An AFL great says Jason Horne-Francis’ aggression is “a problem”, going on to bake Port Adelaide’s lazy defensive running in Saturday’s loss to the Suns.
The Power lost their first-ever game on the Gold Coast, falling by just 14 points despite not looking overly likely after quarter-time to end a brief two-game winning streak.
And while Port sits equal on points with seventh-placed GWS and eight-placed Melbourne with six games left, two-time North Melbourne premiership player David King expressed concern about the playing group’s defensive mindset.
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“(They) are up and down like you wouldn’t believe,” King said of Port Adelaide’s form, referencing vision from Sunday’s loss that placed a spotlight on the side’s suspect defensive structure and lack of response.
“One week we love them, one week we hate them, and I feel for the coach. But you know what? This (time in forward half) is their plan. This is embedded as their system. They’re a forward-half team — get the ball in and lock it in.
“Their out-number (structure) on one side of the ground is out of whack. No one changes, no one talks, no one’s prepared to work.”
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King placed a specific emphasis on the lax defensive effort put in by club skipper Connor Rozee, who allowed Gold Coast onballer Noah Anderson all the time and space in the world to extract from a deep-forward-50 stoppage and dribble through the easiest of goals.
“This is your captain — you tell me if this is good enough for the number-one man at your footy club,” he said.
“Defensive-50 stoppage, game in the balance, he’s on Noah Anderson. Look at this. Ball pops out, (Anderson) kicks the goal, (Rozee) says ‘oh it doesn’t matter, we’ll go back to the middle’. Give me a spell.
“Walkers (in transition) kill you. Defensively, walkers absolutely shut your footy club down … Not good enough as a team, not invested, (they’re) really not.”
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King then shifted the attention from one star Power ball-getter to another, but for a different reason.
“And this bloke (Horne-Francis) — they’ve got a problem,” he declared.
“They’ve got a problem that they haven’t really wanted to talk about for a little while. Everyone defends Jason, he’s a wonderful player, he’s an extreme talent — but he’s gettable now.
“You can get under his skin, you can draw 50-metre penalties, and you can draw goals.
“He spends a lot of time talking to the coach, and why wouldn’t you talk to him? You’ve got to get the player back on track, I understand that, but at some point, he needs to take this situation by the horns himself and just, emotionally, remain in check.”
After a home return against Richmond this Saturday night, Port faces a devilish run as it attempts to stamp its fourth finals ticket in the past five seasons.
From Round 20-24, the Power need to get past Carlton (at Marvel Stadium), Sydney (Adelaide Oval), Melbourne (MCG), Adelaide and Fremantle (Optus Stadium).
“This season is frittering away, and it’s (got) nothing to do with anything outside of the attitude and application defensively of their ace, king, queen — Horne-Francis, Rozee and (Zak) Butters,” King said, concluding.
“They’ve got to get better and demand more from those around them, or they’ll just run aground. And it’s hard to watch, because they can be brilliant, and we lauded them last week against the Dogs.”
St Kilda great Leigh Montagna added: “When it’s on their terms and they win clearance and win contest they look amazing, but we’ve seen this way too often — when it’s going the other way and it’s not going their way and the other team’s winning it, it’s why they are the team they are.”
Source Agencies
