PORT ADELAIDE Head of Football Development Aaron Greaves has blamed a combination of ill-discipline and skill errors for Saturday’s frustrating loss to Hawthorn.

The Power led by four goals at quarter time but lost the momentum in a trying second quarter when they gave away several free kicks and 50 metre penalties to concede the lead.

Greaves said the discipline issue would be discussed with players ahead of Friday night’s clash with Richmond.

“It was a frustrating loss,” Greaves said at a press conference on Monday.

“We started the game well, we were getting some scoreboard pressure on and really liked our forward pressure and what we were bringing to the game and just weren’t able to stay in that space for long enough.

“Hawthorn probably had a lot more scoring opportunities than us but we cost ourselves as well with how we moved the footy and some of our skill errors.”

Some of the record eleven 50 metre penalties in the game came as a result of players encroaching on the protected area.

Greaves said the players knew the rule and there was no excuse.

“We gave away eight 50 metre penalties in the game and we’ve got to look at our technique and how ruthless we are at attack on the man in the contest and how we’re going about that,” he said.

“We’ve also just got to be more disciplined, we’ve got to be able to move on and keep playing the game.

“You can see the reason for it and players know what the rule is so there’s no excuse.”

Greaves said the most frustrating thing is that like a number of its players, the team’s performances had been inconsistent.

But he said it was not all negative.

“We’re getting small growth and some great results in moments… but what we haven’t been able to get is that week after week after week so we haven’t got there yet but we do feel like we are building,” Greaves said.

“We are getting better moments more often, it was just unfortunate that we had a down day with that on the weekend.”

One player singled out for praise was Tom Rockliff, who after having a quiet first half was moved onto Hawthorn ball magnet Tom Mitchell and managed to curb his influence.

“What we liked about that was his commitment to team,” Greaves said.

“The job had to get done; Mitchell had had 21 (disposals) and two goals at half time and he kept him to 28.

“He went and sacrificed his own role for the team and really got that done for us.

“He was brought here to do a midfield role and that was a role we needed him to play on the weekend and the second half he did it exceptionally well.”

After a challenging month where Port Adelaide played in Perth, Shanghai and Launceston, the club now has three games in a row in Adelaide, starting with Friday’s blockbuster against the reigning premiers.

Greaves said it was an exciting opportunity for the Power to measure itself against the best.

“We need to respond after the performance we put in on the weekend and one no doubt our leaders and our players will really drive that this week,” he said.

“Richmond are in great form at the moment.

“They’re a side that a lot of people respect and look up to of what they’ve done in the last 12 months and it’s a great opportunity to go up against the best.

“We love playing at the Adelaide Oval and Richmond on Friday night, that crowd is going to be right behind us, so we look forward to seeing where we’re at.”

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