Power left scratching their heads
HOW does that happen?
That is what Port Adelaide’s fans and the football world will be asking after the Power’s preliminary final horror show.
A grand final spot was on the line, the Power kept saying it had an ideal preparation and it was fresh off a week off.
Yet playing at home with a near full-strength list against a side that had travelled to four states in three weeks and endured a taxing semifinal, then was prevented from training on Adelaide Oval the day before the game, Port Adelaide dished up that.
A showing that was lacklustre, passive and at times spiritless.
The club’s leaders, captain Tom Jonas and coach Ken Hinkley, were at a loss straight after the match to determine how the side could look so flat in what finished as a 71-point hiding.
“I can’t really comment on that right now,” Jonas told News Corp.
“We’ve got a long summer ahead to dig down on that and find out why.
“It’ll be a real test of our mettle of where we want to go as a group in 2022 and beyond.”
Hinkley said the club had no excuses.
No reasons outside of its control to perform the way it did.
He said the Power had what it needed to play well, but “failed when we needed not to fail”.