- Power say succession plan isn’t to blame for shocking loss to Pies
- Club suffered heaviest defeat in Ken Hinkley’s 13 seasons as coach
An embarrassed Port Adelaide are still searching for reasons behind their opening-round flop but dismiss their coaching succession plan as a factor.
The Power crashed to a 91-point loss to Collingwood at the MCG on Saturday night, the heaviest defeat in Ken Hinkley’s 13 seasons as coach.
Hinkley will hand over to long-time assistant coach Josh Carr at season’s end but Port reject suggestions the succession plan has distracted the club.
‘Absolutely not,’ assistant coach Chad Cornes told reporters on Monday.
Power players and coaches met on Monday but remain at a loss to explain their lacklustre performance against the Magpies.
‘Everyone is really disappointed; embarrassed was a word that a lot of the players brought up, coaches as well,’ Cornes said.
Port Adelaide assistant coach says his club is embarrassed about their 91-point loss to Collingwood
The Power crashed to a 91-point loss to Collingwood at the MCG, the worst defeat in Ken Hinkley’s 13 seasons in charge
‘Definitely not a performance we’re proud of or can accept.
‘We definitely didn’t compete at the required level, that’s for sure.
‘Some of the vision is not great … coming to compete at our level for some reason wasn’t there from the start and that’s the only focus going forward to this week.
‘I’m not sure the reason for it. We thought we’re in a good spot going in.
‘I can’t pinpoint why it looked that way but the focus now is only about how we compete this weekend.’
Cornes urged players to follow his lead and avoid media in the aftermath of the defeat.
‘I’ve made a pact this year not to listen to anything or watch anything this year because it just takes your mind off what’s more important,’ he said.
‘The only thing important is what we speak about, our values in here.
Port and coach Ken Hinkley are still searching for reasons behind their heavy loss
Port are now focusing on their next match against Richmond at Adelaide Oval
‘People will say what they want … rightly so. And after a performance like that, you expect a lot of criticism.
‘I try to tell a lot of our players, there is no good in listening to the media, I think it does a lot more harm than good … but most young people these days are all over it so it’s hard to avoid.’
Port’s sole focus was responding on-field when hosting Richmond at Adelaide Oval on Saturday night.
‘We’ve had a few of these performances over the last few years and normally this group responds really well,’ Cornes said.
‘Obviously disappointing for it to happen in round one but the thing I love most about this group, they do respond.’
But Cornes noted the Power had been sub-par in two of its three games this season – a trial loss to Adelaide and the defeat to Collingwood.
‘Two out of three games haven’t been at the level that we needed to be,’ he said.
‘It’s all about being more competitive, more ruthless, tougher.’
