“I Made a Mistake, I Let Connor Down” - Ken Hinkley
After injuring his hamstring against St Kilda last week, Connor Rozee again had hamstring problems in the Power's loss to the Crows on Thursday. He was withdrawn at three quarter time.
Post-match, Port Coach Ken Hinkley wasn't shying away from answering my question around his captain;
"Yeah, we did, [make a mistake playing Connor Rozee]. It was my call.”
However Hinkley defended his reasoning for why the club took the risk;
"Anytime you bring them [players] back from hamstrings there's always a risk.
"All the testing we had done, all the medical support we could get, all the information I could get was Connor was able to.
"I'd seen it with my own eyes, he was able to run as fast as he needed to, [able to] kick as long as he needed to.
"Two days in a row, no problem at all. I watched him kick the ball from 60 metres. I saw all the things you needed to see.
"Connor said that he was absolutely right to play. Its hard not to believe and not to be sure that's the case.
"Once fatigue set in tonight it was clear [we'd got it wrong]. You can be a coward and try to hide behind a mistake, but I'm not.
"I let Connor down by letting him play.
"By Half Time, he couldn't get to top speed and he was reluctant to kick."
However, the club didn't sub Connor out until Three Quarter Time.
Hinkley said, "No, not earlier, [to sub out Rozee], we got to half time and he thought he was going okay.
"I set Connor up to fail, by the way he had to perform this week."
On the hamstring itself, Hinkley said this;
"It's no worse, but it's the same issue. Which suggests to me that had he had the week off he would've been better for next week.
"That would be fair [to say Connor is doubt for next week]. He'll have another scan, we'll make sure there's no extra damage.
"I should've known that was perhaps gonna happen.
"I apologise to our supporters for the decision that was made."
In more positive injury news, Mitch Georgiades and Todd Marshall are "okay", according to Hinkley.
Ken Hinkley also shared his views on the game and what went so wrong;
"We couldn't convert."
"We've been falling down too often in conversion."
"It's embarrassingly poor in front of goal."
Hinkley also mentioned that his forwards weren't helped by the way Port were restricted with the football;
"We need to look at the way we move the ball, collectively through the ground and into our forward 50.
"Their [Crows] efficiency in going forward at speed is a challenge for most clubs. For us tonight, particularly first quarter [it was difficult].
"I think the dare was a little bit off, I think that reflects what the Crows did to us, they slowed us down. They stopped us from having to much dare.
"Their measure up front with their conversion, versus our measure up front. They’re doing it better than us at the moment, clearly."