PORT Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley insists the club still has faith in tall forward John Butcher, despite the 22-year-old again finding himself on the sidelines through lack of form.
Butcher hasn't strung together more than five games in a row since being drafted with pick No. 8 at the 2009 NAB AFL Draft.
Last weekend against North Melbourne, he managed 10 disposals but didn't present in attack as well as Hinkley would have liked, costing him his place in the team that will take on the Brisbane Lions at Adelaide Oval on Saturday.
"He's a work in progress, he's had a great pre-season, he's taken some good steps forward, he just needs to be a bit more influential in the game when we need him most," Hinkley said on Friday.
"John gets recognised as a really good defensive player. He’s one of those players in the side to mark the ball for us as much as he is to defend.
"We need him to fulfill that role of being a target player for us to go to a little bit more.
"I'm sure he can still do that, I'm not losing faith in John. It's just that sometimes it takes some time away, [to] work on some stuff and come back and do those things."
Hinkley said the club would simply need to show patience for it to see the best out of Butcher.
He compared Butcher's situation to that of ruckman Matthew Lobbe who, at 25, is only just beginning to play his best football.
Despite Butcher's obvious kicking troubles, Hinkley warned the club against making "hasty" decisions in regards to his future.
"We talk about patience, we talk about Matty Lobbe – how patient do you need to be with some players?" he said.
"Lobbe now at [25] is getting himself together as an AFL ruckman and a really significant AFL ruckman.
"You don't want to rush, you don’t want to make silly, hasty decisions and you know there's a lot of work in these boys that they have to do to become the players they want to be.
"He [Butcher] is just one of those players who's got continuous work to do."
While Butcher was omitted from the side, upgraded rookie Sam Gray was named to make his AFL debut.
Gray, who last year was named best and fairest for Port Adelaide's Magpies and finished runner-up to Richmond's Matt Thomas in the Magarey Medal, has long proved an impressive SANFL midfielder.
Hinkley said the skillful 21-year-old had earned his opportunity at the elite level given his consistency at the grade below.
"Sam was a pretty easy decision to be fair, his form in the SANFL's been first-class. We have our best three players every week…and Sam's been there for the last four weeks," he said.
"If they're playing consistently well at the next level underneath, then they deserve an opportunity.
"He deserves it, there's no other level – the only level up for Sam is AFL."
