Kane Cornes has identified an area of concern for Port Adelaide in the wake of their loss to the Western Bulldogs on Saturday night.
The Power lost to the Bulldogs by 19 points at Adelaide Oval which was their second loss to a top four side in three weeks.
It was in the midfield where the game was taken away from Port with the Doggies edging them on clearances 44-38, with the visitors enjoying much more time in possession of the ball.
As a result, Cornes feels the “sameness” of the on-ball brigade is becoming somewhat of an issue for Ken Hinkley’s side.
“I said a fortnight ago they’ve lost touch with the top four sides,” he said on SEN Breakfast.
“The top four are starting to separate themselves from the rest which can happen at this time of year.”
Garry Lyon asked: “Are they flat-trackers?”
Cornes replied: “They have to be at the moment.
“The issue for them is their midfield. There is such a sense of sameness about their midfield.
“(Ollie) Wines and (Travis) Boak, you know what you’re going to get. Who are the next ones to go in there?”
Lyon asked if perhaps young gun Connor Rozee had not quite progressed as a midfielder this year which Cornes feels has been compounded by Zak Butters’ absence.
He said: “So (Connor) Rozee hasn’t come on? He hasn’t come on full stop.”
Cornes added: “Not through the midfield. I need him to play more midfield minutes.
“He’s a third-year player who is having moments in games, high up in score involvements. When he touches the footy it usually leads to scores.
“Butters is the one that’s killed them. He was the one that was going to go into the midfield and give them some difference in there, but every team has injuries.
“Without the Western Bulldogs’ two number one rucks, once again they were beaten at the stoppages and in the midfield and there’s not enough depth through there.”
Boak and Wines were again fantastic for the Power but the midfield help was few and far between, especially from an inside grunt perspective.
Following the defeat, the Power’s win-loss record now sits at 6-3 ahead of their Round 10 clash with Collingwood at the MCG.