Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley made the tough, but right call to drop Tom Rockliff and rejuvenate the Power’s engine room
There weren’t too many positives to take out of Port Adelaide’s Round 5 loss last week. But the performance from Zak Butters suggests he’s a star in the making, writes Kane Cornes. SEE THIS WEEK’S WINNERS AND LOSERS
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Port Adelaide suffered its first loss of the season against Brisbane last Saturday night, and it highlighted a significant flaw in the makeup of Ken Hinkley’s team.
The midfield mix was one-paced and predictable and was exposed by the dominant Brisbane engine room that scored seven stoppage goals to the Power’s three.
Tom Rockliff and Ollie Wines can’t play together in the same midfield as they are too similar and are ineffective when tasked with playing another role.
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Hinkley had to make a brutal selection call to leave one of the two out of the side that takes on GWS Giants at Metricon Stadium on Sunday.
And, in the end the axe fell on Rockliff.
Two weeks ago Hinkley spoke glowingly of Wines after he returned to the side in round three.
“It was a great performance by Ollie. Plenty of people wanted to throw some strange questions around his selection in our football team, in our football club, but I couldn’t quite understand it myself – he was outstanding,” Hinkley said.
But since that successful return in the wet against Fremantle, his form has significantly dropped away.
In the past two games, Wines averages just 14 disposals and 2.5 clearances.
On paper, Rockliff’s number are slightly better, but the impact he is having on games in minimal.
Rockliff averages 20 disposals per game in 2020 but only three score involvements and three clearances.
To accommodate Wines and Rockliff in the middle Hinkley had been forced to shunt Dan Houston to the backline.
Houston was a revelation when moved into the midfield last year and finished third in the best and fairest.
Alarmingly he has attended only two centre bounce stoppages during the previous three weeks since Wines was reintroduced into the midfield.
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Another player suffering the effects of the midfield squeeze is second-year gun Connor Rozee.
Rozee has been shifted out of the midfield and back to the half-forward role that he executed so well in his rookie year.
In the Showdown demolition of Adelaide, Rozee had eight clearances playing as a midfielder and was near best on the ground.
His form has dipped significantly since due in part to his lack of midfield minutes.
He’s attended just 21 centre bounce stoppages in the last three weeks including only six against Brisbane in round five.
In contrast, Wines has attended 44 centre bounces and Rockliff 36 in the same period.
Even midfielder turned forward Sam Powell-Pepper has been present at 26 centre bounces since round three.
This was a big selection call for Hinkley. He couldn’t persist with the current midfield mix of Travis Boak, Wines and Rockliff – one that he has repeatedly counted on over the past two seasons which hasn’t been successful.
Port Adelaide’s midfield needed an injection of speed and class if it is to match it with the dynamic Giants who are set to welcome back Callan Ward and Tim Taranto into the line-up.
Hinkley needed to axe a big name, and in the end Rockliff was probably the right call, and put his trust back in Houston and Rozee to light the fuse and dodge a repeat of last week’s mediocre midfield performance.
THIS WEEK’S WINNERS AND LOSERS
WINNERS
1. Simpson clone
Adelaide defender Will Hamill continues to take the game on and attack from defence while his teammates adhere to Matthew Nicks’ slow and stifled game plan.
Hamill is strikingly similar to Carlton veteran Kade Simpson and a long and successful career awaits.
2. Doedee’s back
It was brilliant to see Adelaide’s Tom Doedee return to his best in Sunday’s loss to Fremantle. In only his fourth game back from a knee reconstruction he collected 18 disposals with a kicking efficiency of 86 per cent to go with three courageous intercept marks.
3. Butters brilliance
Second-year forward Zak Butters was Port Adelaide’s best player in its loss to Brisbane and was the one player who threatened to get the Power back in the game. He plays with flair and enthusiasm and has quickly turned himself into a dangerous midfielder as well as an elite small forward.
4. Haynes takes over
With Collingwood’s Jeremy Howe sidelined with a knee injury, GWS defender Nick Haynes is now the No. 1 intercept player in the AFL. In Sunday’s victory against Hawthorn, Haynes took five intercept marks to go with 21 disposals and five tackles.
It’s not often a tall defender gets tagged, but Ken Hinkley should consider clamping down on the Giants gun this week.
5. SA pair to debut
South Australian duo Dylan Stephens and Izak Rankine are set to debut for Sydney and Gold Coast at the weekend. Stephens, who was drafted from Norwood at pick five in 2019 possesses elite speed and endurance while Rankine, whose rookie season was ruined by a hamstring injury, could be the most talented South Australian to join the AFL since Matthew Pavlich went to Fremantle in 1999.
LOSERS
1. Sluggish Sloane
Adelaide captain Rory Sloane is playing sore but that can’t be an excuse for his substantial drop in form this season. It has been a far from ideal start to Sloane’s captaincy as he is averaging just seven kicks per game and has only scored two goals in his five matches. Sloane, 30, still has three seasons beyond this one remaining on his contract.
2. Reid’s false dawn
Adelaide list manger Justin Reid told The Advertiser the Crows are in the middle of a four-year rebuild. Those comments are misleading considering the club only recently cleaned out the playing group and started blooding young players such as Chayce Jones, Darcy Fogarty, Ned McHenry and Fischer McAsey. The Crows have just hit the start line of the rebuild and are not halfway through.
3. Missing Howard
Port Adelaide’s defensive unit was exposed for the first time this year against the giant Brisbane forward line which took 12 marks inside 50. Eric Hipwood (202cm), Oscar McInerny (205cm) and Dan McStay (195cm) towered over Port Adelaide defenders Tom Jonas (188cm), Tom Clurey (193cm) and Trent McKenzie (191cm) and for the first time this year the Power missed former defender Dougal Howard, now at St Kilda.
4. Collingwood culture
No club has had as many off-field indiscretions as Collingwood in the past 10 years. The latest came this week when star forward Jordan De Goey was charged by police with indecent assault and could face up to 10 years in jail if found guilty. There continues to be major cultural problems at the Magpies and it needs an urgent review.
5. Balls up
The most confusing rule in the competition just got even more confusing. The umpires paid 32 more holding the ball free kicks than the previous weeks and there were some very contentious adjudications. Players who go and win the ball need to be protected not penalised for holding the ball, which was the case on several occasions in round five.
Originally published as Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley made the tough, but right call to drop Tom Rockliff and rejuvenate the Power’s engine room
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