PORT ADELAIDE – GRAND FINAL OR BUST
2021 FINISHED 2nd 17 WINS 5 LOSSES (LOST THE UNLOSABLE PRELIM TO WESTERN BULLDOGS)
We look at Port Adelaide in this AFL 2022 season preview hot on the back of two Preliminary Final losses. The 2021 against eventual premier was sort of bearable however the 2021 loss was like the “unlosable” election. Does it leave a scar or can they bounce and the AFL Betting market says it can go either way.
“We are set up perfectly” – Ken Hinkley
It ended in the worst possible way for Port Adelaide in 2021, after falling agonisingly short of the Grand Final in 2020 (loss 6 points prelim). The off season recruiting of Fantasia and Alir seemed they could be the missing pieces to the Port Adelaide plan. There is no doubt that it was all playing out to script leading into the Prelim, finishing top 2, getting the two home finals and disposing of the Cats easily in the first of them. Then getting the weeks break it all looked on track. However it seemed the players thought so to and with Hinkley’s messaging leading into the game that “we have set ourselves up perfectly with the opportunity” it seems this is how the players felt too. They simply didn’t have the hard edge needed in an AFL Prelim, the Power were jumped by a hungry Dogs outfit and simply couldn’t get back into the game.
Hinkley the story of 2022
Hinkley will be the big story again of 2022 for Port Adelaide. Although contracted until 2023 he still has not been fully embraced by the Port Adelaide community so any slip on their form over the last couple of seasons could really rattle the cages of his detractors. The noise could become quite loud. With preseason injuries to Charlie Dixon and Orazio Fantasia this could also lead to a forward structure issue that may hamstring the attacking flair of Port Adelaide.
So what’s missing at Port
So what is it that is missing for Port Adelaide to make the big dance? To be honest it seems to be a mentality. There is no question that they were lacking the mental “readiness” in the most important game over the last 10 years for the footy club. To allow an arguably inferior side come to your home ground and DOMINATE you in a Prelim Final had the hallmarks of expecting to just “rock up” and win it. Without doing all the hard things that are required to get it done. It was once again a relapse to the “old” Port Adelaide that has continued to battle performing at their best when they have expectation.
The time is now for Port Adelaide as they have produced 3 seasons of good footy and haven’t made the Grand Final. They have an overall solid age profile however some influential team members (Boak, Gray, Dixon) sit on the side closer to retirement. We are not sure whether Port can take the next step but at the same time we don’t see them drastically dropping away
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