AFL legend Jason Dunstall described some of Port Adelaide’s efforts as “horrible” during Thursday night’s 36-point home loss to Carlton, exposing the team’s concerning defensive problems once again. Coach Ken Hinkley of Port acknowledged that his team was “spanked” at Adelaide Oval, as Carlton won 16.11 (107) to 10.11 (71) after Brownlow Medallist Patrick Cripps scored two goals in the last quarter. The Power led the game by three goals to eight at the end of the third quarter, with 7.1 of those goals coming from stoppages. Before the game, Dunstall had sparked criticism of the Power, calling them a “fake top four team.” After seeing Port’s midfield be dominated by players like Sam Walsh and Cripps, who combined for a game-high 33 possessions, Dunstall reiterated his criticism.
Despite finishing the season with the same record as Carlton, Port dropped to 8-4, but they are still third on the ladder. But Dunstall said Hinkley should be really concerned about the Power’s “lack of defence”, and the figures support that view. Although Port’s defense appeared to have strengthened in the first few games of the season, from rounds six through eleven, they fell to 15th place in the league for turnover-related points allowed and 10th place for points against.AFL legends criticize Port Adelaide’s flimsy defense
When the ball started to enter Port’s defense, Dunstall remarked on Fox Footy, “It leaked like a sieve.” “As I mentioned, Port Adelaide, the former fictitious top four team, has no idea where to go from here.” He next focused his attention on some particularly bad defensive one-on-ones for the Power.
Dunstall continued, “To be brutally honest, the Port defenders were awful in one-on-ones.” It was evident how much pressure they were under; Zerk-Thatcher had a quite filthy evening. Carlton essentially did as they pleased, and when they looked back on this match, they probably would have said, “Maybe I could have kicked four or five (more goals), could have been a better night.”two-time premiership The legendary David King of the Kangaroos concurred, describing Port’s lack of response to Carlton’s stoppage threat as demonic. “It’s an issue; I’ve never seen a quarter end up this way. In 30 minutes of football, 7.1 points (to Carlton),” King said of the Blues’ last-term surge. They have some guys who are willing to roll the dice and some gamblers from Port Adelaide.”There’s a cost associated with making a mistake and rolling snake eyes. Simply put, you shouldn’t be able to kick 7.1 from stoppage in a quarter. I haven’t seen it before. These levels will be the highest for a period of 15 to 20 years. Additionally, it will be against clubs that are relegated to the bottom of the standings or are also-rans. At home, Port Adelaide is anticipated to be legitimate by 2024. Oh, well.
Ken Hinkley acknowledges that Carlton “spanked” his careless Port team. Hinkley’s team was without superstar Connor Rozee (ankle), and Alex Cincotta’s harsh tag on Zak Butters made him largely ineffective. The Power coach acknowledged that although he was generally happy with his team’s performance in the first three quarters, Port was completely outplayed by the Blues in the fourth and committed an excessive number of turnovers during the game.”Carlton’s midfield stepped up, they dominated from ruck to ground and the first opportunity after that,” Hinkley remarked. “We were good (on the ball) until three-quarter time,” he added. It’s difficult to dispute that they were superior to us; they scolded us there. We gave up more possession of the ball than we would have liked to, particularly in the opening three quarters, and we slightly exposed ourselves when it appeared we would win easily.It’s okay since we now have greater clarity about where we need to keep chasing after their dominance in the last quarter. Although we’d rather not receive that, we did. We’ve performed fairly well thus far, and we currently stand in the middle of a large group of contending teams. Sydney is undoubtedly the side that stands out, while the other sides are attempting to work things out. We still have a great deal of work to do and things to work out before tonight’s game.
