Port Adelaide was the second-highest scoring team in the league last year, behind Geelong, with an average of 105 points per game.
Now, the Power is determined to knock the Cats off the top of both the goal-scoring and premiership ladders by replicating Geelong’s forward-line philosophy.
“You always have to improve individually, but we’ve got a few team goals we want to achieve this year,” Ebert said in Whyalla on Wednesday.
“We’ve looked at Geelong and how they structure their forward line. They have a lot of guys kicking the goals and I think that’s more of a focus for us as a group this year.”
Ebert, who led Port Adelaide’s goalkicking last year, was one of six Power players, including Daniel Motlop and Justin Westhoff, to register more than 20 goals for the season.
Geelong, on the other hand, had eight players with more than 20 goals to their name, including 11 different goalkickers on Grand Final day.
Warren Tredrea, who was once the focal point of Port Adelaide’s attack, is looking forward to a solid season in front of goals, but understands he’ll be playing more of a ‘supporting’ role.
“Before I had the serious knee injury, teams that were successful were built around a key forward with a few other contributors,” Tredrea said.
“But the football dimensions have changed now and last year the teams that had a key forward were the teams that didn’t play finals.”
“The realistic thing is to be a part of a successful team and, breaking it down even further, to be a part of a successful front forward six that can consistently have even contributors kicking winning scores.”
“That’s where football has gone to and it's probably the first time in the history of the game that teams don’t rely on a set few, for example a Tony Lockett, Jason Dunstall or Tony Modra-type player, to get them over the line.”
