PORT Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley says star recruit Paddy Ryder has "some significant upside" after the ruckman's first competitive game for the year.
Ryder - who joined the Power in the off-season and sat out the NAB Challenge matches because of the ongoing doping saga at the Bombers - battled manfully against Dockers ruckmen Aaron Sandilands and Zac Clarke in his first hit-out for the year.
He gathered 12 possessions, five marks, 20 hit-outs and laid seven tackles. His efforts were made more noteworthy by the absence of Port's No.1 ruckman Matthew Lobbe, who was withdrawn from the team because of quad tightness.
"He hasn't had the ideal preparation, Paddy, unfortunately," Hinkley said.
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"But I thought he was pretty solid for us. I thought even late in the game he was getting over the top of them.
"We know there is some significant upside for us with Paddy and then when we get 'Lobes' into the side that will certainly help us."
Sunday night's contest was played at a very high intensity. The Power looked to have the edge over the Dockers during the opening stanza, before Fremantle fought back. It was neck-and-neck for the rest of the match.
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Hinkley said the heavy pressure caused plenty of skill errors.
But he added the players who hadn't been able to get the pre-season match practice they needed – Ryder, Hamish Hartlett, Chad Wingard and Jackson Trengove – had all stood up well.
But not many teams would beat the Dockers in Perth, he said.
"That's the way we play. We pride ourselves on playing that way and we like to be able to handle the heat inside and I think tonight by the end we didn't quite handle as much heat as we needed to," he said.
"We were able to put a fair bit of pressure on but it was when the pressure was applied to us a couple of times we didn't quite clean it up."
Hinkley said it was ideal that the Power faced up to the Sydney Swans next week because the team would be placed under similar pressure.
He said Lobbe had only been left out of the team as a precaution because it was the first game of the year.
