Brendan Lines 17 Sept, 2020

In an emotional day of farewells at Port Adelaide 280-game veteran Justin Westhoff has called his time at Alberton after a 14-year career with the club.

Westhoff notified his teammates on Thursday afternoon that he would not play on next year, but the 33-year old key-forward and utility reaffirmed his desire to contribute to team for the remainder of 2020.

“It’s probably been a one, two-month conversation that I’ve been having with my family, obviously Kenny (Hinkley) and the guys around the club, it’s probably no surprise to anyone this year is going to be the last year,

“I’ve probably approached it over the last year knowing that and it’s probably come to a head this week as I thought it was a good time to get it out in the open and enjoy the last period I’m here as a player.” he said.

Westhoff was drafted to the club in the 2006 AFL National Draft with pick 71, the same year as team mate Robbie Gray, and won the Gavin Wanganeen Medal as the best player under 21 in his first season.

 The 33-year-old is ranked second for AFL games played for the club, currently on 280 games, and won the 2018 John Cahill Medal as best and fairest.

Westhoff said there was ‘no pressure’ to come to the decision from the club despite not playing at the senior level since round 14 against Sydney this season.

The forward remains unfazed by the prospect of potentially not donning the boots for one last farewell game and has no regrets calling his time just 20 games shy of a millstone 300th.

 “I could be greedy but that’s never been my goal to play 300 games, I just wanted to play every game likes it’s my best game.

“To play in my first year and to go on that roller coaster of playing in a grand final an getting the taste of that has obviously probably set me up for the rest of my career and chasing that feeling again.”

Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley said his farewell to the ‘Big number 39’ and paid respect to the veteran’s time at the club.

“There’s a big month in front of this footy club and he’s taken himself out of the picture because the question started to come up, he’s the most selfless person you’ll meet in a football club.

“He’s the ultimate team person, he’s selfless, dependable, reliable, ‘whatever you need I’ll do’ and today is another example of that, he’s thinking about the team, considering what they have in front of them and hopefully he’s a part of that team.”

The revered forward drew much attention from his AFL competitors right from his debut year, being matched up on Geelong’s all-time great Full-back Matthew Scarlett in the 2007 Grand Final.

But Westhoff would rather be remembered by the Port Adelaide faithful as one of the best club men to have graced Alberton.

“I just wanted to be known as the ultimate team-man and someone you want to be walking out there with each game and someone who’s really reliable with doing the right thing and doing everything they can for winning games of footy for the club.”

Westhoff’s retirement comes as Port Adelaide announced midfielder Joe Atley, defender Riley Grundy and forwards Tobin Cox and Wylie Buzza would not have their contracts renewed for 2021.

Brendan Lines July 24, 2020 02:30pm

Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley has axed utility Justin Westhoff ahead of the club’s clash against St.Kilda when the Power makes its return to Adelaide Oval this week in what could be a danger game for the ladder leaders.

Over 20,000 Port Adelaide fans are expected to attend Saturday night’s clash, for what will be the largest crowd the club will play to in the season thus far.

“The fans will be loud, it will feel like 50 (thousand fans) I’m sure when we get here tomorrow night and that will be exciting for sure,” Hinkley said at Adelaide Oval today.

“His true game is as a true utility and wherever we need him, we need him to play that role better and at the moment it’s been a little forward (in the) ruck and he hasn’t been able to influence the game enough in those two areas at the moment,” he said.

The numbers across Westhoff’s key stats are down slightly on average for the season, struggling to make double digits on disposals in the recent weeks.

That maybe more about opportunity — or lack of opportunity than form around forward contests for Westhoff, as Port’s attacking 50 is firmly under the reign of ‘King Charles’ Charlie Dixon.

A rest for Westhoff might be a blessing in disguise for Port as the season moves into its condensed phase from round nine, where player recovery and injury becomes a factor for Port who’s clash with Melbourne comes off a five day break.

Hinkley dismissed any suggestion that Port players might voice their preference not to make themselves available in the tight turnaround between games.

“We’re not in the business of not trying, we’re in the business of winning every game that we can,” he said.

“Our players won’t say that, they just want to play, they just want to play every game and that’s just what will make it challenging.”

Port Adelaide Captain Tom Jonas on Thursday said the risk of injury is something the players will have to wear.

“There might be case where it’s fifty-fifty decision and something goes wrong and they come out of the game easy but that’s the reality of our sport,” Jonas said.

St Kilda have included former Port players ruckman Paddy Ryder and defender Dougal Howard to their line up, both players will line up against their former club for the first time, Jonas says Ryder will be under the watch of Port’s midfield.

“We know what Paddy delivers, he’s a beautiful tap ruckman, it’s going top be a challenge for our midfielders and ruckman to compete with him and hopefully around the ground we can nullify him.”

While Jonas and Howard maybe opposite ends of each other on Adelaide Oval, the elusive Saint was able to sneak a goal in the win over Adelaide on Monday, lifting the Saints’ Adelaide Oval hoodoo.

The Saints are well poised for another bite at a win in Adelaide, as Port will undoubtedly feel expectation from their rusted-on faithful to not only deliver a win at home but show resilience in what could be a danger game.

“I think teams know they’re always up for a contest against us wether it right at the start of the game or they are a couple of goals ahead that we’re not going to lay down, the pleasing thing for us id where showing the resilience that we may not have shown in previous seasons where we’ve been challenged and we’ve been able to respond,” Jonas said.

Port Adelaide play St. Kilda Saturday 7.10pm local time.

Brendan Lines 17 July, 2020 12:00

Coach Ken Hinkley has welcomed the inclusion of former Brisbane mid Sam Mayes this week, who makes his debut for the club, replacing injured defender Cam Sutcliffe, Hinkley says a ‘squad mentality’ will be essential for all teams getting through the now condensed season.

Speaking today at Alberton before the club’s clash with the Blues, Hinkley revealed the critical numbers for player lists going forward.

“I think every squad in the competition we’re looking at a squad mentality and you need to have squad available to play and I think that’s been one of the challenges for everyone this year thus far.” he said.

“We probably need 30 to 32 players ready to go at anyone one point in time and the best we can prepare them is to give them opportunities to play,”

“We’ve seen Cam Sutcliffe come in last week and unfortunately do a hamstring, so you’ve got to be a little more aware of what the challenges maybe for us,” he said.

While Port’s list looks rather healthy, there are hamstring concerns, as Sutcliffe goes out and Xavier Duursma is likely to return from a hamstring sustained against Fremantle in round three.

Xavier Duursma at Port Adelaide training this week – Image: Fox Sports

Last night’s Geelong and Collingwood match saw Cats captain Joel Selwood sidelined at the acute signs of hamstring soreness, a stark reminder just how the slightest niggle will undoubtedly trigger an imbalance on rotations in games and flow into selection issues.

Prior to AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan’s statement on Wednesday signalling the condensing of the season, there was 115 injuries across all clubs – 46 soft tissue, 69 hard tissue.

For now, Hinkley’s 32-player ‘baseline’ looks firmly in tact, but Hinkley still has his fingers crossed around hamstring issues.

“Wether when you return from a hamstring you have to fly in fly out, wether you play at home, there’s always an element of you’re sitting there with your fingers crossed just a little bit,” he said.

Australian sport scientist Dr. Joel Mason a researcher at the Jena Institute of Sport Science in Germany has recorded an alarming post-lockdown injury spike in the Bundesliga and AFL.

Dr. Mason for AFL.com this week wrote:

‘What’s concerning is the week-on-week increase since the season resumed a month ago, after a four-week mini-pre-season.’

Across the competition there has been 13 hamstring setbacks across rounds four to six this year, which is a frightening up-tick on the three recorded cases from the same time frame in 2019.

Hinkley confirmed there will be a scratch match against the Crows this weekend, but limited numbers will decide what the squads for those games will be.

“It will depend on your numbers if you get a few injuries you start to drip away with your numbers you can actually get something that ends up being ten on ten or eleven on eleven,” he said.

“That’s what the season pretty well much brings to sides by the end of it, so there’ll be some challenges with the numbers.”

The Crows and Port are in a position with local COVID restrictions allowing scratch matches to continue, a situation the rival clubs would be unwise not to exploit to keep up their players preparedness.

As the Geelong v Collingwood scratch match at Optus Stadium was not allowed due to the WA government’s quarantine restrictions.

Port Adelaide play Carlton at the GABBA Saturday, 12:35PM ACST.

Brendan Lines July 15, 2020. 06:00pm

The spotlight of AFL football has shone brightly on debutant Izak Rankine this week, while his debut has been a long time coming, Rankine’s round six Rising Star nomination is just the beginning of big things with the Suns, but there’s an added boost for his former local club Flinders Park.

Rankine caught the eye of AFL talent scouts as a 17-year old and was whisked away into the 2018 draft, one of the most talent rich drafts in recent AFL history, he headed to the Gold Coast with state Under-18 teammate Jack Lukosious.

His former Flinders Park Football Club (FPFC) in South Australia, will receive a Club Recognition Award valued at $2,500 as a result of his nomination, comprising financial and practical resources.

Izak Rankine celebrates three goals on debut – Image: AFL.com

Flinders Park club President Trevor Quaini says it’s a massive pat on the back for junior development.

“When a player makes the AFL it’s a reward for all the effort, coaching and mentoring that we’ve given our players through our junior programs, so it’s a bit of a pat on the back to our junior coaches, it’s a nice acknowledgement and we really appreciate it.” Quaini said.

“I think for clubs like ourselves a lot of effort goes into our junior programs, a lot of effort from volunteers who are mums and dads that end up delivering what we get with an Izak Rankine.”

As for the financial boost to the club, it’s good news as the postponed local season forced the club’s closure in what would normally be it’s busiest time of year.

“It’s not cheap to run a football club anymore, with the on costs that are related to the club, it supports our junior programs, it helps develop our club into a club of choice that people want to come to,” he said.

For Rankine’s new club the Suns, they are now reaping the reward from their faith in the forward after a hamstring issue plagued him in 2019.

Rankine’s skills were on show throughout the match against Melbourne on the weekend, kicking his first goal with his first touch of the football after a crafty evasive manoeuvre.

His second goal was just as impressive, kicked off the ground after he tapped the ball to his own advantage.

In addition, 12 disposals and three tackles Rankine became the first player to kick more than two goals on debut for the Suns.

Rankine spoke from the Suns base in Wollongong on Tuesday:

“I guess they were just pretty instinctive (goals), I’ve been doing that growing up, it come pretty natural,” he said.

It was definitely no fluke by the debutant, who on his SANFL debut for West Adelaide in 2016 kicked two goals in very similar fashion, with clever crumbing and willingness to move the ball forward.

Suns coach Stuart Dew praised the debutant after the game on Saturday.

“For our footy club how exciting, you can see what we’ve been waiting for and he had such an impact, we knew he always would,” he said.

“Obviously with his debut tonight I do want to acknowledge that to step in and those shots at goal that’s quite exciting for him but on the back of that a lot of hard work and sacrifice from him.”

Throw into the mix the Suns recent location to Wollongong and the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the 2020 season, it truly is a debut season like no other, but Rankine now looks forward to a brief moment of normality as the Suns head back home.

“I’m keen to get back to the Gold Coast and be back there playing footy, we got a Thursday night game next week which is good for the club, we’ve been striving to get those games and now we finally have, we’ll hopefully knock off the Dogs,” he said.

But before the Suns head home for their clash with the Dogs, they take on Sydney this Saturday at the SCG.

Brendan Lines July 13, 2020 06:00pm

Port Adelaide have kept an unbeaten record at its ‘fly in fly out’ home ground of Metricon Stadium, but the Power can finally call Adelaide Oval home again as the AFL announced tonight Port will host St.Kilda Saturday July 25th in front of a crowd of potentially 25 000 fans.

Port Assistant coach Michael Voss spoke today at Alberton fresh off the club’s victory over GWS on the weekend.

“It’ll certainly be nice to have a run of games at Adelaide Oval, if nothing else just being able to play in front of fans with the members that have come with us on the journey,” he said.

Port Assistant coach Michael Voss – Image: The Advertiser

“When we played the showdown early on with only the two thousand people that were there, it had a different feel to it.”

“I can only imagine as we start to increase those numbers it’ll be something I’m looking forward to.”

The news comes as Port have just perfected its ‘fly in fly out’ regime, demonstrating the depth of their young guns on the road, is an ominous sign for any opposition, as the club keeps it’s firm footing on the top spot.

‘If we can get some normality out of being able to get one process right and replicate it, we anticipate or certainly expected there will be another occasion where we have to fly in and fly out before the end of the year.”

“We just look at it as a chance to be able to refine what that looks like and get it right, I felt our guys were well planned and well organised, and as result of that we brought a good game.”

Reflecting back on Port Adelaide’s trip back to the Gold Coast on the weekend Voss says “It was a long day.”

The reward of a win against a top four side brought about more positives than negatives from the compressed travel schedule Voss says.

“The day it self which was challenging enough, if you factor the travel schedule we had the quality opposition, the moment we had to overcome it was right up there as really big win for us and a sign of maturity,” he said.

One of those positives is the emergence of forward Kane Farrell in recent weeks, coming into the side in round 4 off only playing 12 games previously.

Farrell was involved in eight of Port Adelaide’s scoring opportunities and lead Port’s tackle count, while displaying an impressive kicking ability slotting a major from long range in a clutch moment of the game.

“He hasn’t had as much opportunity, but he’s had to bide his time and he’s been afforded a small window of opportunity with Xavier Duursma injured and he had to make the most of it,” Voss said.

“(Farrell’s kick) It’s pretty handy I wouldn’t care to try put into a category other than say there probably wouldn’t be any better ones that are running around right now.”

Port Adelaide will announce ticketing information for the clash with the Saints in the coming days.

Brendan Lines    July 10, 2020 12:00pm

Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley has axed mid Tom Rockliff and defender Riley Bonner making way for Ryan Burton’s return to the squad as Port Adelaide make  final preparations back at Alberton this week, Hinkley also highlighted the upheaval Victorian clubs have gone through in recent days relocating interstate to keep season 2020 a going concern.

Port fans will have wait as Hinkley wrestles with Burton’s inclusion in the starting eighteen before heading to Metricon stadium for it’s clash with GWS.

“We’ve got to get through (training) tomorrow to make sure everything is ok with Ryan before I can actually confirm everything that’s going to go on there,” he said.

Burton, who is returning from knee surgery, spent his recovery time with the squad at their Gold Coast hub in the past weeks, on the chance that he might be ready for selection.

Port defender Ryan Burton – Image: AFL.com

His pending inclusion might be the addition Port’s defence is looking for to take on GWS forwards, who welcome the inclusion of Jeremy Cameron this week.

For GWS their potency around delivery inside 50 has left a lot to be desired, ranked 18th in the competition, Burton’s possible inclusion and ability to keep a lid on GWS supply, would certainly be a deciding factor around his inclusion.

Rockliff’s omission comes off the back of his recent form and Brisbane’s swift uppercut around the centre bounce contests last week.

“He’s a stoppage player for us and he needs to influence the game around the ball and certainly last week we were beaten up badly around the ball and Tom was only one part of that,” he said.

With the mass exodus of Victorian clubs displacing all round six games to neutral hub grounds, Hinkley can still see the up side and a little bit of humour playing another ‘home’ game interstate.

“We’ll get up there nice and early on Sunday morning up to Metricon for our ‘home’ game and go there with a three and zero record this year, so we go there with some great confidence,” he said.

But by the same token, having Port Adelaide’s time at the Gold Coast hub behind them, Hinkley extended his gratitude to the clubs who have been forced to relocate out of Victoria amid the state’s recent COVID-19 pandemic spike.

“It’s been great to be back in Adelaide, we’re all back around our families, we appreciate what other teams are doing currently because we’ve just been through that and we understand there’ll be some challenges this season, it’s one of the good things for us at the moment,” he said.

Port Adelaide will play GWS on Sunday at Metricon Stadium 12.35 ACST.