Port wary on finals talk
Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley says his AFL club isn’t in. Brisbane coach Michael Voss says his side isn’t out.
Both coaches trod diplomatic lines about their AFL finals hopes after Port’s gritty nine-point win against the Lions on Sunday.
Port regained eighth spot on the ladder with an ugly, yet precious, 9.17 (71) to 9.8 (62) triumph at AAMI Stadium.
The Power are a win ahead of ninth place and on the verge of their first finals campaign since 2007.
But Hinkley, asked if it’s fair to say Port will make the play-offs, is emphatic: “Nup.”
“It’s fair to say we will get what we deserve,” he said.
“I’m big on the season: you play 22 games and at the end of the season you will make it.
“I will bore you: we will end up where we deserve to end up.”
Brisbane’s finals chances appear shot – they’re three wins behind Port with five games to play – but coach Voss remains upbeat.
“This side doesn’t give up, so neither will I,” he said.
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Voss described Sunday’s fixture as untidy, with both sides making skill blunders in tricky, swirling winds.
The Lions trailed by four points at three-quarter-time and kicked with the stiff breeze in the last term.
But after a tense stalemate when neither side could score for almost 16 minutes, Port’s Chad Wingard sealed the result with the only goal of the quarter.
Wingard’s decisive blow was mired in controversy: Lion Daniel “Roger” Merrett marked 10 metres out from Port’s goal, took a step to his right, and was ruled to have played on.
Port’s Angus Monfries was metres from Merrett and caused a spill which ultimately fell to Wingard, who scored from the goal-line.
The play on ruling confused Voss, but he didn’t blame it for his side’s loss.
“I’m just hoping that Monfries was somehow in the vicinity of one of Roger’s teammates because otherwise he’s within the (protected) five-metre area,” Voss said.
“So that will be an interesting one. I haven’t seen the vision yet but certainly my first instinct was ‘what was Monfries doing standing there’.”
But his counterpart Hinkley differed.
“I think he (Merrett) took off,” the Port mentor said.
Hinkley was happy with the win in any form.
“Sometimes you have got to find a way to win – and we found a way to win,” he said.
Port sprayed shots at goal – they kicked 9.17 (71) to Brisbane’s 9.8 (62).
Port also gifted scores to the Lions with some basic skill errors.
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But for a coach who preaches defence first, Hinkley couldn’t be happier.
“As much as we wasted some opportunities, we were able to keep Brisbane to a score that allowed us to still win,” he said.
“That was why we won: we defended well.
“We gave them a couple of goals from our skill, we turned the ball over.
“But we controlled them pretty well defensively. And in a game when you don’t convert the way you’d like to, that is why you are going to be able to hang on and win a game.”
While Port enjoyed the win, the Crows had a tough weekend, with the AFL season of big man Josh Jenkins finished, as are the Crows’ finals hopes.
Jenkins, who has booted 24 goals this year, fractured his right ankle after falling awkwardly in a marking contest during Saturday night’s 22-point loss to Fremantle at Patersons Stadium.
Jenkins won’t play again this year, with the injury robbing Adelaide of yet another marking option in attack.
Spearhead Taylor Walker is already out for the year after undergoing a knee reconstruction, while Kurt Tippett left a major hole in attack when he defected to Sydney last year.
Adelaide came within a goal of reaching the grand final last season.
But their 2013 campaign has been one to forget, with the Crows (7-10) now needing a miracle if they are to scrape into eighth spot.
Adelaide will welcome back star midfielder Patrick Dangerfield and defender Ben Rutten for Sunday’s showdown with Port Adelaide.
Despite the Crows’ lowly ladder position, coach Brenton Sanderson has promised fans his team will continue to battle for a finals spot.
“We won’t be giving up. We will fight this season out,” Sanderson said.
“It’s a 22-game season and we’ll be going as hard as we can until the siren sounds in the fourth quarter of our last game.”
Forward Shaun McKernan is in doubt to take on the Power after tweaking his ankle against Fremantle.
“We’ve probably got the most unsettled forward line in the competition through injuries and form,” Sanderson said.
The Crows won most of the key statistical areas against Fremantle, but their return of 3.8 from set shots cost them dearly.
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