David King has critiqued Port Adelaide’s recruiting, believing the additions of Esava Ratugolea, Ivan Soldo, Brandon Zerk-Thatcher and Jordon Sweet have not made the team better.
The Power were quite active in the trade period, adding the four talls and reshaping their backline, but King doesn’t feel it has improved their defence.
Charlie Curnow and Harry McKay combined for six goals and controlled the game down the line in Carlton’s win over Port on Thursday night.
King says Ratugolea and Zerk-Thatcher haven’t held up in one-on-one contests, which Port Adelaide’s style requires given how aggressively they take the game on offensively.
“Port Adelaide recruited average and have become average. The four off-season recruits in Ratugolea, Soldo, Sweet and Zerk-Thatcher haven’t had the impact that they would have desired,” King told SEN Breakfast.
“They sit 8-4 and you can throw that back at me quickly, but they’ve banked wins against teams most of the contenders will beat.
“They got Essendon at the right time at the start of the year, the win in Geelong was terrific, but I don’t know if there’s enough there to really challenge.
“I don’t think the system matches this style of defender. They’ve got defenders that can’t really assist one another with this system. They’re trapped in one-on-ones too regularly.
“It makes me think – what’s the point of having those guys if they can’t really defend and they don’t help on counterattack?
“My question is whether these types of players suit the way Port defends.
“First month or so of the season they were rarely trapped in one-on-ones and it has totally flipped. Now they’re under constant pressure and they’re failing.
“My question is whether they need to make a tactical change to support them more. I’m not beheading these guys, but does the system need to change or do they keep rolling on?”
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