‘Soft’ a fair way to describe Port Adelaide’s effort against West Coast, says coach Ken Hinkley
IT is one of football’s most despised words but Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley conceded he would not take issue if somebody wanted to call the Power’s performance against the Eagles “soft” after they got smashed in contested ball.
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IT is one of football’s most despised words but Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley conceded he would not take issue if somebody wanted to call the Power’s performance against the Eagles “soft”.
Port Adelaide was beaten to a pulp around the contest in the 42-point loss at the new Perth Stadium and trailed contested ball by 32 at half time and 42 at the end of the match despite a spirited comeback in the third and fourth quarters.
Hinkley not only said it was the chief reason for the loss, he also agreed with the disparaging suggestion that the Power had been soft.
“It (soft) is a fair way to describe today’s performance,” Hinkley said.
“It’s not a fair way to describe us typically but it’s a fair way of describing today’s performance.
“One side was really strong in the contest and one side wasn’t.”
The disparity in winning the ball led to other issues.
One was the amount of handball, which Hinkley linked to not being able to handle the Eagles’ pressure.
He could have taken it further, because there is pressure and there is perceived pressure and Port Adelaide handled neither at the fast-paced new oval against the in-form West Coast.
But Hinkley brought it back to contested ball.
Hinkley said you can win games of football despite losing the contested ball.
But it had to be a lot closer than -42. When it gets to that level Hinkley suggested a team’s card was marked.
“It’s terrible and it’s why we lost the game,” Hinkley said. “It’s as simple as that.
“The Eagles dominated us in the contest and that’s why they got the lead they got.
“We showed a little bit of spirit for a small patch in the third quarter but you can’t win games of football when you get beaten that badly in contested possession.
“And that’s a strength of ours, normally, we don’t normally get beaten that badly.
“I don’t think many teams get beaten that badly, to be honest.”
One of the few positives was the return of All-Australian ruckman Paddy Ryder, who competed manfully in two specialist ruckmen in Nick Naitanui and Scott Lycett.
Ryder hadn’t played since Round 1 because of Achilles injury and will be better for the run.
“It was really good to have him back out there,” Hinkley said. “It was a big challenge for us and for him, two really strong rucks he was going against.
“I thought he showed some nice stuff for us and he’ll get better.”
Originally published as ‘Soft’ a fair way to describe Port Adelaide’s effort against West Coast, says coach Ken Hinkley
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