by valleys07 » Mon May 18, 2015 12:13 am
Round 7 Review vs. Brisbane- Humiliated. Shamed. Debacle. Choose your own headline.
PAFC 8.17.65
BLFC 15.12.102
Goals:
Port Adelaide- Monfries 3, Gray, Cornes, Schulz, Wingard, Amon 1.
The above headline was given to us by The Advertiser on the 30th September 2007. There have been many dark days since then and today is certainly no exception, but I fail to describe our performance today in any other fashion. There is a foul smell coming from Brisbane at present, it’s Port Adelaide.
I can sit here and list hundreds of things that went wrong today, it’s bloody obvious I would have thought, however 3 things have stood out for me all season;
1) Tackling. Particularly tonight, however we have been insipid in this area for most of the season. Teams are getting a hold of us on the outside and forcing the footy forward with ease due to our complete and utter inability to lay a decent tackle that either forces another stoppage, or creates a turnover. We laid 88 tackles tonight, I challenge anyone who watched the game this evening to name 10 tackles that benefited us. I can only think of Gray in the centre where it resulted in a turnover. I can think of at least 15 Brisbane tackles where either the football was dispossessed, or it forced a turnover. Ollie Wines will be massive around the stoppages in this area, but we are not laying any quality tackles in our forward 50 to trap the footy (how many times did Brisbane just waltz the footy out of their defensive 50 tonight, without a Port player even looking like laying a tackle!?!!), or laying any in our defensive 50 to quell the influence of small forwards able to release the footy, or kick goals themselves.
2) Workrate. It is now safe to conclude that Port Adelaide’s perceived fitness edge was a myth. Not only have we been comprehensively outscored in 2nd halves, we are reactive at stoppages, we are slow on the spread when we do have the footy, and our defensive pressure is non-existent (particularly when we turn the footy over). The offensive spread was there in patches tonight, but opposition teams have completely blanketed us of access of the corridor (we have lost our dare to move the footy through there), but our workrate back to assist our defence is horrid to watch. I’d hate to be a Homsbch or a Trengove tonight- if their opponents brought the ball forward, Josh Green and Mitch Robinson (**** me!!), along with Beams, Redden, Taylor, Rich were there to mop the crumbs without a Port Adelaide opponent there to effectively apply pressure. This is the single biggest reason as to how opposition teams get numbers back to block our space forward, yet we get opened up over the back. Travis Boak, Brad Ebert, Matt White, Ollie Wines and Kane Cornes’ play on rates exceeded 44% last season, ranking them in the top 53 players in this category across the competition. Wonder what that stat is this year….Burgess has mentioned something about increasing our workloads by as much as 15% from 2013-14. We look like we are wearing lead boots at present- and for **** sake, don’t worry about us reaching optimum levels of freshness by round 18 in preparation for September, it will do us no good when we are 5-12.
3) Contested Possession and ability to hold position at stoppages. This was mostly prevalent tonight- we are winning our fair share of the footy around the stoppage, but therein lies the issue. Boak, Gray, Ebert are able to win the footy, but often are immediately set upon by opposition midfielders and are forced into kicks or handballs under pressure. From there we are hurt on the turnover, and our workrate issue results in scores from turnovers and scores from stoppages. We conceded 3 goals from turnovers tonight, and a massive 10.6 from stoppages. Absolutely and utterly unacceptable from a side that supposedly prides itself on 2 way gut runs, and winning the footy. We rank a disappointing 10th in contested possession this season- not to dissimilar to last year (7th on average), but I would love to know the stat for scores for and against from turnovers and from stoppages compared to this time last year…Perhaps Walsh was more important than we realised??
After listening to Ken’s presser, it is the first time I can legitimately say I’ve seen him furious at this performance. One can only hope as a Power fan, that this is the line in the sand kind of moment. The Brisbane loss to Carlton before winning 16 straight in 2001, the Geelong loss to North at Skilled Stadium in 2007. Time to extract the digit, Port Adelaide.
Nothing went right for us tonight, everything went wrong- so onto player reviews.
Top 5:
Robbie Gray- Lead almost every statistical category tonight, in a clear best afield performance (for Port). My only criticism of Gray is that there is not 2 of him- one to park up forward as well as one to have in the midfield. 25 touches (17 contested), 11 clearances, 10 tackles, 4 I50’s and a goal were his numbers tonight. Unfortunately he just doesn’t get enough protection at around the ground stoppages, as I’m sure our offensive transition would be infinitely better if he had the space that he seems to find at centre bounces.
Jack Hombsch- A terrific performance tonight, from Jack- seems to be growing in stature by the week. Doesn’t get the accolades externally that I believe he deserves. 13 touches, 7 marks, 13 1% acts and 3 tackles. In a defence that was missing Carlisle, and with Trengove looking out of sorts, I think Jack can hold his head high tonight. Destroyed McStay tonight.
Angus Monfries- Worked extremely hard tonight, both up the ground to present as a target, and around the contest to generate chances and lock the ball inside our 50. Finished with 17 touches, 6 marks, 2 tackles, 4 I50’s and 3 goals. My one criticism of him was his positioning when the footy was coming in long. Too often we found ourselves going 2 or 3 up in a contest, and Monfries was missing on a few occasions where we were crying out for a crumber, particularly in that 3rd quarter when the game was still in the balance.
Chad Wingard- Was probably our best outside mid tonight, and was our only small forward smart enough to stay on deck as the crumber, as we found ourselves competing against each other time and time again for contested marks inside 50. Finished with 25 touches, 4 tackles, 3 I50’s and a goal. His only deficiency tonight was his disposal efficiency- running at a paltry 56%, which is probably a reflection of the pressure applied by Brisbane, particulary around the stoppage.
Nathan Krakouer- Very clean out of the back 50 tonight and was able to take multiple intercept marks as well as be one of the few players able to find himself on the end of a few attacking drives and deliver inside 50. 17 touches, 6 marks, 4 I50s and 2 tackles- another impressive display after he was clearly Port’s best against West Coast.
The Rest:
Travis Boak- Allowed absolutely no space at stoppages tonight, rendering his possessions ineffective, operating at 48%. 27 touches (10 clangers), 5 clearances, 8 tackles and 4 I50’s- one who is going to benefit from Wines’ inclusion back into the side as a bullocking midfielder able to open up space for Boak to use the footy. Will never question his workrate, but tonight wasn’t our skippers finest hour.
Hamish Hartlett- I’m longing for Hammer to unleash a couple of bombs from outside 50- but something is off with him at present. Whether he has been rushed back early and is still experiencing niggles, whether its confidence in the hamstring, I’m not sure? 22 touches, 4 clearances, 7 tackles and 5 I50’s- there is no issue finding the footy, but one cannot deny that we are not seeing the Hartlett we have become accustomed to.
Matthew Lobbe- Right, I’m going to be pretty harsh here. Lobbe is offering us less than nothing at present. I love his endeavour, but for **** sakes- GET INVOLVED AROUND THE GROUND!!! Lobbe isn’t renowned for marks around the ground, which is an area I really need to see him improve. Won his fair share of hitouts (31) along with 14 touches, 6 tackles and 7 1% acts- his ability to find Gray repeatedly at centre bounces was great to watch.
Matthew Broadbent- Like Hartlett, just not having the impact we are accustomed to. 22 touches, 5 clearances, 6 tackles, but little influence on the contest. 1 I50 is the underlying stat- playing through the midfield, a player of his calibre should be delivering the footy inside 50 and hitting targets, ala. North Melbourne. Down on his 2014 and by Christ do we need a lift from him.
Paddy Ryder- Could have really made an impact on the contest tonight, but didn’t take his chances. 3 marks I50 for 0.3, deary me. Won his fair share of hitouts (21) along with 12 touches and 3 tackles. Battled hard but needs to make the most of his opportunities.
Justin Westhoff- Had 4 marks early in the 2nd quarter and I thought he was set for a return to form, then it all just disappeared. 16 touches, 6 marks, 6 I50’s reads ok, but just isn’t getting himself in dangerous spots up forward, not to mention he is completely at sea down back. Some other forums are calling for a spell back in the 2’s….not sure we can afford to do it, but the argument has merit.
Jay Schulz- Competing against 3 defenders for most of the day, simply no chance. Had to take his chances when they presented, but in fairness to him our delivery inside 50 was less than mediocre. 13 touches, 7 marks and 1.2 were the numbers.
Brad Ebert- Well down on his output so far this season, and couldn’t have happened on a worse day, where we were crying out for some outside run. 16 touches, 4 clearances and 7 I50’s- just nowhere near it all day.
Kane Mitchell- The less said about his game, the better. His decision making was just that 2 to 3 second too slow, and was less than impressive around the stoppage, offering us no spread offensively, and no hard running defensively. 14 touches and 6 tackles.
Jasper Pittard- Probably the one player that has the embarrassing “accolade” of being towelled up by Mitch Robinson (****me). More turnovers, and Robinson curbed his influence on the rebound. 16 touches and 3 R50’s. Not one I50, when he and Broadbent are combining for 1 I50 per game, Port are in strife.
Jarman Impey- Green got a hold of him on the way to 3 goals, some poor positioning really costing him. On other occasions he was able to defend really well, working well around defensive stoppages on his way to 8 tackles. A lot to like, just needs to tidy up small parts of his game.
Kane Cornes- Defensively was very good on Rockliff, but should have been switched to Beams in that 3rd quarter where Beams went beserk and really hurt us. 13 touches and a goal. Heart just isn’t there anymore.
Tom Jonas- A mere shadow of what I have known and come to love about Tommy. Zorko gave him the run around, and his stats probably exceed what I noticed of him. 11 touches, 5 R50’s, 5 tackles and 6 1% acts. Another who is under pressure to remain in the side.
Cameron O’Shea- 7 touches and 3 I50’s. That’s all I have to say about that.
Matt White- 7 touches and 2 tackles- Again, that’s all I have to say about that.
Jackson Trengove- Leuenberger out bodying Trengove in the 2nd quarter (?) probably summed his evening. Another who might be suffering through a lack of pre-season. 9 touches and 5 1% acts..need much more from such an important part of our side.
Karl Amon- Came on as the sub and really liked what I saw. Offered us outside run and zip around the contest. 9 touches and a nice goal. Plenty to work with there.
As I said in my round 5 review- we must be 9-3 at the break to be considered a contender. Well at 3-4 that is already gone. Now it’s a matter of drawing the line in the sand and returning to something resembling the Port Adelaide of 2013-14, in an effort to stop our season from spiralling out of control. I still have nightmares about our 48 point drubbing at the hands of the Tigers in our 140th anniversary match in 2010. They have just come off of a stirring win against the Pies, and will be breathing fire to salvage something from our last meeting.
Seriously worried about where our season looks to be headed. Premiership contenders? Pfft….at present we look to be joining the suns as the season’s biggest disappointment, and far out that is tough to be writing after round 7. The time is now, Port Adelaide. Are you ready to piss away the season, or will you be like Brisbane or a Geelong, and make a stand?
See you at the footy.
Valleys.
“Think of me like Yoda, but instead of being little and green I wear suits and I'm awesome. I'm your bro—I'm Broda!”
HOGG Shield 2015 Division I Premiers.
HOGG Shield 2017 Premier League Premiers.
