The numbers reveal the Power players taking their game - and their club - to the next level
The Power’s focus on resilience has been key to their rise this year, but the improvement of five key men has been just as vital. Here are the five players, and their numbers, who have taken their game to another level in 2020.
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After finishing 10th the past two seasons, and bringing in some serious young talent to the club, Port Adelaide was always going to challenge for a finals spot in 2020.
But leading the ladder for all of the 2020 so far and beating the past two premiers in Richmond and West Coast by a combined 69 points is surely a lot more than even the most optimistic Port supporters were expecting.
The Power’s focus on resilience has been key, but what also has been important is the improvement of some key Port players on the field.
Champion Data stats reveal just who has taken their game to another level in 2020 and helped Port to the top of the ladder.
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Ollie Wines
2019 ranking points: 88.1
2020 ranking points: 106.2
Struggled in 2019 with injury, form, and came under fire as part of Port Adelaide’s decision to go with co-captains for the first time in its history and then had to endure a lot of speculation about if he wanted to stay at the Power.
But in 2020 Wines has been back to his damaging best for Port in the middle of the park.
After missing Round 1 after another shoulder injury, and then the Round 2 Showdown for a COVID-19 breach, Wines has been ever-present for the Power.
He is averaging 20.9 disposals, 10.6 contested possessions, 7.5 groundball-gets, 4.8 clearances and 4.5 score involvements as Port Adelaide’s midfield runs rampant most weeks.
Against reigning premiers Richmond in Round 11, Wines was massive with 28 disposals, 11 tackles and a goal.
Peter Ladhams
2019 ranking points: 76.4
2020 ranking points: 96.8
Will return for the Essendon clash after a three-match suspension for hosting a party.
The strong lashing from Ken Hinkley and Chris Davies raised the possibility that Ladhams might not play a game again in 2020, so angry they were with the young ruck-forward.
But with Justin Westhoff out of form, Ladhams is back for the Dons clash to provide some back-up to Scott Lycett and be another tall target in Port’s forward line.
Ladhams has only played one more game in 2020 (six) than he did in 2019 but has looked a lot more at home at AFL level this year.
His 16 disposals a game is considered elite for ruckmen, his 9.2 contested possessions is considered above average as his three marks and one centre-bounce clearances per game.
Todd Marshall
2019 ranking points: 53
2020 ranking points: 74.1
Port Adelaide has been waiting for Todd Marshall to arrive at AFL level for a while now, and in 2020 he is starting to make his mark in the Power’s senior side.
Providing a perfect foil for the damaging Charlie Dixon, Marshall’s importance to the Power this year was none more evident than Port’s heavy loss to Geelong in Round 12. When Hinkley’s side was crying out for someone to take the load off a swamped Dixon, Marshall was on the sidelines with a broken thumb.
As a key-forward, Marshall’s 18.7 forward-half pressure points and 2.7 tackles a game are considered elite.
His 8.6 disposals, 3.2 marks and 0.9 goals are considered average for key-forwards.
Zak Butters
2019 ranking points: 60.6
2020 ranking points: 87.8
Has quickly become one of Port Adelaide’s most-important players in just his second season as a combination of wrecking ball, bundle of energy and even matchwinner with his work around stoppage and in front of goal.
Flew under the radar somewhat in his first year at AFL level as Connor Rozee and Xavier Duursma shone,.but Butters has potentially emerged as the best of the talented trio in 2020.
For a general forward his 15 disposals per game, 6.7 contested possessions, 5.3 score involvements and 1.1 score assists are considered elite as Butters continues to press his claim as arguably Port’s second best player of 2020 behind Travis Boak.
Charlie Dixon
2019 ranking points: 64.1
2020 ranking points: 94.2
The story of Port Adelaide’s year, a gruelling off-season has propelled Dixon to one of the games elite key-forwards.
After his 2019 was seriously affected by a badly broken leg and dislocated ankle that kept him out for 10 months, the work Dixon did over the off-season has resulted in him producing a career-best season at the age of 29.
His 5.6 score involvements per game, 2.1 goals and 2.9 contested marks are considered elite, while his 2.1 forward-50 marks and 9.6 disposals are considered above average for key-forwards.
Long considered as Port’s barometer, a fully firing Dixon has been key to the Power’s rise up the ladder this year.
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The day it was announced that Charlie Dixon had recommitted to Port Adelaide, turning his back on a Queensland homecoming to stay at Alberton with his other “family”, Power players and coaches gathered at the footy club for dinner and a games night.
They trained at twilight on Wednesday in preparation to play North Melbourne this weekend then had dinner organised by the club’s dietitian and had basketball and minigolf challenges at their headquarters.
“It’s great for the whole coaching group, strength and conditioning staff and players to get together and have a feed and relax,” assistant coach Jarrad Schofield said on SEN on Friday.
“In my time as head coach at Subiaco that was the one thing I wanted to make clear that there were no groups within the playing group, inexperienced to most experienced, we were all together and knew each other as best we can on and off the field.
“TJ (captain Tom Jonas) and the leaders have done a fantastic job of embracing the young fellas who have come in and would be proud of the group and culture we’re building towards. It hasn’t happened overnight, there’s been a major shift over the last couple of years and the biggest thing is the players drive it.”
It’s probably why Dixon this week admitted he initially planned on completing his five-year deal and returning to Queensland, but the longer he stayed the more he fell in love with the place.
“I love this club and it was a pretty easy decision for me,” Dixon said.
“I’ve made Adelaide my home and Port are my family, I did think about some other options but it didn’t feel right for me, the right fit for me is here at Port Adelaide.”
Later he posted a photo on Instagram of him and the entire squad outside a coffee shop in Queensland during one of the Power’s pre-season trips north which were designed in equal part to build fitness and connection among the group.
Dixon’s sentiment was shared by midfielder Sam Powell-Pepper who joined the club from WA in the 2016 draft and also signed on until 2023 this week.
“This club has always supported me since I walked in the door in 2016. The people here are like family and it feels like home.”
For whatever reason, Port Adelaide has had a knack in coach Ken Hinkley’s time of keeping the players it loves and recruiting the ones it wants.
“We’re really fortunate at the moment that we have a group that want to stick together,” football manager Chris Davies said this week.
Dixon and Powell-Pepper’s signatures were among the final pieces of the Power’s puzzle this year.
Ruckman Scott Lycett and defenders Tom Clurey and Darcy Byrne-Jones are also locked away to 2023, star kids Connor Rozee, Zak Butters and Xavier Duursma to 2022 along with Travis Boak, Jonas, Ollie Wines, Todd Marshall, Karl Amon and Peter Ladhams, while Robbie Gray, Tom Rockliff and Hamish Hartlett are signed for next year at least.
Trent McKenzie is set to follow suit and re-sign in coming weeks while first-year forward Mitch Georgiades looms as its next target to lock in at Alberton.
If it’s Hinkley and Davies’ job to keep them then it’s recruiting manager Geoff Parker’s job to find them and list manager Jason Cripps’ job to work out how to make it all happen.
Cripps is somewhat of an unsung hero at Port Adelaide despite spending the past nine years in the role.
But that seems to be his style. As a rugged defender he played 60 games for St Kilda, including the 1997 Grand Final, before a serious hamstring injury curtailed his career.
He was an assistant under Grant Thomas at the Saints and moved to Port Adelaide at the end of 2006 under Mark Williams before taking on the list manager’s job.
Based in Melbourne he is reluctant to do any media and does his best work behind the scenes.
In 2015 he survived a major health scare when he had a heart attack while on a run in Perth and was rushed to hospital where he spent three days in a coma in intensive care.
He recovered and on his watch the Power has built a squad that is contending for this year’s premiership while trading three players in their prime in the past two years.
Jared Polec and Chad Wingard were both high draft picks and 25-years-old when the Power traded them to North Melbourne and Hawthorn respectively in 2018.
Despite fan backlash, the deals netted Port Adelaide Ryan Burton and Sam Mayes and allowed them to shuffle their draft hand to grab Rozee, Butters and Duursma in the 2018 national draft.
The decision to trade Howard to St Kilda at the age of 23 last year effectively landed them key forward Mitch Georgiades with pick 18 in the draft and he looms as long-term prospect.
“We create an environment that we hope people want to be a part of and stay a part of, it’s satisfying when players want to commit and stay with you, and that says enough about the environment without us talking it up,” Hinkley said on Friday.
The Power coach is also signed for 2021 which will be his ninth season but he has not given any consideration about extending that yet.
“Not even on my radar,” he said.
Instead, he is focused on cementing the Power’s spot on top of the ladder and turning that into a serious run at this year’s premiership.
He has confirmed three changes for Saturday’s clash against North Melbourne with veterans Justin Westhoff and Brad Ebert, and defender Riley Bonner all dropped for Kane Farrell, Dan Houston and Steven Motlop.
All calls were made on form and Hinkley said Ebert’s omission was not related to his head knock in last week’s win over Sydney.
Westhoff and Ebert are two club stalwarts who have played 536 games between but will face a nervous few weeks to break back into the side for finals.
“Like anyone they’ve got challenges and they’ve got to respond and when they’re in the side they’ve got to play well enough to keep their spot,” Hinkley said.
“Westy and Brad are senior players who have been around for a long time but they have the same challenges as any player.
“Westy will earn the opportunity to sit down at the right time and reflect on his eason and where he’s at and what he needs to do from there, it will be about where Justin thinks he’s at as much as anyone, but right now I need Westy focusing on playing well because at some point in the next few weeks hopefully Westy will be a part of the team.”
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