Is Port Adelaide's defence good enough to win a flag? The burning questions for the Power in 2023
With the 2022 AFL season complete, Kane Cornes and Garry Lyon have gone through all 18 clubs and come up with burning questions for each.
Port Adelaide finished 11th in 2022, a far cry from their preliminary final appearance last year, having started off this season with a five-game losing streak which they unable to recover from.
Lyon asks should we presume the Power will be back in finals next year?
“I have a sense, I want to know whether this is the external or whether it’s shared internally, that it’s a rite of passage for them to return to finals footy next year,” Lyon said on SEN Breakfast.
“This preliminary final team that dropped out of the eight… not only are they coming back in, they’re going to contend for a premiership on the back of having missed the finals, is that external noise that I’ve misread, I hope it’s not being shared internally.”
Cornes believes Port Adelaide are confident in themselves looking ahead to next year, however, aren’t going overboard.
“I would think that they would believe that they are capable of (winning a premiership), there’s not a (expectation),” he said.
“There’s a coach that’s going to be under more pressure than any other coach in the league next year, and if you start 1-3, that pressure is going to be unbearable and if it gets worse, then they will make a call at some point.
“The information that I’ve got is that Ken (Hinkley) wants to go into it with a really good attitude, he wants to play faster, more attacking football, surround himself with good people which he’s done, those that he trusts in his coaching department.
“The possibilities in the midfield with (Zak) Butters and (Connor) Rozee, Butters hasn’t scratched the surface yet, hasn’t had a decent run at it, (Scott) Lycett comes back after being in a hospital bed for the majority of the year.”
Whilst Cornes is confident that the Power are poised for a successful year, he questions whether Port Adelaide’s backline is strong enough to win a flag?
“The one question I have is on their defence, they weren’t able to shore that up with (Esava) Ratugolea, they’re too small, so (Tom) Clurey and (Tom) Jonas have to play tall, (Trent) McKenzie is going to have to play tall again, (Aliir) Aliir did a good job late in the season playing on those big key forwards, but that’s where they’re really vulnerable,” he said.
“Can you win a premiership when you’re that vulnerable personnel-wise behind the ball, probably not, so there’s still some glaring holes.
“Lycett comes back, (Mitch) Georgiades and (Todd) Marshall and (Charlie) Dixon is exciting, who knows with (Orazio) Fantasia, who knows with (Junior) Rioli, I think that’s a question mark that is legitimate, can he get fit and can be a bona fide AFL player, I don’t know.
“Is (Jason) Horne-Francis going to be Horne-Francis in year two, I think he’ll get there in year five, but is he going to make a massive difference in year two, all reasonable questions.”
“Pass mark is top four.”