PADDY RYDER is in good spirits and an ankle injury suffered in Saturday’s loss to Adelaide is “not much to worry about” according to Port Adelaide co-captain Tom Jonas.
Ryder limped off late in the Power’s 17-point JLT Community Series loss just when he had kick-started a last quarter revival.
The 2017 All-Australian ruckman’s move from forward into the centre in the last term led to the Power booting five consecutive goals to close from a 35-point deficit to within a goal.
The sight of him limping off in the hands of a trainer had many worried that he had re-injured his troublesome Achilles, but the 30-year-old had simply rolled his ankle at a boundary throw-in.
Jonas said he hoped the big man would be able to play some part in next Saturday’s second pre-season clash against North Melbourne.
“I spoke to Paddy after the game and the medicos and they seemed pretty upbeat and he was in good spirits,” Jonas said during a press conference on Sunday.
“He’ll probably have a light couple of days.
“He’s a very important player for us so we’re not going to risk him but there’s not much to worry about.”
It was a difficult day for all of the players at Port Pirie’s Memorial Oval with temperatures hovering around the 40-degree mark for much of the match.
Despite that, Jonas said he was feeling pretty good, revealing players would still be feeling a bit tired and sore after their first real hit-out against opposition if it was only 20-degrees.
“Obviously you’re a touch exhausted after any game but given the heat, I thought we dealt with it well,” he said.
“We had a lot of rotations and there were capped quarters in the last half, and longer breaks so I don’t think it’ll make a difference going into this week and going into Round 1.”
With a host of new faces in the Port Adelaide squad in the off-season, much of the focus has been on building relationships and synergy between the group.
Jonas saw positive signs despite the Crows getting on top in the middle of the game.
“Yesterday was the first real test of that on-field and when the real pressure comes on, you know, it was hot conditions, lots of new faces and playing a pretty formidable opponent, that’s when you’re going to see if it’s really going to stand up,” he said.
“I think the way we fought back in the last quarter and gave ourselves a chance to win the game was a real positive.
“We went into pre-season with a big focus on our ball movement and being able to score more and I think we scored 90-odd points from 40 entries.
“Obviously that’s not as many entries as we would have liked but given the amount of scoring, that’s quite positive.”
Jonas had a tough time against a formidable Adelaide forward line, especially on the electric Eddie Betts, who booted four goals.
For the new Power co-captain, much of the issue was the amount of ball getting into the Adelaide forward line due to the AFL’s new starting positions from centre bounces.
“It’s definitely going to take a bit of adjustment,” Jonas said of the more free-flowing clearance-style of game.
“As a back seven or eight we weren’t quite on top of our game. Probably full credit to the Adelaide forwards who were moving pretty well.
“Obviously there’s going to be a bigger focus on winning centre bounce and we saw that yesterday with the number of centre bounce goals.
“Also, just structuring up a bit differently so we can come off and support when that ball comes in.
“It’s just one of those things, you know how much of a quality player (Eddie) is, the tricks in his bag, and you’ve just got to do your best to mitigate him, whether that’s mixing up the match-ups, getting more assistance around him, but the best antidote is just not allowing as much ball going in there.”
Jonas was full of praise for the club’s three first-round draftees, who each showed signs that they could be in contention to debut at AFL level in Round 1.
Zak Butters had 25 disposals and a number of score involvements while Connor Rozee and Xavier Duursma booted two and one goal each as well as showing signs of their class.
“Butters, Roze, X, they’ve all got a heap of potential and obviously we don’t want to heap expectation on those boys because being an 18-year-old, coming into an AFL system there’s going to be ups and downs,” Jonas said.
“But those boys put their best foot forward every day. They give everything they’ve got and they play exciting footy, which is what we love about them.”
