on “one week at a time” in an effort to play finals, attention turns to Sydney, who have played only five games at Adelaide Oval, but have a 4-1 win-loss record at the venue.
“The reality of Sydney playing well at Adelaide Oval is that most of their team have never played there,” Bassett said.
“In my time, we haven’t played Sydney at Adelaide Oval, it’s been over four years and we’ve played Sydney once in the last 62 games, so we haven’t seen a lot of Sydney live of late.
“They’ve got some good young talent, strong, with a couple of very good, experienced inside-mids, (Luke) Parker, (Josh) Kennedy, (Isaac) Heeney … they bring a tough brand of footy.”
THE NUMBERS
Ryder v GWS
13 disposals (9 kicks, 4 handballs)
7 contested possessions
53.8 per cent disposal efficiency
5 marks
20 hit outs
1 clearance
3 inside-50s
1 behind
0 goal assists
Ryder v Essendon
10 disposals (3 kicks, 7 handballs)
7 contested possessions
100 per cent disposal efficiency
1 mark
20 hits outs
1 clearance
3 inside-50s
1 goal
2 goal assists
Originally published as After fighting his way back into the Power line-up, Paddy Ryder was so determined not to give up his spot, he put in extra work
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