Port Adelaide 2021 outlook: What the Power must do to avenge preliminary final failure
Port Adelaide let a golden opportunity slip last season losing a home preliminary final to the Tigers. But this is how the Power can make amends in 2021.
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Port Adelaide let a golden grand final opportunity slip by losing a home preliminary final to eventual premiers Richmond last year.
But despite some key retirements, and with a few big arrivals over the off-season, the Power again loom large as a genuine flag threat in 2021.
INS: Aliir Aliir (Sydney), Orazio Fantasia (Essendon), Lachie Jones (pick 16), Ollie Lord (pick 49), Taj Schofield (rookie draft), Tyson Goldsack (rookie draft)
OUTS: Brad Ebert, Justin Westhoff, Jack Watts (retired), Joe Atley, Wylie Buzza, Tobin Cox, Riley Grundy, Jake Patmore, Cam Sutcliffe (delisted)
COACH STATUS
After entering the season needing to make the finals to guarantee a contract extension, Ken Hinkley has gone from under pressure to the AFL Coaches Association’s Coach of the Year. Hinkley did so by steering the Power to a preliminary final.
But the competitive Hinkley was disappointed by the finish, knowing he had the cattle at his disposal to win the most extraordinary of seasons.
Now he will be expecting to go at least one better in 2021 as a deal to remain at Alberton beyond next season awaits.
GAME PLAN
Territory and contested football are the two main staples of the Power’s game plan.
Win the ball, lock it in the front half then convert – that is their aim.
Port Adelaide was ranked second in the league for time in forward half differential and got more bang for its buck than 2019, when it also dominated the statistic but could not turn that into scores and missed the finals.
The Power was again dominant at stoppages in 2020, to be No. 1 in the competition for clearances, winning by an average of five per game, as Travis Boak and Ollie Wines led the way.
Port Adelaide lost the clearance count 41-29 in the preliminary final loss to Richmond.
The Power were Charlie Dixon-centric at times and would be hoping he could get more support from his fellow tall forwards Todd Marshall and Peter Ladhams, who were both quiet in the defeat to the Tigers.
Don’t expect much tinkering from Hinkley heading into next year as they were only seven points shy of upsetting the Richmond juggernaut and making their way into The Gabba Grand Final.
TRADE TABLE REPORT
The Power had the most miserly defence in the league this year, conceding just 50.4 points per game, but it wanted to address a perceived lack of height so brought in Aliir Aliir from Sydney in exchange for a future second-round pick.
It will be interesting to see if Hinkley can coax consistency out of Aliir, an area that had deserted him in his final year with the Swans.
To add more spark to its forward line, Port Adelaide traded the 29th selection and a 2021 third-round call to Essendon for ex-Norwood goalsneak Orazio Fantasia.
Fantasia’s signing allows the Power to give Zak Butters and Connor Rozee more midfield opportunities. No players were traded out of Alberton this year.
THEIR 2020 DRAFT HAUL
Next Generation Academy draftee Lachie Jones had one of the standout campaigns of any youngster in the land after winning a senior SANFL premiership for Woodville-West Torrens.
That is usually a recipe for success.
He is a high-leaping, long-kicking, tough half-back flanker who you can expect to see from Round 1 next season.
Victorian forward Ollie Lord and Taj Schofield – the son of Power premiership wingman turned assistant coach Jarrad Schofield – will develop in the SANFL in 2021.
Not the blockbuster draft of 2018 – which included ready-made trio Zak Butters, Connor Rozee and Xavier Duursma – but a solid return nonetheless.
PLAYERS THEY CAN REINVENT
Port Adelaide has already spoken about throwing Butters and Rozee into the midfield more often next season and recruiting Orazio Fantasia will trigger that – if he can break the nagging run of injuries that afflicted him at Essendon.
Both the 2018 top-20 draft picks will add spunk and creativity to a Power on-ball brigade that is big-bodied but can be one-paced at times.
Port Adelaide is also looking to reinvent its first choice in the 2019 draft, Miles Bergman, as a half-back flanker.
It is also hoping to move Mitch Georgiades into Brad Ebert’s high half-forward role. As a team, the Power need to reinvent their focus on Charlie Dixon as a lone, big-marking forward.
READY TO TAKE THE NEXT STEP
Georgiades had not played football for 12 months when he landed at Alberton via the 2019 national draft but went on to feature in seven matches this past season, exceeding the expectations of most.
That should be a great platform for the high-flying forward to launch himself into 2021 and become a regular in the Port line-up.
The West Australian can take a strong mark and ease some of the burden on Dixon by making other defenders wary.
Peter Ladhams is another who can cement a regular role after a season interrupted by a foolish and untimely Covid indiscretion.
BEST 22 FOR NEXT SEASON
B: Tom Jonas, Trent McKenzie, Darcy Byrne-Jones
HB: Dan Houston, Aliir Aliir, Hamish Hartlett
C: Karl Amon, Travis Boak, Xavier Duursma
HF: Zak Butters, Todd Marshall, Connor Rozee
F: Orazio Fantasia, Charlie Dixon, Robbie Gray
R: Scott Lycett, Ollie Wines, Tom Rockliff
Int: Sam Powell-Pepper, Ryan Burton, Steven Motlop, Mitch Georgiades
CHAMPION DATA SAYS
Good: Port Adelaide was dominant around the contest, winning the clearance count by five per game to be ranked No.1. It also won the contested possession count by seven per game, ranking third.
Bad: After being such a dominant side across the season, the Power lost the clearance count by 12 in their preliminary final loss to Richmond – their worst differential recorded across 2020.
FINISH THE LAST FIVE YEARS: 2016: 10th, 2017: 7th, 2018: 10th, 2019: 10th, 2020: 3rd.
TAB PREMIERSHIP ODDS: $9
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