Greg Denham says a change of mindset is required at Port Adelaide in order to avoid missing the finals for a third consecutive year.
The writer for The Australian is firmly of the view since their run to the preliminary final in 2014 their focus has changed sharply.
“They’ve gone Hollywood, they’ve talked the talk since they had that miraculous rise a couple of years ago and haven’t performed since,” Denham said on Hungry for Sport.
“I think that they have taken their focus off what they did best a couple of years ago…they’re concentrating too much on going to China to play.
“When Adelaide Oval first opened for football in 2014 I think they lost twice there, it was a fortress. Last year the lost nine of 12 from memory there. They need to improve.
“I think that for a team that is rated highly often and particularly within their home state, they’ve got a lot of work to do to lift this year and even make the finals.”
Denham believes the failed trades for players currently on long-term contracts shows there are problems with the internal running of the club.
He also demanded improvement from key-forward Charlie Dixon, declaring his inaugural year at Port Adelaide as "not good enough”.
“We saw it towards the end of last year when they tried to trade off Hamish Hartlett and Matthew Lobbe, those guys are on long term contracts. What does that suggest about the internal running of your football club? Not very good I would’ve thought,” he said.
“Charlie Dixon I thought he had a terrible year last year and all Ken Hinkley did, because he was part of the recruitment from Gold Coast because of his previous time there was talk him up.
“He had six goalless games, I think he had 30 goals in 18 games, that’s not good enough for a key forward. I don’t care what you say.”
Click here to view Charlie Dixon's SEN Inside Football Player Ratings
Denham said he is looking forward to the Power’s opening match of the pre-season against St Kilda, particularly with President David Koch demanding finals as the bare minimum in 2017.
“They play here Thursday night and I’ll be looking forward to seeing how they go, who they’ve recruited, who’s in-form early,” he said.
“I notice their president said on Friday night on Adelaide radio that it’s unacceptable not to make the finals at the very least.
“Now what happens if they don’t?”