Charlie to play and skipper to half back: Experts' calls for the Power selection table

Gerard Healy and Brad Johnson have expressed their desired outcomes from the Port Adelaide selection table ahead of their Semi-Final clash with Hawthorn this Friday night.

With seemingly everything on the line for Ken Hinkley as they look to avoid their fifth straight finals defeat, a plethora of different adjustments may be required from the selection committee, particularly off the back of the Power’s 84-point smashing at the hands of the Cats.

Despite a distinctly quiet day for Charlie Dixon with just three disposals in their Qualifying Final, Healy and Johnson discussed his potential selection on SEN's Sportsday, with Healy firmly stating that the key forward should remain in the side this weekend.

Johnson: “Charlie Dixon obviously played a really average game and looks like he’s nearly done.

“I’m going to ask you Gerard, are you sticking with him? What have you seen that makes you want to stick with him.”

Healy: “I am. I’ve seen an injury to ‘Frosty’ (Sam Frost), and I see King Charlie just about ready to go out, and I reckon King Charlie’s got one left in him.

“They’ve got to ask themselves, ‘how can we win’, and the how can we win is to get it in there and hope that King Charlie sticks his big mitts in the air. He can out-muscle Jai Serong who has been named.”

Johnson: “Are you confident enough that they can give enough supply to a tall forward line?”

Healy: “I’m not confident about anything about Port Adelaide from what I’ve seen, but you’ve got to ask yourself ‘how can we win’, and the weakness in Hawthorn is if you can get the ball inside their forward 50. That’s a well-known fact, if you can get it in there 50 times or more, you’re going to be a chance.

“King Charlie has not got much else to offer, but what he has got, he’s got a huge body, he still knows how to mark the ball and kick it, and if King Charlie can kick three or four or more, all of a sudden Hawthorn are scrambling to find a Plan B, you’ve got an opportunity to take control.”

Beyond their forward line issues, Port Adelaide will look to find a way to manage the absence of Dan Houston and Kane Farrell, which clearly played a role in their inability to work the ball forward in last week’s contest.

Healy: “They have got a couple of options; I reckon they can bring in Josh Sinn.”

Johnson: “Last week we were talking around do they throw a (Connor) Rozee to half back?”

Healy: “I like that idea; I reckon they have got to spread their talent a little bit more evenly across the ground.”

“If you have got (Ollie) Wines, (Zak) Butters and (Jason) Horne-Francis, you can put the skipper on the half-back line.

“They have got to put Darcy Byrne-Jones back to the half forward line to bolster their forward line on the chance they get it in there, maybe he can do a stopping role on (James) Sicily.

“They have got to come up with a plan that they believe in, and I think going back to where you were is potentially more beneficial than just throwing magnets around.”

Gerard Healy has stuck firm on his belief that captain Connor Rozee should run the game out on the half-back flank, covering the hole left by the two absentees.

“I say he plays back,” Healy continued.

“He plays the Houston role. He can intercept, he can kick, he can run, and he can create. He’s a hell of a player when he is at his very best and they need to find some winners.

“They are nervous behind the ball; they lack talent behind the ball, and they lack leadership behind the ball.

“It wouldn’t be a problem for me at all to see their captain go back down there.”

Quickly becoming a heavily debated discussion, all eyes will remain firmly on the selection table out of South Australia.