2018 Perfect Shitstorm (Port 50 - 84 Geelong)

As the guy that fell from the balcony on the 10th floor once said, as he was passing by the 7th-floor window: "so far, so good."
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Port is trying to correct issues from last year, but some key players are either injured, out-of-form, and/or having personal issues off-field. It could be more a case of "perfect sh*tstorm" than anything else. I don't think our problem would be a "lack of plan B," as some of Port barrackers are saying.
For instance, we were able to improve our game in the second half in every game, but Essendon's. In the last three games, those about which people complain:

a) we have absolutelly smashed Brisbane in Q3, before letting them get back into the game;

b) Essendon's was bad, indeed—however, we lost players due injury and were unable to use interchanges to pressure them in the second half (as we had done in the previous games, including the JLT Showdown); and

c) Although Geelong's was even worse, still, we did take the lead in the second half, as expected, but a bad turnover put them ahead again—it was only after they scored in the last play of Q3 and got the first goal in Q4 that we weren't seen again for the rest of the game.

We have shown that we can adjust to the opposition and on the fly.

Another point that should be stressed is that the possession style Port openly stated it would adopt is not a "Plan B," but an important part of "Plan A." It is supposed to complement our "blitzkrieg" style. Anyone may correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that we don't want to press, force turnovers, and get stuck in the forward pocket, as we did last year. We want to get marks in better positions for set shots—i.e. in the corridor. We also don't want the opposition to have the ball.

So, we want either to press them, get the ball, and move as fast as possible forward, getting their defense out of position, or, if their defense is settled, to move the ball around until they make a mistake. The final result is the same in both cases: they don't threat us; and we play the ball for the open man in the corridor.

Now, if this makes sense, we would need to get used to two things, both:

a) avoiding moving towards the pockets when they are spread; and

b) keeping possession of the ball when they are compacted.

Those are two new features we introduced this year that our players need to internalize. That's not easy. It takes time and constant practice.

We would be slow because players still need to think before they play. The gameplan hasn't become natural yet. To make things worse, without Ryder [and with Frampton still recovering from surgery], we now also need to stop forcing ball-ups and throw-ins—which were part of our pressure strategy. We tried to find a viable option, so we could still play the way we use to: Westhoff was losing the ruck, and we lost the midfield; Dixon fixed that, but our forward line suffered; then Howard stepped in, but our defense fell apart.

Moreover, Rockliff is out-of-form, then got injured; SPP got suspended; Marshall got concussed, then lost his dad; and now, we lost Hartlett for the year. Midfield, forward, and back lines, they all got blows — really important blows.

So, in brief, we re trying to re-learn how to play as a team, but many relevant pieces that would help us getting there faster are out. The good news is that we have started 3-0, and a 4-5 start is within our expectations for the season. The fear is that we would not be practicing what we should be practicing due all those extra issues. If so, we might not be as ready as we wanted for the game v. Hawks. That might put our season in jeopardy.

It hasn't been an easy season for us. It wouldn't be regardless, but we have been unlucky. It sucks, but it happens.