In light of 2017’s rather large fail on the recruiting front, Port Adelaide took a different tack at the end of 2018, moving out more big names than they brought in.
Managing to get Ryan Burton plus a couple of high draft picks for Chad Wingard was a great deal, but losing the star forward/midfielder will be a loss in the short term, as will be Jared Polec’s trade to North Melbourne.
The future may be the beneficiary, but Ken Hinkley will be wanting results now.
The Power’s rise to what looked like being a dominant era has stalled, and while every year seems just a sliding door away from success, Port’s stars are aging and Robbie Gray, Paddy
Ryder, Travis Boak and Justin Westhoff don’t have a lot of time left at the top.
List changes
In
Ryan Burton (Hawthorn), Sam Mayes (Brisbane), Scott Lycett (West Coast), Connor Rozee (North Adelaide, pictured), Zak Butters (Western Jets), Xavier Duursma (Gippsland Power), Riley Grundy (Sturt), Boyd Woodcock (North Adelaide)
Rookies
Tobin Cox (Glenelg), Cameron Hewett (Port Adelaide)
Out
Jack Hombsch, Jasper Pittard, Jared Polec, Chad Wingard, Dom Barry, Emmanuel Irra, Jake Neade, Jimmy Toumpas, Will Snelling, Lindsay Thomas
Best Brownlow chances
Robbie Gray $34, Ollie Wines $67, Tom Rockliff $101
Gray has been the star of this outfit for a while now and was named All Australian for the fourth time in 2018, but his Brownlow vote-winning days have slowed since moving more permanently to the forward line in the past couple of years. The loss of Wingard and Polec may see more midfield minutes for the veteran in 2019, making him a good outside chance.
There’s few more reliable players in the AFL than Ollie Wines but he doesn’t evoke the word ‘spectacular’. However, he does get Brownlow votes, though a pre-season water-skiing accident led to shoulder surgery which could delay his start to the season and seriously hurt his chances of individual honours.
Players to watch
Sam Powell-Pepper, Jack Watts
Some off-field concerns made Powell-Pepper’s season look like a case of ‘second-year blues’, but the hard-at-it midfielder actually lifted his numbers as he settled further into the pace and level of the game. If he can keep his head in the right space, SPP can be a part of a formidable threesome of hard nuts in the Power’s midfield, alongside Wines and Travis Boak.
Ex-Demon Watts looked like a low-risk, high-return trade when the Power picked him up for a second round draft selection, but they quickly felt the backlash that comes when the former number-one draftee doesn’t dazzle … which is most of the time. Watts will be given every chance, but if he doesn’t settle soon he’ll find himself playing out his days in the SANFL.
A last chance to watch?
Justin Westhoff, Jack Trengove
Imagine Port Adelaide without Justin Westhoff! It just doesn’t seem possible. Westhoff has been getting better with age and arguably had his best season in 2018, but he’ll be out of contract and 33 years old a week after the next grand final. He may still have plenty to give, but if the Power go backwards and look to inject youth in the side the Hoff may be off.
Former Melbourne captain Trengove is almost certainly heading into his last season. He’s only 27, but 10 games in the last five years isn’t the kind of CV that keeps footballers employed, no matter what their potential was when taken with pick two in the draft.
Port Adelaide Powers’ 2019 list
| Number | Name | Games | Date of birth | Height, weight | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | Amon, Karl | 42 | 19 Aug 1995 | 181cm 79kg | Midfield |
| 30 | Atley, Joe | 3 | 4 Aug 1998 | 186cm 85kg | Midfield |
| 1 | Boak, Travis | 243 | 1 Aug 1988 | 184cm 85kg | Midfield |
| 26 | Bonner, Riley | 23 | 7 Mar 1997 | 191cm 82kg | Defender |
| 5 | Broadbent, Matthew | 161 | 1 Aug 1990 | 189cm 90kg | Defender |
| 3 | Burton, Ryan | 47 | 31 Jan 1997 | 191cm 90kg | Defender |
| Butters, Zak | 0 | 8 Sep 2000 | 181cm 71kg | Midfield | |
| 33 | Byrne-Jones, Darcy | 64 | 20 Sep 1995 | 180cm 76kg | Defender |
| 17 | Clurey, Tom | 60 | 23 Mar 1994 | 193cm 93kg | Defender |
| Cox, Tobin (R) | 0 | 15 Jul 1999 | 177cm 77kg | Forward | |
| 22 | Dixon, Charlie | 126 | 23 Sep 1990 | 200cm 105kg | Forward |
| 28 | Drew, Willem | 0 | 1 Oct 1998 | 188cm 80kg | Midfield |
| Duursma, Xavier | 0 | 7 Jul 2000 | 186cm 73kg | Midfield | |
| 7 | Ebert, Brad | 235 | 2 Apr 1990 | 188cm 89kg | Midfield |
| 24 | Farrell, Kane | 5 | 17 Mar 1999 | 182cm 74kg | Midfield |
| 14 | Frampton, Billy | 1 | 20 Nov 1996 | 200cm 96kg | Ruck |
| Frederick, Martin | 0 | 17 May 2000 | 178cm 74kg | Midfield | |
| 27 | Garner, Joel | 0 | 21 May 1999 | 184cm 83kg | Defender |
| 9 | Gray, Robbie | 199 | 30 Mar 1988 | 183cm 84kg | Midfield |
| 46 | Gray, Sam | 76 | 1 Feb 1992 | 176cm 78kg | Forward |
| Grundy, Riley | 0 | 28 Jul 2000 | 194cm 84kg | Defender | |
| 8 | Hartlett, Hamish | 153 | 14 Aug 1990 | 183cm 83kg | Defender |
| 25 | Hayes, Sam | 0 | 9 Jun 1999 | 203cm 93kg | Ruck |
| 44 | Hewett, Cameron (R) | 0 | 26 Feb 1997 | 189cm 78kg | Defender |
| 43 | Houston, Dan | 39 | 1 May 1997 | 187cm 85kg | Defender |
| 32 | Howard, Dougal | 30 | 25 Mar 1996 | 199cm 92kg | Defender |
| 31 | Johnson, Aidyn | 10 | 31 Oct 1997 | 185cm 81kg | Forward |
| 42 | Jonas, Thomas | 121 | 9 Jan 1991 | 189cm 89kg | Defender |
| 38 | Ladhams, Peter | 0 | 14 Jan 1998 | 203cm 94kg | Forward |
| 40 | Lienert, Jarrod | 6 | 5 Aug 1994 | 193cm 89kg | Defender |
| 29 | Lycett, Scott | 75 | 26 Sep 1992 | 203cm 101kg | Ruck |
| 13 | Marshall, Todd | 10 | 8 Oct 1998 | 198cm 88kg | Forward |
| 34 | Mayes, Sam | 101 | 20 May 1994 | 189cm 88kg | Defender |
| 12 | McKenzie, Trent | 107 | 3 Apr 1992 | 191cm 83kg | Defender |
| 6 | Motlop, Steven | 156 | 12 Mar 1991 | 183cm 76kg | Forward |
| 37 | Patmore, Jake | 0 | 29 Jan 1999 | 181cm 72kg | Midfield |
| 2 | Powell-Pepper, Sam | 38 | 8 Jan 1998 | 187cm 91kg | Midfield |
| Pudney, Kai (R) | 0 | Midfield | |||
| 11 | Rockliff, Tom | 172 | 22 Feb 1990 | 185cm 85kg | Midfield |
| 20 | Rozee, Connor | 0 | 22 Jan 2000 | 185cm 74kg | Midfield |
| 4 | Ryder, Patrick | 226 | 14 Mar 1988 | 197cm 92kg | Ruck |
| 19 | Trengove, Jack | 89 | 2 Sep 1991 | 185cm 82kg | Midfield |
| 23 | Watts, Jack | 172 | 26 Mar 1991 | 196cm 88kg | Forward |
| 39 | Westhoff, Justin | 248 | 1 Oct 1986 | 200cm 93kg | Forward |
| 16 | Wines, Oliver | 129 | 7 Oct 1994 | 190cm 97kg | Midfield |
| Woodcock, Boyd | 0 | 5 Mar 2000 | 175cm 71kg | Forward |
Noosa pre-season training camp: Day 1 🛫🛬🏃🏊#weareportadelaide pic.twitter.com/osDGpdXG1C
— Port Adelaide FC (@PAFC) December 12, 2018
Port Adelaide Powers’ 2019 Fixture
| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saturday 23 Mar 1:45pm | Melbourne | MCG |
| 2 | Saturday 30 Mar 4:40pm | Carlton | Adelaide Oval |
| 3 | Saturday 6 Apr 6:25pm | Brisbane | Gabba |
| 4 | Saturday 13 Apr 4:05pm | Richmond | Adelaide Oval |
| 5 | Friday 19 Apr 6:10pm | West Coast | Optus Stadium |
| 6 | Friday 26 Apr 7:20pm | North Melbourne | Adelaide Oval |
| 7 | Friday 3 May 7:50pm | Collingwood | Marvel Stadium |
| 8 | Saturday 11 May 7:10pm | Adelaide | Adelaide Oval |
| 9 | Sunday 19 May 12:40pm | Gold Coast | Adelaide Oval |
| 10 | Saturday 25 May 1:45pm | Hawthorn | UTAS Stadium |
| 11 | Sunday 2 Jun 12:40pm | St Kilda | Jiangwan Stadium |
| 12 | BYE | ||
| 13 | Saturday 15 Jun 2:35pm | Fremantle | Optus Stadium |
| 14 | Saturday 22 Jun 7:10pm | Geelong | Adelaide Oval |
| 15 | Saturday 29 Jun 7:10pm | Western Bulldogs | Adelaide Oval |
| 16 | Saturday 6 Jul 4:05pm | Adelaide | Adelaide Oval |
| 17 | Sunday 14 Jul 4:10pm | Brisbane | Adelaide Oval |
| 18 | Saturday 20 Jul 1:45pm | Richmond | MCG |
| 19 | Saturday 27 Jul 7:10pm | GWS Giants | Adelaide Oval |
| 20 | Saturday 3 Aug 1:45pm | Essendon | Marvel Stadium |
| 21 | Saturday 10 Aug 1:40pm | Sydney | Adelaide Oval |
| 22 | Saturday 17 Aug 7:25pm | North Melbourne | Marvel Stadium |
| 23 | TBC | Fremantle | Adelaide Oval |
Games played on
Friday: 3
Saturday: 15
Sunday: 3
Teams played twice
Brisbane, Richmond, Fremantle, Adelaide, North Melbourne
2019 Preview and premiership odds
Port Adelaide headed into 2018 as one of the favourites for the flag, but they’ve taken a big drop this time around, starting at $18 for premiership success – equal 10th in the betting.
On paper the ‘outs’ look bigger than the ‘ins’ which will make it hard to turn the club’s fortunes around in a hurry, but remember these guys were sitting fourth after round 16, just percentage from second and one win behind Richmond on top.
Does the fact they were so close mean it’s just a matter of fine-tuning to be right in contention, or does it suggest there is more than football ability that needs to be addressed at Alberton?
Whatever the case it will be another intriguing year at Port with plenty of David Koch-fueled headlines paving the way from Shanghai to, possibly, the MCG in September.