Port Adelaide has endured a horrendous start to their 2022 campaign as they enter their Round 3 Showdown 0-2, with their contender status in doubt.ย
The Power have been bogged down by dastardly injuries to key players but have also lacked an element of assertiveness during their losses to Brisbane and Hawthorn.
Against the Lions, Port jumped out to a 24-point lead during the third but failed to land the killer blow, which cost them as Brisbane surged in the fourth quarter. On Saturday against the Hawks, Ken Hinkley's men were ahead in clearances (both centre and stoppage clearances) while also finishing ahead in both contested and uncontested possessions, yet ultimately found themselves the victims of a 64-point belting.
Two-time premiership player David King spoke to how Port Adelaide, who have appeared in consecutive home preliminary finals, are playing far from their best and are significantly lacking beyond their assortment of injuries.
โIt just canโt be, โweโre missing Dixon and weโre missing Aliir Aliirโ. The structure is supposed to save the rest of the group,โ King said via SENโs Whateley.
โIโm personally saying given the comparison to where they are, what they give up and what they allow to the top three, four or five other contenders โ itโs over for me, this campaign is done for me.
โTheyโve had their opportunity with home finals and home prelims, they havenโt taken them. I donโt see them getting better โ so Iโm putting a line through Port Adelaide."
King elaborated by explaining how Ports' younger generation of emerging stars aren't developing at a rate that is conducive to maintaining their supposed premiership window.
โWho is their Jake Stringer, Jordan De Goey, Dustin Martin, Christian Petracca-type?," he continued.
โWhere is Connor Rozee? Fourth year now, is this what he is? Zak Butters is getting better, but come on, go bang. Xavier Duursma โ if he was a first-round selection at another club, there would be serious scrutiny on that selection right now.
โIโve seen Todd Marshall play a lot of footy, make a decision on him. Is he their man or isnโt he and get on with it. He finished at centre half-back on the weekend.โ
In an effort to rebut the claims made against his side, Power skipper Tom Jonas addressed the media to own up the club's poor start but also assured that improvements are imminent.
"Right now, we have to focus on what is not right and get back to playing good footy," Jonas said, via AFL.com.
"Our skills were not at the expected level.
"We won centre bounce but we didn't maximise those, our defence was not where we expected it to be.
"There were good opportunities to move the ball and we let ourselves down by hand and foot - there is going to be plenty to reflect on."
Jonas continued by speaking to how relying on the returns of players like key forward Charlie Dixon won't solve the team's current issues, and instead alluded to how the Power needs to emphasise a holistic group effort in order to improve.
Tom Jonas is speaking to the media at Adelaide Oval. #pafclive pic.twitter.com/YKNbGJgxN5
— Port Adelaide FC (@PAFC) March 27, 2022
"It certainly is not a matter of just putting Charlie in, as much as we would like to think it is," he said.
"We always talk about this being a team game and sharing the load, that is exactly the case.
"It's about getting Charlie fit and ready to go, it's not about rolling him out when he is not ready."
"We have shown in previous seasons that the squad mentality works for us".
"Sometimes things do not go to plan but we pride ourselves on playing a team game rather than relying on individuals."
Port looks to regain control of their season as they face cross-town rivals Adelaide for Showdown LI on Friday night.
