BIGGER

Hawthorn belt insipid Port Adelaide by 165 points

The Hawks crushed the Power 31.11 (197) to 5.2 (32), a result that was never in doubt, with the Hawks kicking eight unanswered goals in the first quarter.

The Power were coming off a club record 138-point loss to Collingwood last round, but created a new low on Saturday.

Power smashed by Collingwood

Port Adelaide 3.3 (21)
Collingwood 23.21 (159)

PORT ADELAIDE assistant coach Dean Laidley has conceded the club is being dragged down by cultural problems in the playing group.
The finger has been pointed at several senior players.
“There is a cultural problem within the playing group. We know and understand that,” Laidley said on SEN.
He said the club expected behavioural change from players after they served time in the SANFL.
“If they don’t change, I wouldn’t have thought they would be part of the football club going forward,” Laidley said.

Yesterday’s 60-point loss to the previously winless North Melbourne – coupled with last week’s history-making defeat by the Gold Coast Suns – has also sparked anger they are letting down first-year coach and favourite son Matthew Primus.

Scott Cummings, the club’s inaugural full forward and now a respected AFL commentator, said the Power’s recent efforts went against the cornerstones around which the club was built.

PORT ADELAIDE coach Matthew Primus has admitted confidence within the squad is at an all-time low and the team has little respect from the AFL community.

In the wake of Port’s 60-point loss to North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium, Primus said his was simply at a loss to explain the lack of hunger and effort from his team.

And he confessed he did not know how his team would respond after their second straight loss to a previously winless side.

Is it a football club that can proudly claim to be the only non-Victorian club to be taken out of suburbia for the AFL’s national stage.

Or is it a 141-year-old South Australian establishment no longer relevant in a national competition where bank balances, membership numbers, attendances and facilities are more important than that old-fashioned ethos at Alberton of “playing for the jumper”.

And the beat goes on… beautiful…

ACTING captain Troy Chaplin has described Port Adelaide as the “laughing stock of the competition”, following the club’s capitulation to Gold Coast at AAMI Stadium.

“We’re probably the laughing stock of the AFL at the moment because we seem to be able to get up for showdowns and that’s the reality at the moment,” Chaplin said.

“We need to pull our fingers out and show all our supporters and members, who pay their money and come every week, that we are a good football team.

“As a team we were extremely embarrassing in our effort today and that’s not taking anything away from Gold Coast. They just wanted the ball more and had a greater desire to win than we did.”

A proud club of unrivalled success at SANFL level dating back to 1870, in the years since losing the 2007 AFL Grand Final to Geelong by 119 points, the Power have established an unfortunate reputation for inconsistency and losing matches they should win.

“They won’t be expecting much from us,” Gorringe said.

“They’re a pretty up-and-down side. They can be a bit like us, a bit inconsistent.”

“If we can catch them off guard, hit them hard and play some good footy their heads might drop and they might start blaming each other. Maybe we can get a win.”

Geelong vs Port Adelaide, M.C.G., Saturday September 29, 2007

Backs: Tom Harley 2 (Captain) – Matthew Scarlett 30 – Josh Hunt 8

Half Backs: Andrew Mackie 4 – Darren Milburn 39 – David Wojcinski 40

Centres: Joel Corey 11 – Jimmy Bartel 3 – Corey Enright 44

Half Forwards: Steve Johnson 20 – Cameron Mooney 21 – Joel Selwood 14

Forwards: Paul Chapman 35 – Nathan Ablett 23 – Matthew Stokes 27

Followers: Brad Ottens 6 – Cameron Ling 45 – Gary Ablett 29

Interchange: Steve King 1 – Shannon Byrnes 17 – James Kelly 9 – Max Rooke 33

Emergencies: Brent Prismall 32 – Travis Varcoe 5 – Mark Blake 24

Coach: Mark Thompson

Norm Smith Medal: Steve Johnson

Goal Kickers: Mooney 5, Chapman 4, Johnson 4, N.Ablett 3, Bartel 2, G.Ablett 1, Byrnes 1, Ling 1, Mackie 1, Ottens 1, Rooke 1

Crowd: 97,302