Opinion I've lost my faith in Ken Hinkley

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I'm still willing to write this one off as the 'step-back' year that can happen.

Over the past couple of years Ken's gameplan has been built on a rock-solid defence that springboards our attacks with support from some skilful runners. And where have we been hit all year? In defence.

Carlile was in ripping form until he missed a week with a back injury and came back from that with the appearance of an ironing board jammed up the back of his jumper, Trengove did his usual papier-mache act missed the pre-season and hasn't looked right since, Jonas has been in a form and possibly injury black hole, Broady's been up and down, O'Shea had his own form event horizon, Polec's season has been blown up, White has struggled probably with injury all year, even Pittard has fallen over (in a different way) lately.

In the midfield Lobbe's not been right all year and Ryder is new, carrying something by his own account and of course has the WADA cloud over his head. We've been mostly unimaginative in attack but again that's affected by the loss of running power from the backline through the midfield.

The usual caveats still apply - the pre-season was a shambles, the fitness program doesn't look right, the players (and maybe the coaching staff) have had that air of getting ahead of themselves, losing Richardson and Walsh in successive pre-seasons has hurt and of course the tragedy of Walsh was another hit to a teetering season.

It's all fixable with a few program tweaks and some smart recruiting without going overboard, maybe time to raid one of the top team's programs for an assistant to get some fresh ideas from a winning environment (no offence Vossy).

There has been some terrific footy this year, it's just there has been enough bad footy to undo it.
From where the players have come from (pre Hinkley) to 13/14 then to this yr, I'd say expecting a steely resolve next year will be well and truly evident, from pre season too.
 

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That we are paying our playing group as much as the Hawks this year is a worry.

We are a deadset tease and pretenders.
If you believe we are pretenders then this season should be inline with your expectations of us.

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I have a few major issues with Ken this year, tactics, selection and treatment of player group.

Tactics
It has been blatantly clear that we have been comprehensively beaten in the coaches box all year. You can blame the players all you want but I think they have completely lost faith in the system and I think rightfully so. Teams have completely worked out that to stop Port you just clog the corridor and make sure you are spread across the ground in the "web" like formation. If you watch closely when we try and switch the ball regularity the opposition has more playing on the other side of the ground waiting for it. What this forces us to do is to kick to packs where we are quite frankly useless. So how do we adapt to this situation which has not worked in the first half of the year? We don't because Ken has decided this is it, there is no plan B. That is just generally what is frustrating.

More specifically our forward line is an absolute mess, we rely on individual brilliance from either Gray or Wingard to create or kick us goals with the occasional cameo from Ryder. We have consistently played behind the player and either tried to kick it over the top or to a contested situation. Now I am no expert but I am sure this play is much lower percentage than kicking it to the chest of a leading forward? Have we changed this? Maybe slightly in the past few weeks, but the damage was done and Ken stubbornly did not change for 15+ weeks.

Midfield tactics? Well we have been consistently beaten through the middle of the field, not even so much in the clearances but generally our midfielders have been slaughtered by oppositions. Have we tried anything different? Not really, because our game plan works, it is what we are sticking with and the players have full confidence in the game plan!


Selection and Treatment of players
On numerous occasions this year I have been absolutely irate about the decisions at the selection table. We have the golden 18 or so who'm can play about 15 terrible games in a row before they are dropped. Lets look at someone like the Bulldogs, they have dropped anyone and everyone that has not performed in the AFL team for a month or so and just look how well they are going. The prime example of this is Jonas, I mean how this man was not dropped at least 6 weeks before he was actually dropped is just mind blowing. I am not sure if I have seen worse games of football from an AFL footballer than some of the ones Jonas dished up this year. How he is back in the side without starring in the SANFL is just a perfect example of the major issue with selection. Players that needed a kick up the backside this year: Hammer, Westhoff, Lobbe, Schultz, Jonas and Monfries. It may be harsh but if you are trying to build a winning and successful culture, having these golden passes just destroys it. Yes 3 of them eventually got dropped, but the season was over. It was too late.

Now this is my major issue with Ken as a coach at the moment. The last 4 or so spots in our 22 have been a revolving door all year. Now you could argue sure pressure for positions is great but is there actually pressure on players or is there just enormous pressure of a few of the players? Some players react well knowing that if they fu** up they will be dropped, most players stop taking risks, try and be safe and not get dropped. We have developed a culture where these last few players come in with ZERO confidence and they are clearly not supported by the Coaching staff. I am going to start with Ah Chee. We have been crying out for a midfielder who can win some tough ball, hit the packs hard and take a contested mark. Ah Chee is not polished no but he is what we have lacked all year, but has he been given a real chance to prove his worth? No. He has been sub on multiple occasions and for me you cannot base an opinion on a player coming on as a sub, its just showing you have no faith in them. Here's a vest, you get a quarter, don't play well, back to the Magies. However one time Ah Chee started :O but where was he played, I tell you where it wasn't, it wasn't in the middle of the ground where he actually plays! Shock horror the guy who you have shown no faith in all year, and then play him out of position plays poorly.

Another example. Hoon was pretty good, definitely good enough to keep his spot against the Saints, he was one of our best users of the ball that day. Next week sub. Plays poorly as sub. Dropped. If i was Hoon I would be asking for a one way ticket to Melbourne because that is just completely unfair. Another example: Correct me if I am wrong but Clurey has been dropped twice now I believe. Did he deserve it either time? No, definitely not. However Clurey is not in the chosen few so for some reason he's part of the revolving door. Wouldn't be surprised if he asks to leave as well. Krak is another example. Krak was so much better than Pittard when playing off half back this year but once again, not one of the golden few so he was relegated back to the Magies. I understand that he was not fit enough but I wouldn't say the rest of the team busted their asses this year? Completely outworked by the opposition. Anyway Krak can also be a dangerous forward, should have played all games this year. Absolute joke whats happened to him.

Another clear player management issue has been with Schultz. Now Schultzy has been a brilliant player for this club since he has got here and I am sure he wouldn't have been on much when he first got to the power. Treating great players for the club the way he has been treated is just so bad for culture it is just stupid. I am not sure how many saw my post about Wingards reaction to being asked if he'd be a one club player. It was along the lines of "if the club treats me right, should be." The players would look at the way Schultzy has been treated and will ask themselves, will I be treated the same way. Port have made a mess of this.

Now the season is over, lets play some youth, give them a go see how they go against the big boys of the AFL. No lets not do that lets bring back Kane Fu**ing Mitchell and Jonas. I cannot comprehend what the club were thinking when they did the changes for this week. Our season is over and we drop 4 young players and replace them with older ones. I can't explain my anger over this. This was it for me, I am done with Ken and the coaching staff.

I know it won't happen but I think for the club to be successful we need to move in another direction. Hinkley, Voss etc have had a poor year and unless they change their mindset dramatically I can see a repeat in 2016.

Rant over
 
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Applause....I hate to say it but I agree with all of this. Except the bit about Mitchell. I'll still go into bat for him and Sammy G.
 
Applause....I hate to say it but I agree with all of this. Except the bit about Mitchell. I'll still go into bat for him and Sammy G.
no problem with Gray, I just don't see the value of playing Mitchell now, if he was going to come in it shouldn't have been when the seasons over. Give the kids a solid month in the AFL I think
 
Ken and the coaching staff took us from a destitute basketcase on the verge of existence, to 3rd last year and the feel good story of the comp.

Has there been stuff which hasn't worked this year? Oh yes. Our gameplan and defensive structures, fitness department and mental resolve of the players are all off, not to mention some questionable development of our young key position players.

Right now there's no doubt that KT and our coaching staff are acutely aware of this- there'll be adjustments, changes and continual evolution of our playing list around a core group of players. I for one won't be throwing everything we've worked towards out the window on the back of a poor year before we've had a chance for their vision to come to fruition. Success and development rarely follows a linear trend; in the words of a wise man, Ken has certainly earned the right to see his masterpiece through to the end.
 
Ken has improved us. A lot of that has come down to fitness and footy dept spend. How many games in 2012 where we either in front or in reach at 3/4 time, then blown away in the last? About half a dozen. We underrate the effect Burgess had, and also the improvement produced in 2012, because Primus was working with a well below standard fitness program and football department as a whole.

Ken has had a lot going for him in a short space of time, and not all of it can be attributed to his coaching. I'm sick of hearing this "Ken saved us from being a basketcase", it simply isn't that simple. The romanticism had deluded us to believe he has all the answers and all shortcomings come down to Voss, or down to Burgess training them incorrectly, or Schulz missing a goal. We still do not fairly question Ken, and accept his repetitive clichés in his pressers, his overtly defensive nature, and justify his baffling selections at times.

I've had enough.

So many times I've also read shit about a "dip year", and comparisons to Geelong 2006. Well, Mark Thomson was clinging to his job with a fingernail in a way that Ken couldn't comprehend compared to the free ride he has been given, and shall continue to get for years to come. Let's direct some pressure on him. After all, you need a little tension on the string to make music.
 
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I have a few major issues with Ken this year, tactics, selection and treatment of player group.

Tactics
It has been blatantly clear that we have been comprehensively beaten in the coaches box all year. You can blame the players all you want but I think they have completely lost faith in the system and I think rightfully so. Teams have completely worked out that to stop Port you just clog the corridor and make sure you are spread across the ground in the "web" like formation. If you watch closely when we try and switch the ball regularity the opposition has more playing on the other side of the ground waiting for it. What this forces us to do is to kick to packs where we are quite frankly useless. So how do we adapt to this situation which has not worked in the first half of the year? We don't because Ken has decided this is it, there is no plan B. That is just generally what is frustrating.

More specifically our forward line is an absolute mess, we rely on individual brilliance from either Gray or Wingard to create or kick us goals with the occasional cameo from Ryder. We have consistently played behind the player and either tried to kick it over the top or to a contested situation. Now I am no expert but I am sure this play is much lower percentage than kicking it to the chest of a leading forward? Have we changed this? Maybe slightly in the past few weeks, but the damage was done and Ken stubbornly did not change for 15+ weeks.

Midfield tactics? Well we have been consistently beaten through the middle of the field, not even so much in the clearances but generally our midfielders have been slaughtered by oppositions. Have we tried anything different? Not really, because our game plan works, it is what we are sticking with and the players have full confidence in the game plan!


Selection and Treatment of players
On numerous occasions this year I have been absolutely irate about the decisions at the selection table. We have the golden 18 or so who'm can play about 15 terrible games in a row before they are dropped. Lets look at someone like the Bulldogs, they have dropped anyone and everyone that has not performed in the AFL team for a month or so and just look how well they are going. The prime example of this is Jonas, I mean how this man was not dropped at least 6 weeks before he was actually dropped is just mind blowing. I am not sure if I have seen worse games of football from an AFL footballer than some of the ones Jonas dished up this year. How he is back in the side without starring in the SANFL is just a perfect example of the major issue with selection. Players that needed a kick up the backside this year: Hammer, Westhoff, Lobbe, Schultz, Jonas and Monfries. It may be harsh but if you are trying to build a winning and successful culture, having these golden passes just destroys it. Yes 3 of them eventually got dropped, but the season was over. It was too late.

Now this is my major issue with Ken as a coach at the moment. The last 4 or so spots in our 22 have been a revolving door all year. Now you could argue sure pressure for positions is great but is there actually pressure on players or is there just enormous pressure of a few of the players? Some players react well knowing that if they fu** up they will be dropped, most players stop taking risks, try and be safe and not get dropped. We have developed a culture where these last few players come in with ZERO confidence and they are clearly not supported by the Coaching staff. I am going to start with Ah Chee. We have been crying out for a midfielder who can win some tough ball, hit the packs hard and take a contested mark. Ah Chee is not polished no but he is what we have lacked all year, but has he been given a real chance to prove his worth? No. He has been sub on multiple occasions and for me you cannot base an opinion on a player coming on as a sub, its just showing you have no faith in them. Here's a vest, you get a quarter, don't play well, back to the Magies. However one time Ah Chee started :O but where was he played, I tell you where it wasn't, it wasn't in the middle of the ground where he actually plays! Shock horror the guy who you have shown no faith in all year, and then play him out of position plays poorly.

Another example. Hoon was pretty good, definitely good enough to keep his spot against the Saints, he was one of our best users of the ball that day. Next week sub. Plays poorly as sub. Dropped. If i was Hoon I would be asking for a one way ticket to Melbourne because that is just completely unfair. Another example: Correct me if I am wrong but Clurey has been dropped twice now I believe. Did he deserve it either time? No, definitely not. However Clurey is not in the chosen few so for some reason he's part of the revolving door. Wouldn't be surprised if he asks to leave as well. Krak is another example. Krak was so much better than Pittard when playing off half back this year but once again, not one of the golden few so he was relegated back to the Magies. I understand that he was not fit enough but I wouldn't say the rest of the team busted their asses this year? Completely outworked by the opposition. Anyway Krak can also be a dangerous forward, should have played all games this year. Absolute joke whats happened to him.

Another clear player management issue has been with Schultz. Now Schultzy has been a brilliant player for this club since he has got here and I am sure he wouldn't have been on much when he first got to the power. Treating great players for the club the way he has been treated is just so bad for culture it is just stupid. I am not sure how many saw my post about Wingards reaction to being asked if he'd be a one club player. It was along the lines of "if the club treats me right, should be." The players would look at the way Schultzy has been treated and will ask themselves, will I be treated the same way. Port have made a mess of this.

Now the season is over, lets play some youth, give them a go see how they go against the big boys of the AFL. No lets not do that lets bring back Kane Fu**ing Mitchell and Jonas. I cannot comprehend which the club were thinking when they did the changes for this week. Our season is over and we drop 4 young players and replace them with older ones. I can't explain my anger over this. This was it for me, I am done with Ken and the coaching staff.

I know it won't happen but I think for the club to be successful we need to move in another direction. Hinkley, Voss etc have had a poor year and unless they change their mindset dramatically I can see a repeat in 2016.

Rant over

I support Ken and the coaching staff .. especially after the selection (for the game against GWS) and after reading this article from the club web site

11 AFL-listed Port Adelaide players qualify for SANFL finals, others remain in the mix August 12, 2015 6:26 PM

THE SANFL has released a list of AFL players eligible to participate in the league's 2015 finals series
Port Adelaide still needs to win one of its final three games to qualify for SANFL finals, however 11
of its players currently qualify to play.

A number of others, including Kane Mitchell, Andrew Moore, Jake Neade, Cam O'Shea and Sam Colquhoun are
verging on qualification.


The qualification rules for AFL-listed players were changed for 2015, with players now needing to both
play the majority of their seasons in the SANFL, including three games after June 30.Previously, a player needed only to play
either the majority of the season, or three of their last five games in the competition.

All of Port Adelaide's 15 league-contracted players, including SANFL captain Steven Summerton, are eligible
to play League finals as long as they have played in either three senior or reserves-grade games.

Port Adelaide's current finals-qualified players

Karl Amon
Logan Austin (currently injured -season )
John Butcher
Darcy Byrne-Jones
William Frampton
Mitchell Harvey
Dougal Howard
Tom Logan
Jesse Palmer
Jarrad Redden
Johann Wagner


and this is what I wrote in GWS changes page ...

So we have these players only to play in the finals ... currently Hoon cant play SANFL Finals ... Clurey cant play SANFL Finals ... Moore cant play SANFL finals... Youngy cant play SANFL finals .... So we need to slowly bring these players into the Magpies side (maybe one or two at a time)

We will need these players to qualify for SANFL finals so we can go up against both Norwood & the Eagles in the Grand Final (if we get to it) We definitely need Clurey in the SANFL now that Austin is out for the year ... Jonas and Monfries cant qualify for the SANFL Finals no matter what ... so they are the choices for replacement for those that still need to qualify....

Currently the Power's season is dusted .... while the Magpies season is very much alive .... so have faith in the club.... I think we need some more positives in this season ... and I am very glad that the club has made moves with dropping some players who still need to qualify for the SANFL finals. I want us to do well in the SANFL finals .. I want us to have a very good chance to win against Norwood and the Eagles ... (personally I am sick of loosing to norwood over the last few years)

Also

For those who don't understand why we didn't promote Redden / Frampton for Lobbe ... it was mention in the selection article (on the club web site) and what was said in this article was "Meantime both Jarrad Redden will miss the Friday night SANFL game. Redden will be held over as part of his body management program, Redden will be available to play against South Adelaide" so Lobbe and Frampton will be ruck for the Magpies
 
It's a troubling time to be a Port supporter, trying to balance how much faith to keep with the coach and players that delivered two seasons of improvement with the disappoint of the current year performance.

The cherry on this cake has been selections. When we were performing, selections were somewhat irrelevant. When changes were made they 'appeared' to fit into the overall picture as we continued down a successful path.

Now that path isn't as clear. The Clurey decision seems to be the one open to most criticism as well as the general shuffling of the deck chairs in spots 18-22. We can argue the minutiae of the team selections but critically there just doesn't seem to be an evident plan. Where faith is absolutely required is where a decision to drop Tom Clurey is made, that the purpose and reason for the decision is made abundantly clear to Tom and the rest of the team.

To mine, the decisions made on the list at the end of the year and throughout the trading period will be much more enlightening than the selections in the final rounds.
 
Ken and the coaching staff took us from a destitute basketcase on the verge of existence, to 3rd last year and the feel good story of the comp.

Has there been stuff which hasn't worked this year? Oh yes. Our gameplan and defensive structures, fitness department and mental resolve of the players are all off, not to mention some questionable development of our young key position players.

Right now there's no doubt that KT and our coaching staff are acutely aware of this- there'll be adjustments, changes and continual evolution of our playing list around a core group of players. I for one won't be throwing everything we've worked towards out the window on the back of a poor year before we've had a chance for their vision to come to fruition. Success and development rarely follows a linear trend; in the words of a wise man, Ken has certainly earned the right to see his masterpiece through to the end.

I think a major issue is that the "coaching staff" that took use from being a basketcase to something again are basically gone. Ken is really the only one left coaching who is majorly involved with the AFL team
 

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I support Ken and the coaching staff .. especially after the selection (for the game against GWS) and after reading this article from the club web site

11 AFL-listed Port Adelaide players qualify for SANFL finals, others remain in the mix August 12, 2015 6:26 PM

THE SANFL has released a list of AFL players eligible to participate in the league's 2015 finals series
Port Adelaide still needs to win one of its final three games to qualify for SANFL finals, however 11
of its players currently qualify to play.

A number of others, including Kane Mitchell, Andrew Moore, Jake Neade, Cam O'Shea and Sam Colquhoun are
verging on qualification.


The qualification rules for AFL-listed players were changed for 2015, with players now needing to both
play the majority of their seasons in the SANFL, including three games after June 30.Previously, a player needed only to play
either the majority of the season, or three of their last five games in the competition.

All of Port Adelaide's 15 league-contracted players, including SANFL captain Steven Summerton, are eligible
to play League finals as long as they have played in either three senior or reserves-grade games.

Port Adelaide's current finals-qualified players

Karl Amon
Logan Austin (currently injured -season )
John Butcher
Darcy Byrne-Jones
William Frampton
Mitchell Harvey
Dougal Howard
Tom Logan
Jesse Palmer
Jarrad Redden
Johann Wagner


and this is what I wrote in GWS changes page ...

So we have these players only to play in the finals ... currently Hoon cant play SANFL Finals ... Clurey cant play SANFL Finals ... Moore cant play SANFL finals... Youngy cant play SANFL finals .... So we need to slowly bring these players into the Magpies side (maybe one or two at a time)

We will need these players to qualify for SANFL finals so we can go up against both Norwood & the Eagles in the Grand Final (if we get to it) We definitely need Clurey in the SANFL now that Austin is out for the year ... Jonas and Monfries cant qualify for the SANFL Finals no matter what ... so they are the choices for replacement for those that still need to qualify....

Currently the Power's season is dusted .... while the Magpies season is very much alive .... so have faith in the club.... I think we need some more positives in this season ... and I am very glad that the club has made moves with dropping some players who still need to qualify for the SANFL finals. I want us to do well in the SANFL finals .. I want us to have a very good chance to win against Norwood and the Eagles ... (personally I am sick of loosing to norwood over the last few years)

Also

For those who don't understand why we didn't promote Redden / Frampton for Lobbe ... it was mention in the selection article (on the club web site) and what was said in this article was "Meantime both Jarrad Redden will miss the Friday night SANFL game. Redden will be held over as part of his body management program, Redden will be available to play against South Adelaide" so Lobbe and Frampton will be ruck for the Magpies

4 Games of AFL football are more important than SANFL finals sorry.
 
Ken has improved us. A lot of that has come down to fitness and footy dept spend. How many games in 2012 where we either in front or in reach at 3/4 time, then blown away in the last? About half a dozen. We underrate the effect Burgess had, and also the improvement produced in 2012, because Primus was working with a well below standard fitness program and football department as a whole.

Ken has had a lot going for him in a short space of time, and not all of it can be attributed to his coaching. I'm sick of hearing this "Ken saved us from being a basketcase", it simply isn't that simple. The romanticism had deluded us to believe he has all the answers and all shortcomings come down to Voss, or down to Burgess training them incorrectly, or Schulz missing a goal. We still do not fairly question Ken, and accept his repetitive clichés in his pressers, his overtly defensive nature, and justify his baffling selections at times.

I've had enough.

So many times I've also read shit about a "dip year", and comparisons to Geelong 2006. Well, Mark Thomson was clinging to his job with a fingernail in a way that Ken couldn't comprehend compared to the free ride he has been given, and shall continue to get for years to come. Let's direct some pressure on him. After all, you need a little tension on the string to make music.

I agree, I am starting to come to think that the assistants behind the resurgence of Port were the reason why we had the success.
 
In the end Ken has faith in his 18 or so players and it ends at that, he shows no faith in any others and rewards the golden boys with undeserving games of football. That is a major issue when your senior coach is doing things like this and there is no one strong enough in the club to prevent this from happening.
 
I have a few major issues with Ken this year, tactics, selection and treatment of player group.

Tactics
It has been blatantly clear that we have been comprehensively beaten in the coaches box all year. You can blame the players all you want but I think they have completely lost faith in the system and I think rightfully so. Teams have completely worked out that to stop Port you just clog the corridor and make sure you are spread across the ground in the "web" like formation. If you watch closely when we try and switch the ball regularity the opposition has more playing on the other side of the ground waiting for it. What this forces us to do is to kick to packs where we are quite frankly useless. So how do we adapt to this situation which has not worked in the first half of the year? We don't because Ken has decided this is it, there is no plan B. That is just generally what is frustrating.

More specifically our forward line is an absolute mess, we rely on individual brilliance from either Gray or Wingard to create or kick us goals with the occasional cameo from Ryder. We have consistently played behind the player and either tried to kick it over the top or to a contested situation. Now I am no expert but I am sure this play is much lower percentage than kicking it to the chest of a leading forward? Have we changed this? Maybe slightly in the past few weeks, but the damage was done and Ken stubbornly did not change for 15+ weeks.

Midfield tactics? Well we have been consistently beaten through the middle of the field, not even so much in the clearances but generally our midfielders have been slaughtered by oppositions. Have we tried anything different? Not really, because our game plan works, it is what we are sticking with and the players have full confidence in the game plan!


Selection and Treatment of players
On numerous occasions this year I have been absolutely irate about the decisions at the selection table. We have the golden 18 or so who'm can play about 15 terrible games in a row before they are dropped. Lets look at someone like the Bulldogs, they have dropped anyone and everyone that has not performed in the AFL team for a month or so and just look how well they are going. The prime example of this is Jonas, I mean how this man was not dropped at least 6 weeks before he was actually dropped is just mind blowing. I am not sure if I have seen worse games of football from an AFL footballer than some of the ones Jonas dished up this year. How he is back in the side without starring in the SANFL is just a perfect example of the major issue with selection. Players that needed a kick up the backside this year: Hammer, Westhoff, Lobbe, Schultz, Jonas and Monfries. It may be harsh but if you are trying to build a winning and successful culture, having these golden passes just destroys it. Yes 3 of them eventually got dropped, but the season was over. It was too late.

Now this is my major issue with Ken as a coach at the moment. The last 4 or so spots in our 22 have been a revolving door all year. Now you could argue sure pressure for positions is great but is there actually pressure on players or is there just enormous pressure of a few of the players? Some players react well knowing that if they fu** up they will be dropped, most players stop taking risks, try and be safe and not get dropped. We have developed a culture where these last few players come in with ZERO confidence and they are clearly not supported by the Coaching staff. I am going to start with Ah Chee. We have been crying out for a midfielder who can win some tough ball, hit the packs hard and take a contested mark. Ah Chee is not polished no but he is what we have lacked all year, but has he been given a real chance to prove his worth? No. He has been sub on multiple occasions and for me you cannot base an opinion on a player coming on as a sub, its just showing you have no faith in them. Here's a vest, you get a quarter, don't play well, back to the Magies. However one time Ah Chee started :O but where was he played, I tell you where it wasn't, it wasn't in the middle of the ground where he actually plays! Shock horror the guy who you have shown no faith in all year, and then play him out of position plays poorly.

Another example. Hoon was pretty good, definitely good enough to keep his spot against the Saints, he was one of our best users of the ball that day. Next week sub. Plays poorly as sub. Dropped. If i was Hoon I would be asking for a one way ticket to Melbourne because that is just completely unfair. Another example: Correct me if I am wrong but Clurey has been dropped twice now I believe. Did he deserve it either time? No, definitely not. However Clurey is not in the chosen few so for some reason he's part of the revolving door. Wouldn't be surprised if he asks to leave as well. Krak is another example. Krak was so much better than Pittard when playing off half back this year but once again, not one of the golden few so he was relegated back to the Magies. I understand that he was not fit enough but I wouldn't say the rest of the team busted their asses this year? Completely outworked by the opposition. Anyway Krak can also be a dangerous forward, should have played all games this year. Absolute joke whats happened to him.

Another clear player management issue has been with Schultz. Now Schultzy has been a brilliant player for this club since he has got here and I am sure he wouldn't have been on much when he first got to the power. Treating great players for the club the way he has been treated is just so bad for culture it is just stupid. I am not sure how many saw my post about Wingards reaction to being asked if he'd be a one club player. It was along the lines of "if the club treats me right, should be." The players would look at the way Schultzy has been treated and will ask themselves, will I be treated the same way. Port have made a mess of this.

Now the season is over, lets play some youth, give them a go see how they go against the big boys of the AFL. No lets not do that lets bring back Kane Fu**ing Mitchell and Jonas. I cannot comprehend what the club were thinking when they did the changes for this week. Our season is over and we drop 4 young players and replace them with older ones. I can't explain my anger over this. This was it for me, I am done with Ken and the coaching staff.

I know it won't happen but I think for the club to be successful we need to move in another direction. Hinkley, Voss etc have had a poor year and unless they change their mindset dramatically I can see a repeat in 2016.

Rant over
One of the key issues for Ports demise this year is the lack of development of players such as Butcher, Moore, young, Lobbe, Impey etc. Players like Trengove, Pittard, Party Boy have also regressed. Has killed the progress of this team maybe terminally
 
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I can't disagree with anything that Robbie4PM's rant stated, the season is blown now, there is nothing gained by picking known 'revolving door' players, we've seen how they perform and cope , going all out for wins now is simply trying to lessen the backlash of bandwagon supporters who might not renew memberships and trying to save face, too little...too late now.

Kenny had a free hit to play untried players, they would experience what's needed to make the grade without being over cautious or fear the cut throat pressure of mucking up when the finals hopes were still alive, another wasted opportunity in this directionless season.

BTW I love Ken, he's been the best thing for the club in 10 years but he stated on 5aa that he wont gift untried players games if they haven't earned it or not up to it at this time :rolleyes:but the 'gold pass ticket' seems to get a run if you have credits in the bank......Simply bewildered and frustrated
 
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FWIW I'm behind Ken, think there is a few short memories, our problem this year has been mainly in the ruck and also a huge drop off in confidence from young players. The gameplan is fine and proven, needs a little tinkering obviously.
Feels a bit like year 2000 all over again IMO, we responded well late that year, hoping for similar next few weeks
 
The whole season has perplexed me compared to last year.

Kennys style has now been well understood and teams have not only worked out our deficiencies they have moved past us. We have some players that obviously now will not play in our next premiership team so we will need to off load in the off season with trades- even if we get nothing it clears salary cap.

Kenny also needs a strategist as Voss and Shaun Hart are men's men ra ra stuff but no game plan

We find out everything next year on Kenny, I hope his relationship skills are smart enough to work out he needs to develop himself and his lietuanents.

2016 will tell us everything
 
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