Port Adelaide’s narrow AFL semi-final loss to Geelong hasn’t dampened player confidence that the club is a rising power.
The Power led the Cats by 23 points at halftime of Friday night’s clash, before Geelong hit their stride in the second half to win 13.18 (96) to 12.8 (80) at the MCG.
Port climbed from 14th last season to reach their first finals series since 2007 and upset Collingwood in an elimination final last weekend.
So, even in the aftermath of a season-ending defeat, there was a realisation of how much they’d gained.
“We all gained a lot of confidence and we’ve all been through a lot as a team and we’ve all stuck together,” saud Port’s Cameron O’Shea, who stood up well in defence on Friday night.
“We couldn’t be happier with our year.
“We’re not going to be complacent, we’re going to work even harder next year and try to go another step further.”
O’Shea said Port had always expected the Cats to make a surge at some point.
While they didn’t handle it as well as they hoped, the Power are confident the experience of their two finals this year will hold them in good stead.
“We take a lot from them,” O’Shea said.
“They’re both really good teams and that’s what we aspire to be like.
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“We’re really happy with the result last week and disappointed with the result (against Geelong) but we still take a lot out of the game.”
He was confident that the Power could avoid following the trajectory of local rivals Adelaide, who came from 14th in 2011 to surprise by reaching a preliminary final under new coach Brenton Sanderson last year, but sank back to 11th this season.
“We’re really confident that we can,” O’Shea said.
“We’ve got a really good group that’s really tight and we all trust each other that we’ll do everything right over the off-season and come back in really good shape and get ready for a big year next year.”
