Port Adelaide closes pre-season with telling win against arch rival Adelaide Crows
PORT Adelaide starts the AFL premiership season with its new-look squad having delivered more new hope with a stunning second half against the Crows at Alberton Oval on Saturday.
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KEN Hinkley has seen the best and worst of Port Adelaide this summer, but he has no doubts on the quality of his squad.
“It is not personnel - it is method,” said Hinkley, who has made 11 changes to his player list in a busy off-season.
“You could see our method was not right (in the first half against Adelaide).”
This emphasis on method was underlined with the Power’s stunning 52-point turnaround at half-time of the summer Showdown at Alberton Oval on Saturday.
The move to a running game sparked a scoring rush - 12 goals without a miss in the second half, after the Crows had again worked over the Port Adelaide rivals with a stronger attitude at stoppages.
“Our conversion was pretty elite,” said Hinkley, who took issue with the Power’s efficiency and productivity inside-50 last season.
The shining light in the new-look Power attack was Melbourne recruit Jack Watts, working as part of a three-tall system with Charlie Dixon and novice Todd Marshall.
Watts’ six goals - more than he kicked in any AFL game in a 153-game run with the Demons - give Port Adelaide reassurance from its win in the off-season bidding battle with Sydney and Geelong for the 2008 No. 1 draft pick.
The Power closed the pre-season with a 1-1 record - a two-point loss to West Coast in Perth where the Power was poor on creating inside-50s and reliant on Dixon; and the 26-point win against Adelaide.
The cost of the pre-season is the hamstring injury to Jasper Pittard and the one-game ban to Robbie Gray.
There was no JLT pre-season game for Brisbane recruit Tom Rockliff, but Hinkley is confident he can get the prime midfielder ready for AFL action with match-simulation drills in the next 13 days.
“We’ve had a strong pre-season - and we still have some growth to go,” Hinkley said. “We go to the start of the season in a pretty positive state.”
Hinkley noted the vast contrast in method during the derby leaves his coaching staff invaluable notes to reinforce.
“We defended much better (in the second half) - and we won big contests,” Hinkley said.
The Power remain ineffective on “exit” plays from defence, particularly with turnovers at half-back.
“I don’t get nervous about that,’ Hinkley said. “I see mistakes - and I have to live with them. If we do make a mistake, we are in a position to recover.”
Originally published as Port Adelaide closes pre-season with telling win against arch rival Adelaide Crows