DYNAMIC Port Adelaide forward Chad Wingard doesn't blame anyone but himself for his poor start to the season.
The dual All-Australian has kicked 11 goals in nine games having moved back primarily into attack this season after a successful midfield move last year.
The 24-year-old was well below his best in last weekend's three-point loss to Hawthorn in Launceston and received a spray from Power runner Chad Cornes for his positioning.
"I've been struggling," Wingard told reporters on Wednesday.
"You can have a lot of excuses, but I'm not going to chuck any up there.
"It's really on myself, I've got to play at a better level.
"I'm just going to take it as a challenge and learn from it."
Wingard – an All-Australian in 2013 and 2015 - missed two games with a hamstring injury, but said he was fully fit, not on a modified program and didn't believe it was a contributing factor to his form.
"I feel like I'm ready to go, but it comes down to keep working on it, review it and just playing my role," Wingard said.
"As long as I'm playing my role and doing the right things defensively, the offence will come.
"I've just got to make sure I'm doing the right things and helping out the team."
Wingard played down the incident with Cornes and denied it showed his attitude needed to improve.
"I still love the game," Wingard said.
"The runner comes out and sprays you, or tells you what to do, a hundred times, and we have that conversation.
"It just happened to be on camera that time.
"There was nothing in it and it looked a lot worse than what it was."
The eighth-placed Power host reigning premiers Richmond at Adelaide Oval on Friday night.
The Power's kicking skills have let it down this season, a problem that has plagued that side in recent years.
"We're not the most elite kicking side, but we've got to rely on our defensive pressure and the effort to try to get the ball to ground if it's not in our advantage," Wingard said.
"A few boys are down on their kicking, but we're still working on it.
"It's something we can't drastically improve overnight."
Asked why kicking had been a weakness for the Power, Wingard replied: "It's a bit of personnel.
"Some people draft kickers and it might be (because of) our (game) style.
"We're not sure, we can't pinpoint it.
"I'm missing some kicks this year, ones that I should be hitting, but I'm reviewing it and working on it."
Wingard spent a lot of time in the midfield last year, but has moved forward after the Power recruited Tom Rockliff and Steven Motlop.
"My midfield role will be a lot less with those guys coming in," Wingard said.
"We're trying to find the right mix.
"We've got some absolute guns in that midfield, we've just got to make sure we're working together and getting the best out of each other."
