The Power pored over every aspect of their disappointing finish in 13th last year and in the process identified several key areas – including clearances – to be improved on in the coming season.
In today’s game about 70 per cent of scores originate from stoppages, so it comes as no surprise that the best-performed teams are, typically, also the biggest clearance-winners.
Port Adelaide seized on this statistic during the pre-season, setting itself the goal of finishing top-five in the League for clearances to help propel the club back into the finals.
With this in mind, the coaches made the decision to restore dynamic veteran Peter Burgoyne to a role in the midfield and switch gutsy onballer Steve Salopek to half-back.
Williams said he was confident the older Burgoyne brother would have an impact on the team’s clearance count.
“If you’re playing casino rules, you’d put your best cards where you’re best results are going to be, so it makes sense to have Peter in there,” Williams told afl.com.au in an exclusive interview.
Burgoyne picked up 82 possessions over the last two rounds of 2008 after being released from his 'quarterback' role in defence.
The 31-year-old said he was looking forward to returning to the midfield in a full-time capacity.
“I’m pretty excited about the move. It’s what the team needs and what the coaches want. They want to try and get their best midfielders and clearance players in there and I think I can help out in that area,” Burgoyne said.
“The last two or three years, I’ve pretty much been at half-back. When things weren’t going right or the coaches wanted to change things up, they chucked me in the middle every now and then.
“But this year, it’s looking more like I’ll have a permanent role on the wing, across half-forward and on the ball. You’ll probably see me there a lot this year, but I’ll still play down back a bit too.”
Salopek has been earmarked to replace Burgoyne at half-back, but the club has also experimented with Nathan Krakouer, Marlon Motlop and rookie Danny Meyer in the role with good success.
Teams have played with one or two of their best ball users and decision makers in defence for years, but the emphasis on zoning this season will increase the workload of such players.
Williams said teams would look to get the ball in the hands of designated players to help break down the opposition’s defence.
“You try and create that special person with the special eye or feel from the game, who is a great kick, and has great running ability,” he said.
“If you can free that player up whether it’s an Andrew McLeod, a Heath Shaw or a Rhyce Shaw – every team’s got one or two of them – they can launch a lot of attacks from there and that’s probably the thinking behind these moves.
“It’s nothing new and Adelaide has been doing it with McLeod for years. But because of the zones, a lot of balls are turned over around half-back.
“If you can get the ball into the right person’s hands there’s probably a fair chance it’s going to finish up in your forward line at the other end of the ground.”
Williams said coaches could resort more to tagging the opposition’s prime movers in defence.
“It moves a little bit away from that traditional defensive role. Some defenders might play 80 per cent defence and 20 per cent attack, but these blokes might be the other way around,” Williams said.
“They might have two goals kicked against them, but they might have created six going the other way and that’s what the coaches are tossing up.”
