Power’s new belief is key to finals push
JUSTIN Westhoff has noticed a renewed confidence in the Port Adelaide playing group this season that he hasn’t seen for several years.
Speaking at Adelaide airport before the final group of Power players and officials departed to Shanghai for their clash with Gold Coast on Sunday, Westhoff said he had noticed some positive signs since the team’s upset openinground win over Sydney.
“There seems to be a quiet confidence in the group that I haven’t really experienced for the past few years,” he said.
“We seem to be playing really well together.
“We took a lot of confidence out of Round 1 when we beat Sydney over there, which we hadn’t done for 10 years.
“We did a lot of good things (against West Coast).
“We missed a few opportunities and we’ve learnt from that.
“We’ve got a pretty good list but we still need to chip away and there’s no more important game than this week leading into the bye.”
Westhoff said the idea of playing for premiership points in Shanghai had initially been met with some wariness, but the players were now eager to embrace the opportunity.
“A half-dozen guys went over early in the year as part of a promotional trip ... and they were all really impressed – they loved it,” he said.
“The guys went over there pretty sceptical about the whole situation but they came back raving about it. It’s really exciting to be part of something that’s never happened in the AFL before.”