Port wary of Tigers’ tall forwardsAdelaide Advertiser
30 April 2016THE Power has identified Richmond’s height as its big danger but is confident it has done everything to withstand the tall tower challenge.
The Tigers have for tonight’s MCG match included both former Crows ruckman Ivan Maric and former Blue Shaun Hampson and also have threatening tall forwards in Jack Riewoldt and Ty Vickery.
It will present as a serious challenge for Power coach Ken Hinkley, who has lost Jackson Trengove to suspension and Alipate Carlile to injury while also choosing to drop ruckman Matthew Lobbe.
“If they mark the ball it will cause some problems,” Hinkley said.
“But we are where we are ... we’re a little bit restricted with what we can and can’t do in that area.
“We’ve got Trengove and Carlile both unavailable to us and that makes it a bit harder.
“We made a choice on ‘Lobbes’ for the long term – not for the short term – and we’ve certainly got some taller blokes in our side who can still help us.
“(Tom) Jonas has always been able to play tall for us, we’ve got (Jack) Hombsch, O’Shea at 193 (cm), so they’re not small blokes.
“And we’ve also got (Justin) Westhoff and Charlie (Dixon) at the other end and Dougal Howard. They’re all around 200 (cm), so we’re not small.
“But on face value you’d suggest that they have a couple of talls in their front half who can cause us some problems.”
Richmond’s forward, including Jack Riewoldt, could give Port some trouble. Picture: Getty Images
The battle of talls comes as Hinkley warned he will continue to be ruthless at the selection table if he doesn’t get the performances he expects as the club departed Adelaide Airport this afternoon.
His call was highlighted by the case of raking left-footer Jared Polec – who will be under scrutiny as he returns from the reserves – and dumped ruckman Lobbe.
Hinkley said Polec should be a regular AFL player but would not have any qualms about giving him another wake-up call if his form drops.
“He shouldn’t be in the twos,” Hinkley said. “It’s as simple as that. But Jared wasn’t playing in the form he needed to be. But he’s got enough quality to play AFL football week in and week out.
“He should never need to get a reminder but if he wants to get another reminder I’ll give him one if I have to.”
With Lobbe, the demotion was tipped to be short-lived and was done with the intention of the ruckman using the spell from the firsts as a way to find confidence again.
“I think Lobbe’s all-round game hasn’t been at the level that he would like it to be,” Hinkley said. “His ruckwork has been serviceable and he’s competed reasonably well in the ruck but his influence around the ground and in other parts of the game ... I’m sure he would say himself he would like to do a bit more.”
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/afl/teams/port-adelaide/port-adelaide-wary-of-richmonds-tall-forwards/news-story/487be941152325ab626b14165fcca3b7
