by valleys07 » Tue Mar 29, 2016 11:44 am
Round 1 Review vs. St. Kilda- Saint Robbie!
Port Adelaide 20.13.133
St. Kilda 15.10.100
Goals- R. Gray 4, Wingard, Dixon, Ebert 3, Westhoff 2, Schulz, Ah Chee, Boak, Broadbent, Wines 1.
Round 1 is done and dusted and despite a monumental scare, Port Adelaide has begun it’s 2016 campaign with a very important 4 points. Bloody hell it was tough to watch at times, but to be quite truthful, that was a game that would have been lost to us in 2015.
In his pre-match prep-talk to the players, Hinkley spoke of Port Adelaide football, and the effort required. Effort. Was it to the required standard? Was it Port Adelaide effort? Ken didn’t think so, and I’m inclined to agree.
As far as the game is concerned, it can be broken down into 2 parts: The brewing upset, and then the flick of the switch.
The game could not have gotten off to a better start. Robbie to Westhoff, Westhoff to Boak, Boak goal. Bang, I thought, here we go! From there though St.Kilda defended us really well, and really made us pay for elementary mistakes. Brad Ebert’s centre ground switch which lead to Jade Gresham’s first goal started a run which saw the Saints score 58 of their 62 first half points directly from turnovers- an extraordinary stat, but we were our own worst enemy as far as skills were concerned. The first quarter alone saw us run at 50% by foot, and concede all 4 goals directly from turnovers.
Just like the first quarter of NAB 3 against Richmond, the Saints opened us up over the back over the first 3 quarters with regularity. 2 things on this:
Our Defensive Press. It was pretty hard for me to get a good look on how our structures were set up live, given I sit 2 rows from the boundary fence, but on replay it looked as though a number of times we pushed too far up, and all that required St. Kilda to do was execute their handball, short kicks or switch and they were away, not to mention we were horribly out of position and completely incapable of defending should we turn the footy over in the middle of the ground. Their small brigade of Billings, Lonie, Weller & Gresham were able to slot in behind our half back line and either run and carry the footy to set up a walk in goal, or deliver to a player 30 meters in the clear inside 50. When we did get our defensive press right, and we were able to structure up to protect the quick transition, and Pittard (6 marks), Hombsch (12 one percenters) and Trengove (6 marks) continually got into the right spots to regain possession. Problem with this is- watch the way West Coast transition the football. They are a heck of a lot cleaner, and Josh Kennedy will kick 20 if we serve up the press we did on Sunday.
The big issue on Sunday however, was our midfield. We got absolutely slapped in there. I have been banging on about contested footy all pre-season, and with good reason. At 3QT we were down 38-44 in Hit-Out’s (finished up 49-66) and down 42-28 in clearances (finished up 44-61). Hickey played the game of his life with 56 hitouts, Armitage, Steven, Ross and Montagna helped themselves to 122 possessions for the day, where as if Sam or Robbie Gray weren’t winning the clearance- we were in all sorts. There was a patch in the 3rd quarter between 18:23 and 20:38, where Armitage, Lonie and Bruce went bang, bang, bang with a Port player barely able to get their hands on it. Thankfully we were able to restore order and the rest is history, but once again back to West Coast- they won’t stop at 3 goals, they will kick 7-9 and it’ll be thank you linesman, thank you ball boys.
Pleasing Signs:
• After Bruce put the Saints 21 points up, I was preparing for the worst. The saints were up and about and had us on the edge of the cliff face. As I mentioned in my opening line, in 2015 (Brisbane, Carlton) that would have been it for us, so I was extremely pleased that our midfield was able to flick the switch, stem the flow and on top of that, were able to hit the scoreboard. Ebert kicks 2 goals, Wines snaps a beauty, Ah Chee kicks a clutch goal and then it became the Charlie Dixon show with cameo’s from Robbie and Chad. St.Kilda were clearly out on their feet and we were able to punish them with superior fitness- that is all put down to a gap in phases of development. None the less, the effort was there to will ourselves back into the contest.
• Our tackling pressure- this was an elite aspect of our game and I was furious that the men in green were not rewarding some brilliant efforts that were clearly holding the football, or incorrect disposal (Wingard in the first quarter is one that comes to mind). Wingard and Hartlett (9), Impey, Neade and Ebert (8) led the way in this category and it was brilliant to watch us hunt the footy hard in order to turn it over. 106 tackles can be a bit misleading, as we were 2nd to the footy in and around stoppages for most of the day, so of course we would be spending the day tackling, but I thought our smalls efforts at keeping the footy in the front 50 were first rate, winning the inside 50 tackles 19-10.
• I made the call to a couple of mates early in the week that Dixon’s presence would see Wingard and Gray combine for 5 goals apiece. Well I wasn’t far off. Robbie Gray one out in our Forward 50 spells all sorts of danger for opposition defenders- he is so smart with his use of the body, and is all class with his finishing. Wingard is just Wingard. Takes his opportunities and finds himself in the right spots with regularity. If these 2 fire week in week out and we get contributions from our talls in Charlie, Schulz and Westhoff in addition to that- It won’t be a shock to see us put up 15-20 most weeks.
Area’s of Improvement:
• My little barometer for our mids is to record >70% DE. Polec (68%), S.Gray (67%), Wines (66%), Ebert (60%), Boak (58%), Ah Chee (58%), Hartlett (41%) all failed to hit it, with Robbie and Chad the only players who form part of our midfield rotations able to hit it (surprise surprise). This from Ken was pleasing: "I say to the players every week that you cannot get perfection or mastery but you've got to chase it,". "I can accept mistakes, as long as the intensity's right. "One of the key things they learned, one of their comments was, ‘I don't think the options were all wrong', I think the execution let them down. I like it when they can acknowledge that." It is still a work in progress, but elite ball use will see us top 4.
• What do we do with our stoppage set-up’s? I won’t lay into Lobbe. He is part of the problem, but not all of it. He is not a premier ruckman, which relies on our midfielders to be on the move and alert at stoppages, so at the very least we can lay a tackle and force another stoppage or force a turnover. Particularly when the Saints got their run on, we were witches hats in the centre and around the ground. I’d love to see the Hit-Outs to advantage stat, but it seemed as though if Matty did win a hit-out, Armitage & Steven were able to shark it from the contest without too much hassle, where on the flipside, Port couldn’t win a clearance if the 2 shades of Gray couldn’t get their hands on it. We need more from Wines, Boak, Ah Chee and Ebert in this area against Adelaide. Where was variety at the stoppage set up’s? A 3rd man up, anything!?
Player Reviews:
Top 5:
Robbie Gray- (26D,8CL,5T,4I50,4.2)- Ablett and Fyfe are the only 2 others in the comp who can lay claim to being the complete player. Robbie is firmly there amongst those 2. Throw him in the forward line and he kicks goals to single-handedly keep his side in the contest, throw him in the midfield and he wins clearances. Ken has rightfully given Robbie a licence to run his own game now and make changes based on where he is required most at any given moment. Was an absolute star on Sunday.
Chad Wingard- (21D,9T,3CL,3.0)- This bloke is set for a massive season. Boasted 19.2/2.4 averages for disposals per game/goals per game in 2015 and is set to grow that, which is hard to believe. It was far from his best game on Sunday, but it was up there with his most complete. 20 touches @ 76DE, 3 goals, 9 tackles (4 inside 50), 8 score involvements. I am just waiting for him to form a partnership with Dixon- when that clicks, it will be simply scary.
Jasper Pittard- (27D,6M,7R50,4I50)- Rounds 2-5 of 2015 saw Jasper record 34,23,23 & 28 touches, and barely reach those heights for the remainder of the season. His challenge is to maintain Sunday’s standards. When the heat was on in the first 3 quarters, Jasper was absolutely rock solid. Continually got himself into great positions to take intercept marks, and gave us plenty of drive with a team high 7 rebound 50’s.
Brad Ebert- (25D,4M,8T,5I50,3.0)- His horrid turnover in the first quarter aside, that is the Brad Ebert of 2014. We know he has elite running ability, so it is no surprise to see him make contest after contest, lay tackle after tackle and rack up 20-30 disposals. Where Brad is damaging is when he can hit the scoreboard. His 2 goals in the 3rd and 4th were game changing, and his overall performance was a huge reason why we won the match.
Sam Gray- (37D,6CL,6I50,3R50)- Sam is interesting to review. Live I thought 25 touches, so to read he had 37 really surprised me. Watching the replay though, he was lively around the stoppage (until Wines got going after half time we really only won a clearance through him or Robbie), and generally used the ball to good effect. This bloke will be super important as our 5th-6th midfielder, and is set for a massive year. I would love to see him hit the scoreboard though.
The Rest:
Ollie Wines- (24D,7CL,5T,1.0)- Took him until after half time to really get going around the stoppages, which we can ill afford to have happen. Solid numbers aside, Ollie can and will play a lot better than that.
Jake Neade- (9D,8T,3I50)- Didn’t win a heap of the footy, but it was his defensive pressure that stood head and shoulders above everyone else. His intent to lock the footy inside 50 was electric (4 tackles inside 50). It seems as though we are getting the offensive or the defensive side of Neady each week. He will be a huge improver if he finds a way to bring both aspects of his game together regularly.
Hamish Hartlett- (24D,5M,9T)- Another one of those games from Hamish- good without being damaging. Must admit I was surprised when I saw his disposal efficiency, I thought he generally used it quite well when he got a hold of it. Was very good in close with 9 tackles and a number of contested possessions. Would have loved for him to dob a goal or 2.
Travis Boak- (17D,3T,2CL,2I50,1.0)- Some have mentioned that Trav may have been carrying an injury (or OP?), but he was disappointing on Sunday. Was invisible around the stoppages and seemed to be starting the centre bounce on a wing for a large chunk of the day. Here is hoping that it was just a bad day at the office and he can bounce back against Adelaide.
Matthew Broadbent- (26D,6R50,4T,3I50,1.0)- He and Jasper were rock solid for us all day, and aside from his kick into a saints player which resulted in Riewoldt’s goal- I didn’t think he did too much wrong for the rest of the day. Great to again see him hit the scoreboard, and if he and Jasper can combine for 13 rebounds each week- I’ll be happy!
Justin Westhoff- (17D,6M,6T,5I50,2.2)- I thought Hoff had a brilliant game, and was unlucky to not make my top5. Really worked hard up and down the ground all day, took crucial marks, laid some crucial tackles and hit the scoreboard. Really could be the difference between a win and a loss on Saturday.
Alipate Carlile- (10D,2M,3T,4 x 1%)- Did his job defensively, not a great deal to note.
Jarman Impey- (5D,8T)- Really needs to find the footy more, but was very good defensively, with 8 tackles. I rate Billings and I think he will be an absolute star of the future, so it was pleasing to see Jars keep him scoreless. Will he get first crack at Betts on Saturday?
Jared Polec- (19D,3T,3I50)- First game back, dust off the cobwebs, but I felt Polly did a heap of running for little reward. There was one passage of play in the 3rd where he hit Schulz up with a short kick and followed up with the handball receive to kick inside 50. Play like that was what made him so dangerous in 2014- hopefully he can work his way back to that with more games under his belt.
Jack Hombsch- (8D,3T,12 x 1%)- Was absolutely outstanding on Riewoldt, and unlucky not to make my top5. Has incredible closing speed to effect the spoil, and continually gets himself in the right spots, highlighted by his 12 one percent acts. Fantastic start to his season, and like Jasper- hopefully he maintains that standard for a full year.
Brendan Ah Chee- (12D,3CL,5T,3I50,1.0)- Went bang in NAB 1, quiet in NAB 2, bang in NAB 3, quiet in Round 1. Consistency is the issue- we know what he can produce. Great goal in the last quarter to get us level.
Jay Schulz- (17D,6M,5I50,1.1)- I thought Jay had a really solid game. Seemed to relish the freedom offered by Dixon to move further up the ground. Hit the scoreboard, took some good marks, and his defensive pressure was very good.
Jackson Trengove- (19D,6M,4R50,6 x 1%)- Thought he was fantastic. Like Hombsch, got himself into good spots continuously, and was able to win himself a bit of the footy. Was a really solid battle with Josh Bruce. Do we see him in the ruck more often if Lobbe continues to struggle?
Charlie Dixon- (11D,3M,5T,3I50,3.3)- His game I find really hard to assess. Was a non-event up until half time, clunked some marks in the 3rd and missed some absolute sitters, and then kicked some junk-time goals in the last. One thing that did aggravate me was our continual long kicks to sit it up on his head expecting strength to win out. We need to become less predictable, create more space and actually have Charlie lead up to take marks inside 50. Could have finished with 7-8 marks, could have bagged 4-5, but for a first up game I’ll take that.
Tom Jonas- (16D,3M,5T,5 x 1%)- Like Bobby, Jonas was rock solid defensively. Won some ball and was able to generate some rebound, and his physicality was on show, absolutely smashing Dempster(?) with a crunching tackle in the last.
Matthew Lobbe- (9D,2M,42HO,7T)- Sigh. What can you say other than Jacobs will ream him.
Matthew White- (2D,2CL,2T,1I50)- Injured his pec muscle in the first quarter and didn’t return. Could be on the sidelines anywhere between 4-12 weeks. Horrible luck.
Onto the showdown this week, a big game for both clubs. Adelaide can’t afford to start 0-2, especially given their first 8 weeks. Port could really use the 2-0 start for a real psychological boost, which would likely turn into 3-0 against the Bombers.
I must also commend the Port Adelaide faithful for their turnout on Sunday. 44k on Easter Sunday against a club who don’t traditionally draw big numbers in SA is an outstanding effort. Ken really put the onus on Port fans to deliver their side on Sunday by getting numbers to the game and making the noise, so that was a really pleasing aspect of the game. Nice to hear Charlie mention that he can’t wait to get back out there- well not quite this week mate, only Kurt and Paddy will cop more boo’s than the 22 in a Port jumper this year haha.
I’d expect Toumpas to replace White following a strong showing for the Magpies, and surely the Crows will be looking to bring in Hartigan to combat Dixon, Westhoff and Schulz. Either way, it promises to be hotly contested.
See you at the footy. Carn the Pear!
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.
JESUS!
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