Supercoach Season Preview 2012 - Port Adelaide

2012 Supercoach Player Ranking Chart

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2012 List Analysis:

Port Adelaide has a middling list.   The midfield doesnt have a great deal of quality, but it is deep.  This is helpful, as in defence and the forward line, there are still big holes that need to be filled.

Matthew Primus is a much loved person at Port Adelaide, but he will need to work very hard to get this team challenging for a top 8 berth this year.  The introduction of the new teams just when Port was bottoming out and in need of fresh talent was unfortunate - but probably was able to have been avoided had there been smarter list management.

For Port to improve, they really need to get that list of midfielders and break a few off into defence and forward roles, define them, and empower them to play hard, aggressive, Port style football.  Port have always been an aggressive abrasive side at their best in the SANFL, and they need all of that and more for the next few years as they build a culture to stand the test of time in the competitive AFL.

Port Adelaides list rating is 31 and they have a depth of 20.   This places them 16th for their best 22, and 10th in terms of depth.   The way for them to challenge for the 8 is to get that depth working for them.   10th appears about the limit for this team, but no one told West Coast they couldnt play a Preliminary Final so soon after a wooden spoon, and Port should be encouraging themselves that Micks Premiership Clock doesnt always apply on the rebuild side - the clock can be fast-tracked.
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2011 Supercoach Statistics:

PPG Average: 1502 (Ranked 16)

DEF Average: 451 (13) - 30%
MID Average:  618 (7) - 41%
FWD Average: 386 (10) - 26%
RUC Average: 47 (17) -  3%

Building a strong midfield assists a team in many ways, and Port does appear to be doing this, with players such as Hamish Hartlett and Travis Boak the next generation given the task of taking the club forward.   The ruck division has been pathetic for a while, and will need an overhaul, however the recruitment of Renouf, the development of Redden, and the raw talent of Lobbe appears to have this development task in hand, and not getting smashed in this division should help Port across the ground.  Theres little worse in AFL footy than being dominated in the ruck and playing catchup all match.   It appeared in some games Port was able to hold quality teams, but were too tired to put them away when it became their turn.   Fixing the ruck will go some way to tweaking this dynamic in their favour.

2012 Fixture Analysis:

Fixture Analysis has been completed on 2011 Finishing Position (GWS is ranked 18)

Highlights:

- The cross-town rivals, Adelaide got the dream draw that Port should have received.
- Ports draw is not shocking, but isnt as easy as one might think it could be given their finishing position.  Only playing Gold Coast and GWS once does help save embarrassment in the case of defeat though.
- Port has the bye in Round 13
- From a Supercoach perspective Im not sure what you would do with Port.  Possibly look for late upgrade options, because their draw after Round 13 opens up somewhat.

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Games have been grouped as the average finishing position of their opponents, sorted in a 5 match collection, apart from the first and last 4 games, which are listed to see which teams can really start and end the year with a bang.  Start represents the round number to begin the analysis, and stop means the round number to end.   If a team played GWS and Gold Coast, then their ranking for 2 games would be 17.5 rounded to 18.   If a team played Collingwood, Geelong, Carlton, Hawthorn and WCE in a run of 5 games, the ranking for these would be 3 (the average finishing position of last years top 5).   Anything close to 18 is good.  Anything close to 3 (or even 1 or 2 in the first 4 or last 4 rounds) is bad.

Purple: Less than 5 games to assess
Yellow: Key trading period
Green: Easy run of matches
Red: Difficult run of matches
Orange: Medium difficulty run of matches

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Port Adelaides Top 5 Players for your Supercoach Team:

1 - Jarrad Redden (RUC) - appears that he will get a god run early being the sole fit ruck at Port.  He has been very solid this preseason, and is one of the options commonly used in the 1-0-3 ruck combinations.

2 -Robbie Gray (FWD-MID) - Here we go again, the Robbie Gray show is in town.  Just like Shaun Higgins, he has proved a big tease over the past few seasons.   This year, fully fit and ready to take a place in the Port midfield, people will get a better account from Gray.   Is he the player Id choose to run with for the whole season though?  Maybe not.  An upgrade after Carlton-Hawthorn and Geelong (Rds 10-14) have washed his price down could be the time to strike.

3 - John Butcher (FWD) - He has something special about him.  Can kick goals in what was a fairly uninspiring side last year.  The only issue might be him staying too close to goal and not getting enough ball to be a great forward in SC.  But hes priced for those who want a unique pick.

4 - Chad Wingard (MID) - Should play a fair few games.  A SA boy gets to play in his home state and this should help his settling in time greatly.   The question is whether his value is worth the extra coin that you need to spend on him, given hes a first rounder.

5 - John McCarthy (MID) - I rated J Mac as a good user of the ball with limited game time at Collingwood.  I question his decision making, but it might not be so vital at Port where they need a bit more class.  McCarthy can provide it, and as a midpriced option, he will probably improve 10-15% in SuperCoach scores from what he was doing at the Pies from opportunity alone.   Was a very strong contributor in the Pies VFL team.

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