Port Adelaide burning questions: Seven key issues for Power in 2023 AFL season

Port Adelaide failed to measure up to opponents in one key area in 2022 - we look at why 2023 is set to present the same problem and examine the key questions the club faces in 2023.

Ken Hinkley. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

Port Adelaide is preparing to enter its 11th pre-season under coach Ken Hinkley and is aiming to return to the finals after a disappointing 2022.

Expectations are high but can they meet them?

Here are some key questions surrounding the Power heading into next year:

1. Was 2022 a blip or a sign the team is no longer a flag contender?

Port Adelaide feels like it is somewhere in the middle, primed to bounce back into the top eight but not a serious premiership challenger.

Although the list has a nice blend of youth, experience and players in between, questions remain about its rucks, midfield depth, finishing and small forwards in particular.

Much was made about the Power’s 0-5 start this year but it also lost four consecutive games from rounds 18 to 21 when the whips were cracking.

Its buoyant finish to the campaign came via wins against non-finalists Essendon and Adelaide, not exactly measuring sticks.

Ultimately, Port Adelaide recorded its worst finish of the Ken Hinkley era – 10 wins, 12 losses, 11th on the ladder.

Getting a full season from Charlie Dixon would add another dimension for Port.

Getting more games out of key players such as Charlie Dixon (missed 10 in 2022), Scott Lycett (18) and Orazio Fantasia (22, unused medical substitute in his sole appearance) will be a big boost.

But a host of other stars barely missed a game.

You also have to wonder if Dixon has another 45-goal season in him, given the toll taken on his body, and whether injury-prone Fantasia can play more than 10 games.

Club great Robbie Gray will be a big loss, even though West Coast premiership goalsneak Junior Rioli is a handy inclusion.

Gray is among the most clutch players of this generation and has been reliable for so long.

Port Adelaide’s record in close matches will have a big say on its season.

It was 2-6 in clashes decided by two goals or fewer this past season after being 5-0 in 2021.

Captain Tom Jonas told News Corp after the round 23 Showdown win that he could feel the hunger in the team again after conceding “we didn’t have that fire in the belly that you need at this level for long enough” this year.

Clubs and players have to spruik positivity, so expect plenty of talk from Alberton about how things feel like 2020 and 2021, that the talent is still there.

History suggests the chances of the Power going from also-ran to a grand final or flag are slim.

Melbourne did it in 2021, but the Demons had more top-end talent.

While a lot can change, right now, Port Adelaide looks poised to be a semi-finalist at best.

2. What does Ken Hinkley need to do to earn a contract extension?

Only the Power hierarchy is able to know for sure.

Hinkley enters the last year of his contract under as much pressure as any coach in the competition.

If he misses the finals, he is surely gone.

But what about if the Power makes it and loses in the first week?

How about a semi-final exit or a prelim?

Grand final or bust is unreasonable, but the mood for change will be high unless the team returns to the premiership mix.

Noisy sections among the Power’s supporters suggest it already is.

Only a flag will satisfy them.

Collingwood showed this year under Craig McRae how a new coach can rejuvenate a list.

Port Adelaide made a wise decision to back Hinkley in for 2023 amid external calls for his sacking.

Hinkley also stayed loyal as interstate job opportunities arose.

The Power viewed this year as an aberration after consecutive preliminary finals and believed it was better standing pat instead of bringing someone new in while it chased a flag.

Hinkley has been here before.

He entered 2020 under immense pressure after two years without finals then steered the club to a minor premiership and preliminary final.

A similar run will probably be needed to guarantee he is at Alberton in 2024.

Having said that, the list of coaches getting dumped in the past 40 years after making the finals at all is not long.

Hinkley clearly did not enjoy answering questions about his future this year, but they would get far more pointed if the club started slowly again or did not bounce back into the finals.

Ken Hinkley has been backed to lead Port Adelaide back up the ladder.

3. What will Jason Horne-Francis deliver in year two?

The football world will be scrutinising the Power recruit’s progress from his first match in 2022 and it will be expecting noticeable improvement.

Yes, he is still only 19 and there will be an adjustment at being at a new club.

But Horne-Francis has attributed some of his struggles to North Melbourne’s unsettled environment in his debut season, a two-win campaign featuring the sacking of coach David Noble.

That cannot be an excuse at the Power, nor will homesickness.

As the Horne-Francis trade became headline news and people lined up to pot him for his professionalism or not being up for the fight at the Kangaroos, lost in it all was his form.

His debut season might have appeared underwhelming on the surface, particularly after the pre-draft comparisons with Nick Daicos.

Yet per 100 minutes after the same number of matches, Horne-Francis was averaging 2.2 more possessions, 0.6 contested disposals, 80 metres gained and 0.7 clearances more than Patrick Dangerfield.

Jason Horne-Francis got his wish to join Port Adelaide in the trade period.

According to Champion Data, his 16.5 disposals per game and 267 metres gained ranked average across the competition for midfielder-forwards, his contested possessions (8.2) and clearances (3.5) were above average and his score involvements (3.1) below average.

Horne-Francis recorded 23 disposals and six clearances against grand finalist Sydney.

He had the second-most clearances of any player (eight) in the game versus eventual premier Geelong.

Daicos was brilliant this year but the father-son gun was playing for a flag contender, not a cellar-dweller.

Now Horne-Francis gets a chance at a team that expects to challenge for a premiership.

He is a competitive beast on the field with Dangerfield-esque traits and potential.

It took Dangerfield until his fifth season to average more than 20 disposals per game.

With Ollie Wines, Connor Rozee, Travis Boak and Zak Butters taking top billing in a far better midfield than at the Kangaroos, Horne-Francis should not have to carry as big a mantle.

Improving his consistency, kicking more goals (after only four from his 17 games in 2022), playing his part in a Power finals return and being in the headlines solely for what he is achieving with his football will be a successful season.

4. Is the small forward puzzle solved?

What was an area of strength for the Power the two previous seasons turned into a liability in 2022.

Fantasia was unsighted at AFL level, Gray missed six games battling a nagging knee issue, Steven Motlop struggled for form, while Rozee and Butters spent far more time in the midfield.

Workhorses Sam Powell-Pepper and Lachie Jones were left to battle as high half-forwards.

Polish was lacking.

Hinkley lamented his side’s inside 50 connection and conversion in what became the Power’s second-lowest scoring campaign of his tenure.

Gray and Motlop are now gone, essentially replaced by Rioli and Geelong seven-gamer Francis Evans.

Fantasia’s availability could have another significant bearing on the Power’s fortunes.

In 2021, he booted 28.23 – the second-most scoring shots at the club – which included four majors in the qualifying final win over Geelong.

A fit and healthy Orazio Fantasia would be a game changer for the Power. Picture: Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images

But how many games can the club expect from him, given his injury history?

Fantasia has not played more than 15 since 2017.

Going into an off-season without surgery for the first time in seven years is an important building block.

Then there is Rioli.

Just how much can be expected from a player who has missed two of the past three seasons due to a doping violation?

He kicked 14.3 from 13 games in 2022.

At his best, Rioli is a crafty potential matchwinner and he has tasted premiership success.

He should benefit from being closer to family in SA, from another pre-season and those 14 games.

But Rioli needs to stay fit and repay Port’s faith.

Evans is something of an unknown, arriving as a promising delisted free agent but relatively untried at the top level.

Rioli and Fantasia would appear the first-choice options with Evans as depth.

A younger group than Gray and Motlop, but not as reliable.

This part of the ground still looks to be an area of potential concern.

5. What is the club’s best ruck combination?

Horses for courses.

Although Scott Lycett will be back from injury, Port Adelaide’s pursuit of Brodie Grundy shows the club still wants to strengthen that area.

Jeremy Finlayson and Charlie Dixon impressed in the ruck with Lycett sidelined for 18 matches.

GWS recruit Finlayson was almost like an extra midfielder, using his athleticism to run off his opponent, gain first possession and win clearances.

According to Champion Data, he was the No. 1 ranked ruckman in the competition during a mid-season stretch where the Power won five of six games to resurrect its season.

It allowed Dixon to spend more time forward, then provide a valuable chop-out, particularly when his strength was needed against some of the league’s biggest ruckmen.

Facing star ruckmen Max Gawn and Sean Darcy were when that combination was exposed.

That is where the Power needs Lycett’s experience, craft and size.

The mobility, flexibility, and attacking threat of having Finlayson as the No. 1, backed up by Dixon, is such that you can expect Lycett to spend time in the SANFL.

Not every week and perhaps not to start the season, but at various stages.

The Power’s willingness to let Sam Hayes leave via trade and overlooking him at selection late this year suggests he will be a back-up option.

Brynn Teakle looks to be a forward who can pinch-hit, rather than a ruckman, so probably is in line for games when Dixon or Finlayson are out.

Port Adelaide will be desperate to get Orazio Fantasia back to full fitness.

Jeremy Finlayson had success as a makeshift ruckman.

6. Will the Power rue not trading in Esava Ratugolea?

Yes.

Not simply because of the size and intercept prowess he could have added to its backline, but he would have been capable of being a back-up ruckman and another tall forward option.

That is not to say the Power should have paid overs to get the 24-year-old from Geelong.

Port Adelaide’s key defenders have battled valiantly while being largely undersized, but in key games the group has sometimes been found wanting against taller opponents.

In the season-opening 11-point loss to Brisbane, 200cm-plus duo Joe Daniher (4.3) and Darcy Fort (2.0) played a crucial role.

Esava Ratugolea at Geelong Cats training. Picture: Alison Wynd

A week later, 198cm Mitch Lewis booted five majors in Hawthorn’s shock 64-point victory.

Elliott Himmelberg, another 198cm forward, kicked four in the Crows’ Showdown upset the next game.

In the eight-point loss to Fremantle, it was 206cm Rory Lobb who proved the matchwinner, kicking five majors.

Tom Hawkins (198cm) added four in Geelong’s round 19 win that all but ended the Power’s finals hopes then Tom Lynch (199cm) kicked the same amount for Richmond a fortnight later.

The pursuit of Ratugolea shows Port Adelaide sees it as an area that needs strengthening.

For now, it will have to make do with Aliir Aliir (194cm), Tom Jonas (188cm) and either Tom Clurey (193cm) or Trent McKenzie (191cm) battling those giant forwards, while it develops 20-year-old Ollie Lord (197cm) as a future key backman.

Scott Lycett tunes in during a SANFL game.

7. How many years does Travis Boak have left?

At least two more.

Aged 34 and with his great mate Robbie Gray having now bowed out, it is easy to think Boak is entering his swan song in 2023.

Form and fitness suggest otherwise.

Boak should finish in the top five of the Power’s best-and-fairest for a fourth consecutive season and missed just one game this year.

Aside from being sidelined five times in 2020, the midfielder has played at least 21 matches in every campaign since 2012.

It is remarkable durability for a player whose summer training regimen is legendary and in-season care of his body includes daily sessions in his home sauna.

Around the time of his 300th game milestone last year, Boak mentioned to some people close to him he planned to get to 400.

Back in the US to train this off-season, the veteran is again leaving no stone unturned in his quest to be the best player he can.

Things can change quickly, including the potential of a Hinkley departure and what that means for Boak.

But the former captain is certainly playing well enough to continue beyond 2023, seems to still enjoy the grind of a season and his football more generally.

He can still have a big influence on the Power’s premiership push.

Gray’s retirement would likely make Boak question his own football longevity but while his close friend bowing out was not a surprise, him doing so after another standout season would be.

How much midfield time will Travis Boak see next year?

Originally published as Port Adelaide burning questions: Seven key issues for Power in 2023 AFL season