Jason Horne-Francis showed the footy world what all the hype was about in his first year at the Power last season. Photo: GETTY IMAGES
PORT ADELAIDE
2023 record: 17 wins, 8 losses (5th)
THE INS
Ivan Soldo (Richmond), Brandon Zerk-Thatcher (Essendon), Esava Ratugolea (Geelong), Jordon Sweet (Western Bulldogs), Thomas Anastasopoulos (Geelong Falcons), Lachlan Charleson (GWV Rebels), Will Lorenz (Oakleigh Chargers), Xavier Walsh (East Perth)
THE OUTS
Tom Jonas (retired), Scott Lycett (retired), Xavier Duursma (Essendon), Orazio Fantasia (delisted – Carlton), Riley Bonner (delisted – St Kilda), Brynn Teakle (delisted), Trent Dumont (delisted), Nathan Barkla (delisted), Sam Hayes (delisted), Jake Pasini (delisted)
THE STRENGTHS
Port Adelaide has one of the most dynamic midfields in the league which is spearheaded by reigning AFLCA player of the year, best-and-fairest and All-Australian Zak Butters, new captain Connor Rozee, who collected his second All-Australian jumper last year, former Brownlow winner Ollie Wines and young bull Jason Horne-Francis. Incidentally, Butters, Rozee, Horne-Francis and Willem Drew, who has become one of the best taggers in the league, are all coming off career-best years and are aged 25 or younger. Horne-Francis, Butters and Drew were largely responsible for Port coming in at No.6 for clearances last season, while Drew has also become one of the best tacklers in the game, and his career-high 166 played a big role in the Power ranking sixth for tackles in 2023. But it doesn’t stop there for the Power. Down back, Dan Houston, who is also fresh from earning a green-and-gold blazer, Miles Bergman, Kane Farrell and Lachie Jones all had the best years of their career last season as well. And Sam Powell-Pepper found himself in the form of his life last year too when he played a more permanent forward role. A large portion of Port’s best 22 finds itself in its prime, which should be music to Power fans’ ears. Of the teams that made the finals last year, the Power have the second-youngest list behind GWS, and rank eighth overall in the league. The footy world got a glimpse into the Power’s enormous potential in 2023 when they won 13 games in a row, including victories over fellow finalists Melbourne, Sydney and St Kilda, while they also defeated runner-up Brisbane and preliminary finalist GWS either side of their club-record winning streak. In attack, they are awash with key forward options in the form of Jeremy Finlayson, Todd Marshall and Charlie Dixon as well as Mitch Georgiades, who is back from a serious knee injury, and finals surprise packet Ollie Lord who booted four goals against Brisbane in what was the best game of his young career. With six players kicking at least 20 goals, including Finlayson (38) and Marshall (36), Port Adelaide boasted the third-best attack in the AFL last season and were fourth for marks inside 50. The Power’s forwards had Rozee, Butters and Houston largely to thank as that trio were instrumental in the team’s No.3 ranking for forward entries.
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THE WEAKNESSES
But there’s a flipside to all the positivity, and that is their continued inability to get it done in September. Port have lost five of their last seven finals, including a straight-sets exit last year, and with three of those defeats coming at Adelaide Oval, that heightened aura of invincibility that they usually exude at their home ground during the regular season dissipates in the most important month of the year. And, as is always the case in these situations, the focus goes squarely on the coach. Ken Hinkley earned himself a two-year extension late last season, but Port fans will justifiably question whether it was the right move. Sure, he guided the team to another finals series, but they fell well short yet again. The previous record for a coach to hang onto his first job in the AFL without winning a premiership was 10 years, and none of the joint holders of that record – Neale Daniher, Brad Scott or Nathan Buckley – made it to the end of their 10th season. Not only has Hinkley smashed that record as he embarks on his 12th year in charge of the Power, having only made it as far as the preliminary final stage three times, but unlike Daniher and Buckley, Hinkley hasn’t even made it to a grand final. He might be signed until 2025 on paper, but this season has a bit of a do-or-die feel about it for Hinkley. Frustrated by perennially failing to feature on the last Saturday in September, the Power went all in during the trade period to bring in experienced players they believed would push them over the edge and realise their dream. But in this writer’s opinion, the quartet they traded in was underwhelming. In Soldo, Zerk-Thatcher, Ratugolea and Sweet, you have a few B-graders at best, and some C- and D-graders at worst. Nothing screams “exciting” about them. And when one considers what the Power gave up to bring them over to Alberton, it makes their strategy all the more eyebrow-raising. These days, you do have to give something up to get something, and often clubs pay overs in order to get the man they want. But that’s usually what happens when a superstar is involved. Port traded/on-traded a first-round pick, a pair of second-round picks and Xavier Duursma, as well as a host of other selections, to bring in a bunch of guys who are largely unproven. The best thing you can say about them at this stage in their careers is that they are serviceable. That’s a big price to pay for players of that calibre. But when you believe you’re on the precipice of premiership glory, sometimes you do crazy things. And who knows? Maybe it’ll pay off in the end, and Hinkley and co. will make their critics look foolish. At this juncture, though, it doesn’t look like the best bit of business, and while they’ve brought some mature bodies in to try and shore up their ruck stocks following Lycett’s retirement, Soldo and Sweet aren’t exactly Max Gawn and Luke Jackson. They also bolstered support for Aliir Aliir down back where the Power got exposed badly in the finals by big key forwards Joe Daniher and Jesse Hogan. So, they will hope the arrivals of Zerk-Thatcher and Ratugolea will go some way to solving that problem. The return of Tom Clurey after an injury-ruined 2023 will also help down back. The Power had the 12th-ranked defence last year and were the worst of the top-eight teams in that department. As impressive as the Power midfield is, incredibly they were 16th last year for contested possessions, with Butters the only Port player to feature in the league’s top 20.
ONE TO WATCH
If you thought year No.2 from Horne-Francis was impressive, wait until you see what the former No.1 pick does in year three. After a tumultuous debut season at North Melbourne, the 20-year-old showed last year what all the hype was about. He played, and looked, like a 10-year veteran. With his confidence sky high, the blonde bombshell should take the competition by storm in 2024.
UNDER THE PUMP
Ratugolea goes straight under the microscope in his first year with his new club. Port were made to jump through hoops by Geelong in order to procure the right pick to acquire the defender. He ended up costing the Power a first-round selection, which was made possible by a pick swap with the Dockers. By any estimation, that is way overs for a bloke who has managed just 75 games in seven years and has only shown fleeting glimpses of his potential.
BEST 22
B: Ryan Burton, Brandon Zerk-Thatcher, Esava Ratugolea
HB: Miles Bergman, Aliir Aliir, Kane Farrell
C: Connor Rozee, Zak Butters, Dan Houston
HF: Sam Powell-Pepper, Jeremy Finlayson, Darcy Byrne-Jones
F: Todd Marshall, Charlie Dixon, Willie Rioli
R: Ivan Soldo, Jason Horne-Francis, Ollie Wines
Inter: Willem Drew, Travis Boak, Trent McKenzie, Lachie Jones
Emerg: Mitch Georgiades, Ollie Lord, Jed McEntee, Dylan Williams
With Georgiades, Lord and Jed McEntee all out of the 22 at this stage, it demonstrates how much depth Port has in their forward line. New boys Soldo, Zerk-Thatcher and Ratugolea all slot straight into the starting 18.
*all team stat rankings mentioned are based on differentials, not totals (apart from overall offence and defence).
