Port Adelaide ruckman Matthew Lobbe celebrates a goal kicked by his skipper Travis Boak. Source: Getty Images
IT was the position that had concerned Ken Hinkley and the Power's coaching panel all week: the ruck, where Port Adelaide was humiliated by Sam Jacobs in the last Showdown when the ex-Blue chalked up an audacious 61 hit-outs.
He carried the ruck division on his own that day after Kurt Tippett was sidelined with injury and his influence was high on the agenda as Port planned for yesterday's match.
Port has three ruckmen competing for two spots, Jarrad Redden, Matthew Lobbe and Brent Renouf all having impressed the coaches over summer.
The decision was made to drop Redden and include Renouf, who has been resolute in SANFL ranks.
It paid off: by three-quarter time, the momentum was with Port Adelaide, which would have been in front had it not been for scattergun kicking for goal.
Instead, the scores were level, but the statistics from the ruck department were already telling a story about how much the ruck division has advanced through the work of former Crow champion Shaun Rehn, and how much the club has improved under Ken Hinkley.
The Power began pulling away in the last quarter and was then ahead marginally in the hit-outs (34-32) and significantly in clearances (37-29).
Sam Jacobs is still a ruckman of the top drawer but Port's work around the packs has transformed from a liability to an asset over summer.
Not since the days of Brendon Lade and Dean Brogan - and before that, throw in captain Matty Primus - has the ruck division had a bit of spunk about it.
It is still to reach the height of those days, but the bonus is this crop has age on its side: Lobbe is 24, Renouf, 25, and Redden, 22. It is widely accepted that ruckmen don't reach their peak until their late 20s.
Hinkley elaborated on the choice of Renouf, a Hawthorn premiership player, ahead of Redden during the week and pointed to Redden's drop in form in round two after a strong season opener. Redden has time on his side and the competition for spots will continue.
But it was more to it than that. Renouf adds a bit of physicality needed to compete with Jacobs, who was All-Australian nominee last season and finished fourth in the club's best and fairest.
The transformation of Port Adelaide under Hinkley is most obvious in the midfield, where there is more depth of runners with the additions of Ollie Wines, a fit Hamish Hartlett and a vastly improved ruck department.
Final statistics read: hitouts: Port 46, Adelaide 39; Clearances: Port 43, Adelaide 41.
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