Power prepared for Friday blockbuster: Rockliffe
nervousness in the stands, given their inability to close matches out.
That dispelled as the Blues closed in on 100 points, with fans bursting IN-FORM Port Adelaide midfielder Tom Rockliff believes the Power has worked through the issues that led to losses to Brisbane and Richmond and are ready for another Friday night blockbuster.
On top of the agenda had been intercept marks when the ball was in the Power’s attack and both Brisbane and Richmond had picked them off.
But the team most noted for its expertise in that area, the Eagles, were starved of turnover opportunities last Friday with the forwards not only blocking the run of defenders such as Jeremy Mcgovern but also making sure the ball was brought to ground.
Rockliff, a former Brisbane captain, said the key was to make sure nothing came easy to the opposition and to bring the same momentum and pressure into another Friday night match against North Melbourne at Adelaide Oval this week.
“We had a plan in place and executed it really well,” Rockliff said. “We obviously got found out last week — we didn’t get the ball to ground as much as we would have liked so that was a strong focus throughout the week.
“And credit to the forwards for executing the plan.
“Paddy (Ryder), Todd Marshall and Brad Ebert were outstanding for us — all the forwards stood up, made a contest and got it to ground.
“And then there was obviously a bit of rain and that suited our game style in getting the ball to ground.”
Rockliff also touched on the club’s quick ball movement — particularly by hand. The Power is playing on again, even though Rockliff conceded that there were times when they overused the ball.
“We feel like we’ve got a style that can win games of footy,” Rockliff said. “Richmond, I felt, took that away from us a little bit last week but we thought we might as well go for it (against West Coast).
“They’re the reigning premiers — what have we got to lose? We felt like we’d been in good form but just not able to execute when it mattered.”