Damning footage of Port Adelaide’s star midfield brigade has been unearthed as the blowtorch is firmly pointed on Ken Hinkley’s side after a huge 79-point defeat at the hands of Brisbane on the weekend.
Hinkley’s seat has never been warmer, despite the club sitting in 8th place on the AFL ladder with a win-loss record of 8-6.
While there’s been plenty of praise for the Power’s on-ball brigade at times this season, St Kilda champion and Fox Footy expert Leigh Montagna has questioned the defensive work rate of their midfield.
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“This is where it’s damning, because the whole competition knows that when you play Port Adelaide, if you can win clearance and contest and surge the ball your way, you’re going to get great looks because they are a team that want to surge and go their way,” Montagna said on Fox Footy’s First Crack.
“When they get it on their terms, we know how dangerous they are.”
Fox Footy commentator Anthony Hudson replied: “So much relies on their midfield, you could see the three young guns, particularly early, they were shouldering such a big load.”
Port on the brink-ley! | 04:04
Montagna picked apart footage showing Brisbane’s on-ball brigade working harder than their Port Adelaide counterparts, leaving the likes of Zak Butters, Connor Rozee, Ollie Wines and Jason Horne-Francis in the dust.
It was concerning footage, to say the least.
“These are just some examples of their mids and their work rate from stoppage and why Brisbane was able to smack them and get such good looks,” Montagna said.
“There’s (Jarrod) Berry and (Lachie) Neale leaving that stoppage and there are the three that were at that boundary throw in. The three leaders as well, Rozee, Butters and Wines just lagging behind, not even really chasing.
“This is all second quarter stuff, not vision from the fourth quarter when the game was well and truly over.
“If you strip the ball and you can win contest against Port Adelaide, how often do you catch them offside? You can get out goal side of them.
“Because the Lions were able to get their hands dirty and win contest and win clearance, they were able to do this so easily against Port Adelaide.”
‘They’re going to get to a prelim’ | 01:42
Port Adelaide’s backline has come under scrutiny in 2024 and the recruitment of the likes of Brandon Zerk-Thatcher and Esava Ratugolea are yet to pay off.
“This is the most damning aspect of Port Adelaide’s game. I’ve been critical of Port Adelaide’s defence and rightly so but in this game, it was almost hard to be too critical of their defenders because of the way their mids were chasing,” Montagna said.
“Their numbers look pretty good, and they work really hard on offense, Rozee, Butters, Wines and some of their half-backs, but when they really need to dig in and chase and help their defenders they get beaten far too often and that’s why they don’t beat the top teams.”
Port Adelaide will look to get back on the winner’s list when they take on St Kilda at Marvel Stadium on Sunday afternoon.