Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley slammed his players’ lack of hunger in their nine-point AFL loss to the Western Bulldogs, saying it was his side’s worst defeat of the season.
In a game that could be season-ending for the Power’s injury-prone ruckman Jarrad Redden the Bulldogs triumphed 10.7 (67) to 8.10 (58) in slippery conditions in Darwin on Saturday.
Hinkley said the loss, Port’s fifth-straight defeat, was the worst of the season “by a long way”.
“Tonight is the first time I have felt like we didn’t hang tough when we needed to,” Hinkley said.
He berated his charges for lacking a will to win.
“I said that to them `you didn’t want to win tonight for some reason and I am not quite sure why’,” Hinkley said.
“I think it was just purely a lack of want.”
The game was potentially disastrous for Redden who injured his shoulder and could be out for the season.
“We have to make a decision about how bad that will be, whether it will require surgery now to end his season or whether we can push on a little bit more,” Hinkley said.
“My first thought would say we won’t be taking too many risks and will be getting him repaired quite quickly.”
Another to suffer an injury was luckless Bulldogs player Tom Williams, who dislocated his troublesome right shoulder that was operated on last year.
The defender who has only made five senior appearances since late in the 2011 season looked in pain after going up for a mark in the second quarter.
“He (Williams) is in a fair bit of pain. He was a sad soul at the end,” said Bulldogs coach Brendan McCartney.
McCartney said it had been a tough win with both teams giving their all in Darwin’s humid conditions.
“You could see at the end that there was nothing left for either team,” McCartney said.
Bulldogs midfielder Koby Stevens was left limping after a severe corked thigh on the same leg he has had problems with for the past couple of weeks.
Port Adelaide now go into the bye round to regroup ahead of clash with Greater Western Sydney in round 12.
In what has been a lacklustre season the Bulldogs have now won two in a row, their third victory for the season, moving them into 14th on the ladder.
