Port Adelaide 2015

[woodublieve12]

Ryder more overrated than Tippett as a forward who can play in the ruck.

[Lightning McQueen]

Ryder more overrated than Tippett as a forward who can play in the ruck.

Tippet averaging under 10 possessions and less than 2 goals per game this season.
Ryder is a tad under 12 possessions per game and less than a goal per match.

Both C-'s.

[Booney]

Ryder more overrated than Tippett as a forward who can play in the ruck.

Tippet averaging under 10 possessions and less than 2 goals per game this season.
Ryder is a tad under 12 possessions per game and less than a goal per match.

Both C-'s.

Bit rough calling them both "C's"!

[carey]

Ryder more overrated than Tippett as a forward who can play in the ruck.

Tippet averaging under 10 possessions and less than 2 goals per game this season.
Ryder is a tad under 12 possessions per game and less than a goal per match.

Both C-'s.

Bit rough calling them both "C's"!

Racist

[True North]

I think we should cut Ryder a bit of slack, at least for the time being. Although both he and Lobbe aren't playing to their full potential at the moment, there's got to be a period of adjustment having them both in the side. Ryder looked great the first few rounds of the season, it's only been the last couple of weeks that he's gone a bit quiet. The achilles injury that has him missing this week's game is apparently something he's been carrying for the last two weeks as well, which could explain a few things. On the other hand, he has so far performed best when Lobbe has been out of the side, so perhaps their much hyped partnership is still a work in progress. I'm interested in seeing if Lobbe's form improves this week being the sole ruckman for the side.

[daysofourlives]

Its a pity Ryder's now injured, he could've been the perfect replacement for Trengove, has played there before and been very good

[ORDoubleBlues]

How many weeks until Andrew Moore can return after decking the umpire?

This is his 3rd week I believe- due to return in Round 7.

how would he feel now after will Minson incident? Moore deserved 1 game at most

[The Bedge]

@valleys07 @Booney- Where's your weekly review? It's one of the highlights of my Monday's looking forward to your write ups!

[Footy Smart]

@valleys07 @Booney- Where's your weekly review? It's one of the highlights of my Monday's looking forward to your write ups!

yep what Zartan said.... cmon give the people what they want!

[bennymacca]

@valleys07 @Booney- Where's your weekly review? It's one of the highlights of my Monday's looking forward to your write ups!

It makes me come and want to read a port power thread FFS

[Booney]

I’ve been holidaying overseas for the last two weeks, catching the first half of the Brisbane game on TV and the first half of the Richmond game on the radio....and if the first quarter from Saturday represents the bulk of our game play in those two games it’s fair to say I’m glad I’ve missed them!

The first quarter on Saturday had the Demons pretty much doing as they pleased. They held the ball inside their F50, they gave Port no room to run and carry and when Port did go forward the structure simply wasn’t there, it looked liked another long, long day ahead. If it wasn’t for a clutch kick from Schulz on the 50m arc / boundary line after the siren Port would have been 1 point at ¼ time. ( The lowest this year has been 0.4 to Brisbane )

With the first two goals of the second quarter and taking the lead outside 4 goals it looked like Melbourne by how much and season over at Alberton. Port were being forced to hold the ball coming out of defence, kick to contests down the line and ultimately return the ball back to Melbourne’s forward half. Dunn, Cross and McDonald were owning the Melbourne back half and Pedersen, Hogan and Garlett were looking dangerous forward of the ball.

Then what happened? Somewhere, sometime in the second term, around the 10 minute mark our season seemingly came to life. One goal turned to two and before long two turned to six and we were now 4 goals in front.

One thing that happened was our captain Travis Boak took the game and the opposing skipper by the scruff of the neck. Nathan Jones had 11 first quarter touches, he had 9 more in the last 3 quarters as Boak took his side along with him. Mind you, another influential player also began to make his way into the game, Justin Westhoff ( 17 touches at 83%, 8 hit outs, 2 goals, 3 tackles 2 I50 and 2 R50 – his most complete game of the year ). I’m surprised he didn’t get a mention in any of the scribes best player lists. He wasn’t BOG, but he was influential in the half hour that Port took hold.

The Hoff chopped out for Lobbe (45 hitouts )mid way through the second and appeared to enjoy the structure ( as opposed to the freedom afforded him in the first 6 or so weeks ) and began to get his hands on the ball. From a ball in deep in the right forward pocket he snapped truly along the ground to put us 3 goals clear and the game was now on Ports terms. 7 goals to 3 in the quarter and it wasn’t all Ports way though, 8.4 to 6.2 at half time was hardly game over. It dried up for Melbourne from there. Port scoring 10 goals to 2 after the oranges were consumed.

The third quarter was all Port, Brad Ebert ( probably our current B’n’F leader ) got hold of some ball across half back and then was on the other end of the play in the forward half, he truly runs as hard as anyone in the competition. Gray was leaving packs holding the ball with one hand, Wines was giving Vince a bath and Bernie was getting the shits on because of it. Great stuff. Wingard snapped two goals that are stock standard for him but difficult for others and Broadbent, Hartlett and Hombsch ( a much under rated mid-big defender ) held sway down back. While inconspicuous in their AFL return both Tom Clurey and Paul Stewart came in to the side and did their jobs. Very promising as both have really earned their recall to top level footy.

During this term two players who might have been thinking “sub again” or “SANFL” also had some important touches. Matt White had 8 touches in the third and Angus Monfries kicked the second of his three for the day. Important players running across half back/midfield ( White ) and creating an option as a lead up forward ( Monfries ). Interestingly in the first quarter when it was Melbourne’s game Jack Watts led Matt White to the ball and out gunned him. That’s just effort and intent, not talent or draft pick # and Watts should NEVER lead Matt White to the ball.

4 goals to 1 in the third and by now Melbourne are cooked after chasing tail for 30 minutes. The last quarter of 6 goals to 1 was some icing on the cake for a side who had once again committed to run for each other, not just run for themselves to get their hands on the Sherrin, but to create space for others to run, to block an opposition player and give a team mate some time or (from my limited viewing of the last two games ) to not asking for the ball when in a bad position. There was some flow, some real run and carry not just run for running’s sake.

19 of Ports 22 went at 70%+ D/E with the skipper and Wingard just under 65%. But with 40 touches, 2 goals and a captains game between them that statistic is slightly skewed.

Boons best – Boak, Ebert, Gray, Wines, Schulz, Westhoff, Hartlett (Honourable mentions to Monfries and Hombsch).

[Footy Smart]

Boon, when fit does Ryder come straight back in?

[Booney]

Boon, when fit does Ryder come straight back in?

Yes he does. Lobbe, I think, could be under some pressure over the next two weeks.

His centre square work has been average and he's been laborious with his work around the ground. He needs to step up in the next fortnight without question.

As noted, we came to life when Westhoff went on ball on Saturday, three weeks ago against West Coast it was Ryder giving us some spark when he went on ball. I can't comment on what happened in the Richmond/Brisbane games but statistics don't flatter Lobbe in those games.

[Footy Smart]

Boon, when fit does Ryder come straight back in?

Yes he does. Lobbe, I think, could be under some pressure over the next two weeks.

His centre square work has been average and he's been laborious with his work around the ground. He needs to step up in the next fortnight without question.

As noted, we came to life when Westhoff went on ball on Saturday, three weeks ago against West Coast it was Ryder giving us some spark when he went on ball. I can't comment on what happened in the Richmond/Brisbane games but statistics don't flatter Lobbe in those games.

fair points, i dont think you can play them both. Ideally they need to learn to work together and westoff needs to find his role. But you cant afford to let to many games slip while trying to get the mix right

[Booney]

I think they can both play, but Lobbe needs to offer more around the ground or he ends up being a waste on the bench.

I've thought about Lobbe being subbed out mid way through the third after giving everything in a half, bring in a runner and Ryder / Westhoff ruck the last quarter and a bit out, but that's too simplistic in a game that changes so often from minute to minute.

[Footy Smart]

I think they can both play, but Lobbe needs to offer more around the ground or he ends up being a waste on the bench.

I've thought about Lobbe being subbed out mid way through the third after giving everything in a half, bring in a runner and Ryder / Westhoff ruck the last quarter and a bit out, but that's too simplistic in a game that changes so often from minute to minute.

yeah ideal world that works. What hasnt helped the Lobbe/Ryder/westoff combo has been the form of others who have a bigger impact on games normally. They play to their potential, the side wins and its happy days

[valleys07]

Round 10 Review vs. Western Bulldogs- Have we found our spark?

PAFC 16.4.100
FFC 9.8.62

Goals: Wingard 3, White, Schulz 2, Hartlett, Westhoff, S. Gray, R. Gray, Wines, Stewart, Monfries, Ebert, Boak 1.

Just reading through my review from Round 8, and it’s funny how things can change in the world of sport. That review was us hitting rock bottom- we fare-welled a champion in arguably the most insipid performance since the dark days of 2011-12. Two weeks ago the Port Adelaide Football Club were a shadow of their 2014 selves- our playing group seemed tired, our skill level was abysmal and our players appeared unwilling to do the basics that win games of football, and exhibit the team first attitude that our coach and captain have built this teams reputation around over the past 2 seasons. Then out of nowhere, something changed….at approximately the 10-15 minute mark of the 2nd quarter of last week’s game against Melbourne, a flicker emerged. Port Adelaide had returned, however not as we have come to know them. The few small things that Ken knew were the catalyst to our resurection- workrate, trust in one another, belief in the game plan and skill level appeared. The question then emerged- could we back it up? We followed through with a solid win last night to now sit 5-5, and I find myself asking- can I believe again? Are Port Adelaide a Top 8 chance, and if we make the 8, can we do some damage?

Last night was a funny old spectacle. I walked into the game with real concerns over the Dogs potential to win the contested footy and cut us open on the outside. Heading into the game they were the number one contested footy side and number one tackling side in the competition, and with players such as Dahlhaus, Macrae and Murphy capable of slicing through opposition defence and delivering to the likes of Stringer, Crameri and Boyd- the inconsistent nature of both sides had me fearing the worst- one couldn’t blame the average Port fan for that line of thinking, too!

What transpired was contrary to expectation. The Bulldogs were true to form in the contested stakes- however they were perhaps too defensively minded in their attempt to emulate the feats of West Coast and Richmond. They didn’t seem to have the run and carry offensively that we have seen from them in weeks gone by, namely against GWS and Adelaide. What Port Adelaide did display in contrast to our 3 most recent losses was composure with the footy, particularly coming out of defensive 50. We were beaten in centre clearances 58-47 (14-9 in centre clearances), which had us relying on forward half turnovers from the dogs in order to get our offensive transition under way. Unlike weeks gone by where we have blazed away either out of defensive 50 or when transitioning into our forward line, this week we were prepared to wait for the right option to open up. Aside from aiding the disposal efficiency stat, what control of the footy enabled us to do last night was set up defensively with controlled offensive possession. If we did turn the footy over (which let’s be honest, it’s going to happen more often that we would like), the likes of Carlisle, Hombsch, Clurey were an impenetrable wall across defensive 50. If they were surpassed, the likes of Jonas, Pittard, Broadbent and Impey as well as the midfielders, were not caught hopelessly out of position- thus rarely did we see the Dogs waltz into an open goal, or have a hopeless mismatch occurring deep in the drop zone. It is straight out of the Ross Lyon playbook, but it’s effective. I couldn’t give a stuff how it’s done, so long as we bank the 4 points.

Things that went Right:

• Our forward 6. In losses to West Coast, Richmond and Brisbane- we were a complete and utter abolishment forward of centre. There was no leads, we had forwards triple contesting inside 50 balls leaving nobody to mop the crumbs at the foot of the contest, we were simply incapable of taking a mark I50 and our goal kicking accuracy across those 3 games was 55%, 32% and 27%. The past 2 weeks we have shot at 72% and 80%. The old adage of back kicking is bad football rings true, so not only was it great to see us getting shots at goal (20 scoring shots from 44 entries), but we were taking marks inside 50 (14 @ 31%), our forwards were pressuring to lock the ball in (13 tackles I50), and we were punishing the dogs on the turnover (8.1 to 4.2- the dogs didn’t score a goal from a turnover until after half time). Don’t ask me how Ryder will fit back into this line up- 34 goals in 2 weeks compared with 23 in 3 losses….
• The W’s: Wines, Westhoff, Wingard, White= wickedly good. Wingard is a seriously special talent. There aren’t too many players in the competition who are better on the first take, and have that 6th sense awareness of the positioning of their team mates, or anticipating where they will be. Some of his handballs (the handball to release Monfries which lead to Hartlett’s goal) leave me amazed, and his tandem with Gray in the last quarter was a joy to watch. Wines was his usual best, just a beast around the stoppage in frenetic pursuit of the sherrin, with no regard for who dared try and stop him. White really set the tone for us early in the first quarter with some gut run and a couple of goals to stem the early flow, and Westhoff was back to his absolute best- creating havoc up forward and impassable in defensive 50.
• The performance of our next generation. Karl Amon gave us a glimpse of what we can expect in the future with some great decision making. Jarman Impey blanketed both Tory Dickson and Luke Dahlhaus, and Tom Clurey showed us we have some fantastic KPD depth, with a fantastic 2nd half in unison with Hombsch and Carlisle.

Things that went Wrong:

• I’ll think a little bit lateral here, but I hated the treatment of Travis Boak last night. How good was the Adelaide/Fremantle game last Saturday night? Why? Not only did we have 2 sides bash and crash their way to one of the games of the season, we saw 2 of the competitions stars in Fyfe and Dangerfield, no holds barred, dominate their way to 40 and 38 touches respectively, but it can be argued that neither were the difference in their team winning or losing. Fremantle were just that bit more composed with ball in hand and were able to convert half chances, thus giving us a look at football without the conventional tag. Watching Koby Stevens and Bailey Dale hang to Boak like fly to shit at stoppages with absolutely zero interest in the footy for the first 60 minutes was disappointing as a spectator. Fair enough Stevens was able to hurt Boak going the other way, but it’s an average evening as a paying spectator, having to sit through watching the players that put bums on seats mauled.
• The skill level of our prime ball users was a little disappointing. Broadbent had a pretty horrible first half by foot, Pittard was defensively brilliant but made some costly turnovers on simple skill execution, and Hartlett mixed 50 meter bullets with 15 meter shanks. Might see us be a 6-8 side, but won’t cut the mustard for anything higher.

Player Reviews:

TOP 5:

Ollie Wines- Should be getting the contested plaudits of a Josh Kennedy or Patty Dangerfield, as his ability to hunt the footy, win it and set up his outside runners is absolutely outstanding for a 3rd year player. 33 touches (23 contested), a game high 11 clearances (9 stoppage), 5 tackles and a goal- put it this way, if his last name was Fyfe or Selwood, that is an automatic 3 vote game. Continues on that 25 average for the remainder of his career and he will be an outstanding player for this football club.

Chad Wingard- Averaging 21 touches and nearly 2 goals a game this year, he probably is back to his AA form of 2013 although is getting nowhere near the level of media plaudits he got that season. When he flicks the switch to #Wingod, he is almost unstoppable. 23 touches, 6 marks, 4 I50’s and 3 goals, not to mention 3 score assists and a game high 11 score involvements. Outstanding.

Justin Westhoff- THAT is the Hoff that I know and love!! Controlled proceedings when down back, and was a valuable target up forward and a great foil for Schulz and our smalls. 25 touches, 14 marks and 511 meters gained (outstanding for a big man). The problem now is to find these numbers when Ryder returns.

Jack Hombsch- My current leader of the John Cahill medal, this man has been nothing short of exceptional this season. Primarily on Crameri and Stringer, just kept them to absolutely no influence on the contest. 13 touches, 6 marks, 8 1% acts and almost 300 meters gained- shows that not only is he an ultra-reliable defender as an intercept mark, but is adding valuable rebound to the side. Gun.

Robbie Gray- My clear BOG at half time and whilst he faded out of the contest in the last half, I can’t bring myself to leave him out of our best. He is much like Wingard in the sense that anticipation and awareness of team mates and their positioning is unparalleled to anybody else in the comp. Continually finds space where there is none which is so critical to us being able to bust open the cluster around stoppages. 20 touches, 5 marks, 5 tackles, 4 I50’s and a goal.

The Rest:

Brad Ebert- Pretty stiff to miss my Top 5, but there were probably 12 players who I could have snuck in there for one reason or another. Disposal efficiency a little down but won a stack of the footy on his way to another quality game, along with some great inside work with a game high 12 tackles. 22 touches, 6 marks and 3 I50’s.

Matt White- Another who is very stiff to miss the Top 5. His best game by far since North Melbourne. Looked to be carrying an injury up until last week, but has re-discovered his run and carry, and managed to hit the score sheet last night. 16 touches, 4 marks, 6 tackles, 2 I50’s and 2 goals.

Jasper Pittard- Defensively outstanding with 8 marks, 9 tackles and 14 pressure acts, but offensively gave us nothing last night. I’m not enjoying games where Broadbent and Pittard are not offering us run and carry, driving the footy into our forward 50 with regularity. Yes there was the turnovers from kickouts, yes there was the fumble under no pressure resulting in a goal- but dropping him will do us and him, no favours. We are a better side with Jasper in there and fingers crossed he can get back to where he was in the first 5 rounds.

Hamish Hartlett- Not bad in his 100th games, but still nowhere near his best yet. Finished with 20 touches, 5 clearances, 5 tackles, 4 I50’s and a goal. His meters gained for the evening was a paltry 155- for a man who can kick 60 without even using his driver and hamstrings, we need him delivering the footy into our forward 50 much more regularly, as well as getting on the end of some outside ball, as his leg is capable of getting us over the back of defensive zones and into scoring opportunities.

Matthew Broadbent- 2 of the absolute worst kick-outs you are likely to see which resulted in shots on goal- very uncharacteristic of Brogs, and I don’t think his skills improved much over the course of the evening. Won a fair bit of footy in the 2nd half and took a stack of marks, but much like Pittard we need him on the end of inside release and delivering inside 50. 18 touches, 11 marks, 2 I50’s.

Matthew Lobbe- 1 possession to half time before he worked his way into the contest with a much better 2nd half. He simply doesn’t offer much around the ground, but broke even in the midfield battle with Minson, finishing with 44 hitouts (10 to advantage). 7 touches and 5 tackles. The most damning stat for Lobbe is marks for the season. He is currently on 11- compare that with the best ruckman in the competition- Jacobs (50), Goldstein (37), Sandilands (34), Ryder (32), Mumford (23)….massive need to improve in this area.

Jay Schulz- Didn’t get a lot of it last night but took his opportunities when they arose. Found plenty of space but wasn’t honoured on the lead on many occasions. 9 touches, 6 marks, 4 tackles and 2 goals.

Jarman Impey- Really Really happy with Jars’ performance, probably his best game since he demolished Ballantyne in Adelaide last year. Was on Dickson for the first half and kept him to 9 touches before going onto Dahlhaus for the 2nd half, keeping him to just 3 touches where Luke had accumulated 17 by Half Time. Gets better and better with each game that he plays. Many people were critical of Krakouer being demoted to the rookie list ahead of Sam Gray- truth is Hinkley and the coaching staff didn’t opt for Gray over Krakouer, they opted for Impey over Krakouer, and on last nights performance you can see why. 17 touches, 5 marks and 4 tackles.

Sam Gray- Thought his 2nd and 3rd quarters were really valuable, particularly when opportunistic goals looked like becoming the difference. As mentioned above, we have not gone Gray over Krakouer, we have opted for Gray over Neade and I thought Sam offered us enough to remain in the side. 9 touches, 3 tackles and 1 goal.

Travis Boak- Just mauled around the stoppages and is being given no space to work his magic. The downside to Boak’s game last night is that Stevens was able to hurt the other way when opposed to him. 22 touches @ 59%, 8 clearances, and a goal isn’t a bad evening on paper, but 2 tackles and 1 I50 is well down on his normal output.

Paul Stewart- You know what you are going to get each week from Stewy, and last night was no exception. Won some ball, kicked a goal, got involved in a few possession chains leading to scores. Mightn’t be enough to keep him in the side when Ryder returns, but he is a valuable depth player. Finished with 16 touches, 3 marks and a goal.

Karl Amon- Gave me trouser movement with that scintillating 50 meter pass to Westhoff over the back from 2 or 3 steps, hopefully a sign of what is to come from a lad in his 4th game. 13 touches, 5 clearances and 176 meters gained- I feel will become increasingly important now that Polec looks to be out for the rest of the season.

Alipate Carlisle- Not much to report on Bobby’s game apart from the smashing he gave Boyd. Kept Tom to 4 touches and 0.0 whilst helping himself to 8 touches and 3 marks. Another solid leader’s performance, he really set the example for the likes of Clurey.

Tom Clurey- Signed a contract during the week, tying him to the club until the end of 2017, and showed that he really wants to be a part of this group and is prepared to fight tooth and nail for his spot in the side. Only clearly outbodied in one contest vs. Crameri, but came into his own after half time. 9 touches and 6 marks, I have really enjoyed watching him over the past 2 weeks and do believe there is a role in this side for him.

Angus Monfries- For the doubters of Gus out there, have a look at his past 5 weeks. Was arguably our best player across the 3 losses with multiple goals, kicked a couple last week in his 200th and was back to his defensive best last night, completely smashing Murphy- keeping him to just 12 disposals whilst helping himself to 10 touches and a goal. For the stat heads out there, Murphy hasn’t been kept to 12 touches since 2012. A cracking performance from Gus, showed his versatility and adds real value to our side.

Tom Jonas- Nothing much to report on TJ’s game, just the 10 touches, 5 tackles and 5 marks. Defensively very good, which is a big improvement on his season thus far.

Aaron Young- Came on in the last quarter as sub and had a fair impact. 8 touches, 2 clearances and a tackle. Will have to fight tooth and nail to fit into this side.

So with the ledger back at 5-5, the next 2 weeks before the bye pose a nervous fortnight for myself and no doubt many Power fans. Can we go into the bye with some optimism for 2015 at 7-5? Can we prove that we are still a premiership threat?

I’m bloody pumped for this next game. Geelong at the Portress on a Friday night- must get 50k to this one so work can slip me $10k haha. There is a cracking atmosphere for night games at AO, and with a limited supply of Friday night games available due to the outstanding spectacle that is Carlton dominating market share- both the team and the supporters need to get behind this one and show the competition that AFL in South Australia has a thumping pulse and deserves prime time slots.

Disappointing to hear of another Port fan abusing an autistic Dogs fan on Saturday night. Fingers crossed witnesses to this appalling incident come forward to out this wanker, and have his membership torn up. The club has worked incredibly hard to restore its reputation on field, we need to carry that reputation off of it, and imbeciles like said fan, are not required.

See you at the footy!!

Valleys.

[Failed Creation]

If we knock off the Cats, our season will really be back on track. However, it wouldn't be feasible to suggest we're any better than a 5th to 8th placed side, at best.

Losing three very winnable games on the trot really hurt our cause.

[Rik E Boy]

If we knock off the Cats, our season will really be back on track. However, it wouldn't be feasible to suggest we're any better than a 5th to 8th placed side, at best.

Losing three very winnable games on the trot really hurt our cause.

If? We are bog ordinary. Port will flog the Cats. Thanks to that Essendon win the Cats price for the match would have gone out a bit. Get on the 38+ option. I will and I'm not a betting man.

regards,

REB

[Failed Creation]

If we knock off the Cats, our season will really be back on track. However, it wouldn't be feasible to suggest we're any better than a 5th to 8th placed side, at best.

Losing three very winnable games on the trot really hurt our cause.

If? We are bog ordinary. Port will flog the Cats. Thanks to that Essendon win the Cats price for the match would have gone out a bit. Get on the 38+ option. I will and I'm not a betting man.

regards,

REB

If there's one thing life has taught me, it's that you can never write-off Geelong.