Port Adelaide senior coach Josh Carr says the team is focused on consistency and team defence as they prepare to respond in this weekend’s home clash against Essendon. 

Speaking to the media ahead of this week’s main training session, Carr discussed the Round 1 loss to North Melbourne, Jack Lukosius’ selection chances, and Jason Horne-Francis’ progress. 

Port Adelaide will take on Essendon at home this Sunday at 2:45 pm local time, with tickets still available. The club will also celebrate Member Recognition Round, with a range of activities around the grounds, including a flag giveaway at all gates from 1:15 pm. More information on the game day experience can be found here.  

Carr on reviewing the loss to North Melbourne 
“There was a bit to unpack from the game. The starting point was around our team defence, and how we work better together as a team, to one, support our defenders, but also just be better defensively to get ourselves some better looks on the other side of the footy. And I'd say it's probably a mental thing to be connected and not get caught up in your own world sometimes and understand what your teammates need and what each line group needs in the moment. It’s pretty new for a lot of guys. It was our second proper game together off the back of the West Coast game as a team. So, we understand that we got a lot of work to do. When we get it right, we know what it looks like, but it's about the consistency from start to finish.  

“I came out of (the game) knowing that we were disappointed with what we've worked on over pre-season. We've had our challenges through the pre-season with the game plan and executing that. The great thing about Round 1 is there's so much unknown about it, and an unknown about opposition teams. I saw Jase Burgoyne’s comments about underestimating the opposition - we're not the only ones. That happens, and I think that's the sign of maybe an immature team at times, where the best teams in the competition, they play the same way every week, they've got a standard that they set, and they play for that standard, and that's what we're chasing. We're chasing consistency, week in, week out, and right through the game. And I feel like we obviously didn't do that in this game, but it's a great lesson to come out of it coming up against Bombers this week.  

“I'm really confident in the group. If you look at the players, they’re not down. The disappointing thing for me out of last weekend was, did we fulfill our potential? No, we didn't, and that's what we’re going to do.”  

Carr on the external criticism of midfield group’s defensive efforts 
“No, that wasn't what happened on the weekend (their defensive efforts). When we talk defensively, we talk about our team D. If you're going to be critical of the mids, it'll be more around the contest and the stoppage and the numbers going against. It's not about the general play offence versus defence.”  

Carr on the side’s missed tackles 
“The positive side of that is the attempts that we had. When you see Willem Drew get four or five tackles broken, you know that's not natural – he's our best tackler, and he’s one of the best tacklers in the competition. It felt like one of those games where we second guessed ourselves in the tackle and maybe second guessed the power of the Kangaroos as well. LDU (Luke Davies-Uniacke) is a powerful individual, and standing up in the tackle and not expecting to get the tackle nailed on the first hit is probably something around our technique. They were great with their drive and the way they drive through the footy. We just didn't stand up.”  

Carr on reviewing how the side prepared for Round 1   
“We spoke about it (the way we prepared for the opposition), and I spoke about it. It started from what I felt, in some ways, I may have led the players down that path. We talk about the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition team and, in the end, in hindsight and reflection, you go, well, did we get it right, or did we get it wrong? I look at myself and go, I probably got a couple things wrong in the way I spoke to the players about North Melbourne and what to expect. I just thought I could have been better.  

“That’s the great part about last week. You have conversations, and you don't shy away from the conversations about it. This weekend with Essendon, you go watch their first quarter against Hawthorn, and they played some really, really good football - so that's what you prepare for, you prepare for the opposition's best. But more importantly, it's about the tempo that you play the game at, and we just weren't consistent. The difference between a top four team and the rest is week in, week out, they know how to perform and perform consistently, and we're not there yet.” 

Carr on taking accountability 
“I think we're an honest football team, an honest football club, and you just don't shy away from performance. It's up to me to hold the players accountable, but also everyone to hold each other accountable, including myself. With the expectation and the way we went into the game, we thought we prepared really well. I just thought it was probably just a couple of things in regard to North Melbourne. They’re a more experienced team than us on the weekend, and even that in itself says, okay, why did we approach the game in the way that we did? It’s a lesson.” 

Carr on Jason Horne-Francis 

“It's going to take some time to get up to, I guess, what everyone expects from Jase. I think what we want to see are moments from Jase and him building those moments in the game. And look, I thought in his first quarter, he was close to that. I thought his contest and his pressure and getting after the opposition was there, but he did drop away a touch throughout the game. We’ve had discussion around it, so for him, it's about building consistency through the game, from start to finish. His training during the week is important to him building his tank, and he's not that far away. We know that he's got those special moments in him, and we just need some consistency from start to finish, right through the game. He’s been in rehab, and if you look at his body and you look at his shape, he's in pretty good shape. He's worked hard in rehab, but rehab is different to being out on the field on game day.”  

Carr on Jack Lukosius’ availability for selection 
“He had a really good game, a really consistent game, against West Adelaide. So he's obviously put his hand up for selection. There's a number of players that played well in that game. We’ve got the main session today, so we will get that done.  

“I definitely saw it (consistency in Lukosius’ performance) through the game and definitely saw it in his training last week. So, did he build two weeks together? He did, and that was discussion last week. I loved his training session. We had match simulation on the Saturday of the weekend off, and he was really good in that game, and we could have easily picked him off that one performance. He had to go back it up again at SANFL level, and he did that.”  

Carr on selection changes 
“I think we’re able to make changes. We’ve been, I guess, vocal in the way we're building something, and it’s sometimes about putting the pieces of the puzzle together, and you have got to have a look at different pieces. So, for us, it's exploring and trying to bring the balance of the team together, but at the same time, reward performance underneath as well.” 

Carr on Zak Butters 
“My reaction (to Luke Beveridge’s comments) is Luke wants a really good player to come to his football club, and there's not a team in Australia that wouldn’t want Zak to be part of their team. He's out of contract at the end of the year, and I'm sure there's a lot of teams that would love to get their hands on him. He’s ours right now, and we're doing everything we can to keep Zak. And more importantly, as I’ve said the whole way along, I know how invested he is in our football club.” 

Carr on Todd Marshall 
“Toddy’s building, and he's fine. He will train today. He started the game, I thought, really well and as the game went on, the numbers came against us. He still has a lot to work on, but that's the great part about Todd. He's accepting the responsibility to get better, but there's still enough there to like.”  

Carr on the ruck battle 
“It’s pretty line ball on where that sits. We will get through this session and see how it works out.”