Round 4 Review vs. Greater Western Sydney- Píngdàn!
Port Adelaide 9.11.65
Greater Western Sydney 22.19.151
Goals- Wingard, Neade, Young 2, Dixon, Byrne-Jones, Westhoff 1.
“There’s history here in the Making!”
Let’s recap our latest “History Making” Efforts:
• GWS’s highest ever 1st quarter score
• GWS’s highest ever 2nd quarter score
• GWS’s highest ever 1st half score
• GWS’s highest ever score
• GWS’ biggest winning margin
**** me. I am frustrated, I am angry, I am upset, I am ashamed. Most of all, I am thoroughly sick and tired of my football club becoming synonymous with history making feats for all the wrong reasons. We have gone from football’s love child to the state’s embarrassment in the short space of 18 months. Staggering. Was 2014 the anomaly?
So what went wrong on Sunday? One only needs to look at 2 heat maps to answer that question, the analysis is pretty easy to dissect from that.
The below Heatmap is reflective of ground position where our players have spent the most time (either structure set up or in the contest) across the season:
- Port Adelaide season heatmap.png (292.33 KiB) Viewed 663 times
Sunday’s Heatmap tells a sad tale:
- Port Adelaide heatmap vs. GWS..png (417.99 KiB) Viewed 663 times
This comes as no surprise, really. GWS accumulated 44 Inside 50’s in the first half alone en route to 75 for the match. So how is it possible that a team concedes that many? Answer: This is what you see when there is no defensive pressure from forwards and midfielders.
Let’s start by taking a look at our forwards. GWS recorded 10 tackles Inside 50. Port Adelaide? 0. Our tackle to pressure act ratio as well as tackles inside 50’s, reveal an alarming disparity in workrate between our wins and losses:
Against St. Kilda- 106 tackles, 19 tackles inside 50, 376 pressure acts.
Against Adelaide- 64 tackles, 7 tackles inside 50, 302 pressure acts.
Against Essendon- 64 tackles, 13 tackles inside 50, 269 pressure acts.
Against GWS- 54 tackles, 0 tackles inside 50, 271 pressure acts.
It can be argued that high tackle numbers reflect being 2nd to the footy (as we were against the Saints), and low pressure act numbers were recorded against Essendon as we controlled most of the play. Pressure acts
can be taken with a grain of salt, as Adelaide for example only recorded 276 PA’s compared to Sydney’s 372 on Saturday night, Sydney also winning tackles and tackles inside 50. Is that poor execution by Sydney? Getting back to Port, however; to compare tackles inside 50 in our wins and losses (32 vs. 7) is where a big problem lies for mine. Forward pressure.
Tackles from Port Adelaide forwards: Dixon (1), Amon (1), Young (1), Neade (2), Wingard (1). Pressure Acts (Defined by Champion Data as either a physical pressure act (laying an effective tackle or laying a hand on the opposition ball carrier), or implied pressure act (players corralling an opponent or chasing to force rushed disposal)): Dixon (7 pressure acts), Amon (8 pressure acts), Young (10 pressure acts), Neade (13 pressure acts) & Wingard (11 pressure acts).
The real kicker from the above: Meter’s gained. GWS recorded 7294 meters gained, Port- 5703, a difference of nearly 1600m. What’s worse? That is 30% worse that our season average, and 30% better for GWS- a 60% differential in moving the footy.
So how bad were we defensively? Thirteen GWS players were up 30+% on their season average for meters gained. Only 3 were down 30+% in Shaw, Davis and Palmer. Port on the other hand, had Broadbent, Trengove, Hartlett, S.Gray, Wingard and Young all 30+% DOWN on season average. No surprise also to see Pittard, Hombsch and Byrne-Jones up 30+% on season average. They were the only 3 that looked to create all ****ing day. So- whilst the majority of our players could maintain their season average for meters gained, we were simply unable to restrict the Giants players to anywhere near their season averages. ****ing front runners. Front runners who cannot ACTUALLY defend by way of meaningful pressure, tackles, presses. Instead, just “hassle” and imply pressure, then stop running when it all gets too hard. People laughed at the suggestion that Monfries would prove to be a bigger loss than first thought. Penny for their thoughts.
The midfield: We lost clearances 45-30 (spanking), but surprisingly Lobbe broke even in hitout’s (42-38), and I recall hearing the stat for hitout’s to advantage being +1 in favour of GWS.
Our midfield’s issue is compounded by the lack of defensive pressure from our forward line, allowing waves of Giants to just stroll through the centre of the ground. Our contested possession and tackle numbers are of worrying concern, in particular the decline since R1:
Contested possession - St Kilda 177, Adelaide 161, Essendon 149, GWS 116.
Tackles - St Kilda 106, Adelaide 64, Essendon 64, GWS 54.
Compare us to Adelaide/Sydney on Saturday night: Sloane (10 tackles, 19CP), Thompson (10 tackles, 10 CP), Douglas (7 Tackles, 13 CP), Parker (6 tackles, 10 CP), Hannebery (5 tackles, 14 CP), Kennedy (3 tackles, 15CP).
Port on Sunday: Boak (6 tackles, 10CP), Hartlett (6 tackles, 3CP), Wines (5T, 11CP), (Ah Chee (3T, 11CP), Gray (3T, 10CP).
3 Crows produced tackle numbers greater than Boak and Hartlett, and Contested Possession far outweighed that of Port. Far greater effort displayed by both sides to put their bodies over the footy, tackle hard, and chase hard when not in possession. GWS didn’t need high CP or tackle numbers, they simply got the footy first, released it to runners working harder than ours, and went forward with uncontested ease.
Player Reviews:Top 5:Jasper Pittard- (32D,4M,7R50,9Bo)- Was one of 2 players on Sunday that was prepared to take the game on to try and break the lines. His “Jasper moment” which led to Dylan Shiel’s goal in the last quarter would have had me throwing my remote at the TV in years gone by. This moment on Sunday barely had me raising an eyebrow, such is both the performance of Jasper and the performance of the team thus far. Best on by an absolute street, and one of 2 players who get a pass mark for their efforts on Sunday.
Darcy Byrne-Jones- (21D,5M,6R50,4I50)- What a fantastic game from DBJ! Much like Jasper, was one willing to take the game on and try and generate some drive from the back half. He has some real defensive tenacity about him (cracking tackle on Stevie J), and his ball use is pretty solid, going at 81% on Sunday. Snuck forward to kick another goal to. Definitely something to work with.
Jack Hombsch- (21D,14M,5R50,12 x 1%)- Some might disagree with this inclusion based on the amount of footy that Patton got (took 9 marks for 1.1), but let’s be honest- what forward isn’t going to get some ball with 75 I50’s? I thought he did his best in trying circumstances to rebound the footy, and when adequate pressure was applied upfield, he got himself into good positions to either intercept mark or effect the spoil.
Oliver Wines- (25D,4M,5T,4I50)- Is winning the footy, but for crying out loud, Ollie- care to hit a ****ing target? For one of your premium ball winners to go at 52% is unacceptable. Some have mentioned in various media channels that he appears 1-2kgs too heavy and cannot cover the ground, a call that I agree with. The interchange cap seems to have hindered him, being our highest rotated player since he has been at the club. Still- one of a few players on Sunday that seemed interested in winning the footy at stoppages, and trying to apply some defensive pressure.
Heath Shaw/Robert Findlay: The Shaw brain-fades were back in style, with 2 x 50’s paid which lead directly to PAFC goals as a result of backchatting the umpire. Ol’ mate Robert Finday gets a mention as he was the trigger of Shaw’s frustration’s, paying all 4 free kicks paid against Shaw- some of them as soft as you are likely to see on a football field. The pineapple will be on its way in the post, Rob.
The Rest:Robbie Gray- (24D,6CL,3T,6I50)- Had a pretty good first half before fading out of the game. Still, the only Power player that looked like winning a clearance regardless of who won the tap, and should have finished with another couple of goals. You know the Chinese dipping sauce is all sour when Robbie starts throwing cheap shots.
Travis Boak- (23D,6M,5CL,6T)- My big call- drop Travis. Either do it or rest him as “injured”, because right now he is an absolute shell of the skipper I know and love. Has spent 59% of game time in the midfield, compared with 78% in 2015. If he is spending 25-30% of time up forward, we are getting no value there either, especially if we can’t lock the footy in there or get the bloody thing in there to begin with. Still- the only player that looked like making a tackle stick on Sunday. Please Travis/Ken- if you are injured, ****ing rest. Otherwise, pull your ****ing finger out and win some offensive footy, get damaging!!
Justin Westhoff- (21D,9M,3R50,5 x 1%)- 21 touches and you would be lucky if 2 were forward of the centre square. The theory goes that 5 minutes into a game, you can tell a Port loss, by intensity, and how long it takes for Westy to be shifted back. You know Port are ****ed when he gets sent back 5 minutes into the contest, which is precisely what happened on Sunday.
Brendon Ah Chee- (20D,5M,3CL,4I50)- I expect him to be dropped this week, another of about 16 who look like they are running in quicksand. Gets his hands to the footy at stoppages, is too slow to release and GWS left him for dead on the fast break.
Jared Polec- (19D,3R50,2I50)- Dynamite when we are on top, is on the back of milk cartons as missing when we are rubbish. Made a couple of dashing runs through the centre to try and break things open, but was unsighted for the remainder of the day. Is there a player that is producing more Bipolar performances than Jared at this point in time?
Brad Ebert- (18D,5M,4T,3I50)- Offered nothing offensively, offered nothing defensively.
Sam Gray- (16D,3CL,3T)- One of a minority of midfielders that looked like he could cover the ground to exert some defensive pressure but let’s be honest, not a lot he could do against 4-5 GWS midfielders/defenders streaming forward. Too often this season when he gets the footy, he is a culprit of the “kick and hope”. Needs to get back to his clearance efforts of 2015.
Hamish Hartlett- (15D,3M,3CL,6T)- 2 disposals up to half time. 2. Let that sink in Power fans, from our Vice Captain and so called “leader”. Here is a tip. Turn your beach muscles into actual strength, start exerting yourself on the contest and be a game changer. As pathetic a game as I have seen.
Matthew Broadbent- (14D,7M,3I50)- 30% down on season average for meters gained. What did he do on Sunday besides get the footy and hoof it as high and as far as possible? I won’t blame him defensively as there isn’t much you can do with the volume of footy coming in, but with such elite leg on him, I expect him to have way more impact with his skill level in terms of creating movement.
Chad Wingard- (14D,2.2)- Capitalised on the Shaw brainfades, but outside of that was relatively unsighted.
Karl Amon- (11D,2M,3I50)- One’s truest definition of a nothing game.
Tom Jonas- (11D,4M,5R50,8 x 1%)- Defends well, but he will lose his spot in the side once we get access to the likes of Clurey and Krakouer.
Jimmy Toumpas- (10D,3M,2T)- Offered nothing offensively, offered nothing defensively.
Jackson Trengove- (9D,2M,3T,9 x 1%)- Lobb smashed him in the air, and smashed him on the ground. Case in point being Lobb’s crumbing goal in the first quarter. Not often Jacko gets his colours lowered like that.
Aaron Young- (9D,2.0)- Kicked 2 goals early, and then completely disappeared from the contest.
Charlie Dixon- (8D,7M,1.2)- If you call 6 frees against and being reported “tough and physical”, then we are watching different era’s. Extremely lucky to get away with just a reprimand, for his hit on Davis (seriously, what the **** was he thinking with a minute to go?). He won’t be dropped due to the ensuing ramifications, but seriously needs to pull his finger out.
Matthew Lobbe- (8D,3M,23HO,4T)- I think most optimistic Port fans thought that we could get by with Lobbe in the wake of Ryder’s ban, but the writing is on the wall now. Was dominated physically by Mumford (which isn’t embarrassing by any stretch), but his midfield fail to win the footy from his taps, he offers nothing around the ground and can’t go up forward. “Hi Jase, Crippa here. So, about those 2 first rounders..”
Jake Neade- (7D,3M,2.0)- Now the way I see it- Neade is in the side for 2 things: to kick goals, and to create defensive pressure. 4 games for 2 goals, and 2 tackles, none inside 50. Time is up for Jake I think.
ANZAC weekend, 50,000 people at the oval on Saturday night, live broadcast into China. Worried.
Geelong gave us a bath this time last year with use of the 3rd man up effectively negating our midfield influence. With our midfields inability to win a centre clearance, I expect Danger to accumulate 15 clearances on his own.
Tom Clurey, Billy Frampton and Nathan Krakouer have been given the all clear to return through the Magpies in their game this weekend against Centrals, and I would be expecting that Clurey and Krakouer will return to the senior side against Richmond. Krak will be a valuable addition to the side for skill execution coming out of the back half, and I really like what Tom was able to do last year defensively as well as offensively (in a similar mould to Jack Hombsch). I think Jonas will be the one to make way, and to be truthful- if DBJ continues on his current trajectory, Broadbent’s spot in the side is in serious jeopardy.
So now we play the waiting game. Will Ken swing the axe in an effort to send a big wake up to the palying group? Will he swing the axe on the same old scape goats and replace them with the same old recycled names. Will he back the playing group to turn it around? Can we turn it around?
See you at the footy. Carn the Pear!
Valleys.
“Think of me like Yoda, but instead of being little and green I wear suits and I'm awesome. I'm your bro—I'm Broda!”
HOGG Shield 2015 Division I Premiers.
HOGG Shield 2017 Premier League Premiers.
by stan » Tue Apr 19, 2016 2:34 pm 
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