Gary Buckenara analyses Port Adelaide’s list after the 2018 season

PORT Adelaide secured Tom Rockliff, Jack Watts and Steven Motlop last year but they didn’t make finals in 2018. Does that make last year’s off-season a fail? What does the departure of Chad Wingard mean? Gary Buckenara analyses the Power’s list.

Port Adelaide column art for Buckenara

SEASON 2018 promised so much for Port Adelaide after pulling off three big recruiting moves during the trade/free agency period at the end of last year but it failed to deliver results.

Before the season began the Power was touted as a top-four team and premiership contender and with a favourable fixture a top-four finish looked on track before it all fell apart.

The Power have developed a reputation in recent seasons as a team that beats up on bottom sides but fails to match it with finals contenders and that trend continued this season after winning just three of its eight matches against finalists — Sydney (away), Richmond and Melbourne (both at home) — for the year.

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A serious injury very late in the season to Charlie Dixon exposed a lack of depth at the club, with coach Ken Hinkley unable to find a suitable key target to be the focal point up forward, while Paddy Ryder played injured.

For the most part though, Port Adelaide enjoyed a healthy list with key players such as Robbie Gray, Travis Boak, Brad Ebert, Ollie Wines, Chad Wingard (who has now left), Jared Polec (gone to North Melbourne), Justin Westhoff, Steven Motlop, Jack Watts, Dougal Howard, Darcy Byrne-Jones, Dan Houston, Tom Clurey, Sam Gray and Riley Bonner all played 19 games or more. Even Dixon played 20 games before his injury in Round 21. That is 16 of the team’s best 22 rarely missing a game, so to miss the finals with that kind of run with injury is bitterly disappointing. Rockliff and Tom Jonas also played 18 games.

Tom Rockliff had a tough first season with the Power. Picture: Sarah Reed

So a year that promised rapid improvement ended in status quo.

There is no doubt from president David Koch down, there would be a level of frustration around the team and why it has been unable to capitalise on the talented list it has — especially given its luck on the injury front over the last two seasons in particular.

Port Adelaide promised so much this year after recruiting Tom Rockliff, Jack Watts and Steven Motlop at the end of last season — securing such big-name recruits should have translated to on-field success. But it didn’t.

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While some might be inclined to start writing off those recruitments as a mistake or a fail, I’m inclined to wait and see. I think we need to give these players more of a chance to prove themselves next year before making any judgements.

There is no hiding, however, that the back end of this season was very disappointing and Port Adelaide as a club and its supporters should be expecting more from those three.

I think the amount of time it can take to get used to a new club, new surroundings, new teammates, new coaches and a new game style can at times be overlooked. By the time Round 1 comes around next year, however, Rockliff, Watts and Motlop will have been at Port Adelaide for more than 12 months so their output should be better and more of what we expected this year.

Paddy Ryder managed an achilles injury this year. Picture: Sarah Reed

I believe there is enough talent on this list to be a contender but the challenge is can Hinkley get this team to play for each other consistently? It sounds a bit like a cliche but this aspect of football cannot be underestimated given the combative nature of our game. We’ve seen the turnaround in Richmond and Collingwood over the last two years in this area in particular, which has largely been credited as the reason for the marked improvement in both clubs’ performances.

The Power made a key off-season move to improve its list by securing premiership ruckman Scott Lycett for West Coast but unfortunately lost both Wingard (Hawthorn) and Polec. Many will look at that and think Port Adelaide were one of the big losers of the trade/free agency period but I think they did very well considering the circumstances.

The club got a fantastic deal in for Wingard, there’s no doubt Hawthorn paid overs to get him, which is a big win. Ryan Burton is a future star and to get pick Nos.15 and 35 in addition in a very strong draft, puts the club in a great position to secure some of the best kids in the land.

I want to focus more, though on the addition of Lycett. Ryder will be 31 by the time the 2019 starts and has a bit of an injury history, so how much longer can he play to the level we expect and too, keep his career going? The addition of Lycett gives Port not only a great back-up and more flexibility up forward, but an instant replacement for their star ruckman when Ryder does retire.

Chad Wingard has left Port Adelaide for Hawthorn.

The addition of Lycett will also greatly benefit Dixon. He can now focus solely on playing full forward, rather than pinch-hitting in the ruck when required. Lycett will also spend time forward and give the mix inside 50 a completely different look with two talls as genuine marking targets and guys who can bring the ball to ground for the likes of Robbie and Sam Gray and even Motlop, while Watts/Todd Marshall are the lead-up option.

Securing Lycett was a huge win for Port.

PORT ADELAIDE’S LIST NEEDS

The Power has a fairly balanced list but the glaring hole was in the ruck and finding back-up for Ryder, which was solved by the acquisition of Lycett. The departures of Wingard and Polec exacerbates the Power’s need for speed through the middle, so that should also be a priority either through the draft.

Boak, Sam Powell-Pepper, Ryder, Motlop, Ebert, Hamish Hartlett, the Grays, Rockliff, Wines, Clurey, Dixon, Watts, Bonner, Howard, Houston, Westhoff, Byrne-Jones and Jonas is a good start at generating the 25-30 players capable at AFL level you need to be a contender, the challenge is to develop that hard edge you need to match it with the top sides. That’s what this list really needs.

Scott Lycett is now a Power player.

PLAYERS WHO NEED TO STEP UP IN 2019

The three big recruits — Watts, Rockliff and Motlop — will all need to improve as I’ve got no doubt Port Adelaide will be banking on all three being better than they were this season after having a year to get used to being at a new club, playing with new teammates and being part of a new system/game style. Rockliff had some injury and fitness issues so will need to knuckle down over the pre-season to get himself fit and ready to attack the year from Round 1, while Watts is probably the most under pressure of the three. He didn’t have anywhere near the impact expected and was even dropped from the side.

Hamish Hartlett is a really important player and his serious knee injury was a major blow, so getting him back fit and firing will be important. He probably hasn’t quite delivered on his potential in recent seasons, so finding somewhere near his best form will be critical because he can be such a damaging player with his penetrating kicking.

CRYSTAL BALL

The Power have enough talent to play finals next year but this group must to find a harder edge. That won’t sit well with Port Adelaide people but the reality is without developing that next level of commitment and sacrifice, the trend of beating bottom sides but struggling against top teams will continue. Ultimately that’s the difference between being a contender and either missing finals or being knocked out in the first week.

The club has played finals just once (2017) since making the preliminary final in 2014 and hasn’t won a game in September since that year, while it has missed finals in three of the past four seasons. The team is in limbo — can it, or does it want to, take the next step?