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PORT ADELAIDE assistant coach Brendon Lade was pleased with the way the side competed in Saturday’s 17-point loss to the Crows, but believes missed opportunities and poor entries inside the forward line ultimately cost the Power in Showdown 42.
“We probably gave up a few to easy goals,” Lade said.
“Some of our entries, our kicking inside 50 and our patterns weren’t great, however saying that their defenders were very good on the night.
“And some of our kicks in the last quarter weren’t great, however saying that we had 58 inside-50s, so we are doing a lot of things right.”
When queried about Ryder’s incident involving Crow Riley Knight, Lade said Ryder was disappointed.
However, Lade praised Ryder’s strong performance in the ruck on Saturday night.
“He played a great game, thought he beat Jacobs all night and was a real asset for us in our midfield,” Lade said.
“If he can play that will be great, if he can’t we have some other options we can use.”
Lade believes that the Power have good backup if Ryder is to be sanctioned by the Match Review Panel, with Matthew Lobbe and Billy Frampton performing well in the SANFL, as well as Dixon and Trengrove pinch-hitting in the ruck on the weekend.
This weekend the Power has another big challenge against the Giants in Canberra.
“We’ve watched GWS the last couple of weeks and they have been back to what everything thought they would be doing, they’ve got their run and gun back,” said Lade.
“We think we’ve got a midfield that can run really well as well.
“We are looking forward to the challenge.”
The Power also saw Jasper Pittard and Dougal Howard return from injury in the SANFL, with both having good showings.
“Jasper got a full game, did some very good things as well, so he will be up for selection no doubt,” said Lade
“It’s just pleasing to get some people back from injury and they can get through the game.”
