One down, 22 to go.

The first eight games of the 2021 AFL season didn't just provide us with our initial set of winners and losers, it raised another series of questions.

With each of the league's 18ย clubsย set to do battle again this weekend, we attempted to answer the major issues facing their playingย listsย andย coachesย alike.

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Port Adelaide

Will Ken Hinkley be happy with a three-quarter effort?

Despite opening their season with a win, it is highly unlikely that Ken Hinkley was handing out high-fives and slapping backs in the Port rooms on Sunday evening.

The Power may have slapped 15 goals to 7 on the scoreboard after the quarter time break, but in a year where the 2020 McClelland Trophy winners are looking to be the first side to cross the finish line, can the head coach let his list off after freezing on the starters block?

To be fair, it would be hard to construe this query as a nitpick, but silverware is to be won, slipping on standards early is never the best way to begin.

Irrespective of their clumsy commencement, the Power did have the game sewn up by half-time, following three goals to Orazio Fantasia, two apiece to Charlie Dixon and Todd Marshall and the opener by Zak Butters. With this in mind, it is unlikely that the long-term head coach was scowling for too long after his first break bake.

Port Adelaide are fixtured to face Essendon in Round 2, another side tipped to fill one of the ladder's bottom rungs, so, it would be fair to expect Hinkley's men to be scoring early in their first home game and to finish Round 2 entrenched at the table's other end.

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