Kane Cornes has raised the alarm around Port Adelaide‘s near-loss to the rebuilding Hawks on Sunday afternoon.
Despite the Power coming from 41 points down to snatch a one-point victory from the jaws of defeat with one second remaining on the clock, Cornes remains concerned about the three quarters that caused them to trail by so much.
It was unlikely hero, Darcy Byrne-Jones, who kicked the winning goal at Adelaide Oval.
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Now, Cornes says that Ken Hinkley’s men need to revisit their defence, after the Hawks kicked six goals to one in the opening term and threatened a huge upset.
“It was a really ordinary performance for three quarters and there is no escaping that,” Cornes said on Nine’s Footy Classified on Monday night.
“There’s no urgency, there’s no pressure, and this is against a side that is rebuilding in the bottom four.”
Cornes showed vision of young Hawthorn midfielder Jai Newcombe breaking the pack and nabbing a clearance in the opening minutes of the game.
“They become far too easy to score (against) on transition. Count the missed tackles if you like,” he said.
“This is a concern, the hardest place to score from is a kick out. Port Adelaide in transition continually get scored against.”
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Cornes lauded the victory, but slammed the effort that forced the Power into a position where they had to claw their way back into contention.
“Yep, they escaped and they won, almost the unwinnable, but this is a game where you go ‘that was unacceptable for three quarters’ and they must coach that hard,” he said.
The win takes the Power to 7-3 after 10 rounds, as they sit in fourth on the ladder.
They face off against North Melbourne on Saturday afternoon in Hobart.