Pies expecting powerful Port effort

Collingwood are expecting Port Adelaide’s very best football in Thursday night’s AFL clash, the Power’s first game since the shock death of Phil Walsh.

Port coach Ken Hinkley has spoken this week of his difficulty in preparing for the match after the sudden loss of Walsh, a long-time assistant coach at the club and a close friend.

Collingwood played Hawthorn in an emotion-charged encounter on the same day that Walsh was stabbed to death, allegedly by his son, and coach Nathan Buckley can empathise with Hinkley’s position.

“I know exactly how he’s feeling – last Friday was a haze for me,” Buckley said from Melbourne airport.

“But one thing I can assure Ken is that as soon as he gets to the ground … with his players and his coaches with a job to do – they’ll be galvanised towards that.”

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