Port captain wants end to inconsistency
Port Adelaide captain Domenic Cassisi has had enough.
Enough of the Power's inconsistency, enough of the bad quarters, enough of the yo-yo and enough of the sort of efforts that quite rightly have the Power labelled AFL "pretenders" after nine rounds.
So, in his first year as captain, Cassisi has put his stamp on proceedings - firstly by subjecting his team to 100 laps of the Alberton training pool on Monday morning following their abject 55-point loss to Sydney.
And now by declaring Port's leadership group have "drawn a line in the sand" regarding player performance.
The Power's leadership group were locked in their Monday night meeting for more than three hours as they thrashed out the issues that have kept Port from doing any more than flattering to deceive in 2009.
"I think that's important as leaders we step up and make clear to the rest of the group that a performance like that is definitely not good enough," Cassisi said on Wednesday.
"There's no doubt that our leadership meetings go longer after a loss and we are trying to get a result and we had quite a lengthy discussion.
"What came out of it was that we're ready to draw a line in the sand, move on and get some consistency.
"We've got a big challenge this week against Collingwood at the MCG and that's what we're looking forward to."
Among other issues discussed at the meeting were how Port's players want to be perceived around the country and also why the team could produce such a dreadful first term against the Swans when in pre-match Cassisi had told teammates the "vibe" was as good as he could remember.
"Our performance week in week out is too different and until we get some consistency then we're not going to be improving," Cassisi said.
"That's what we spoke about on Monday, being consistent in those areas - we want to be perceived in the competition as being a team that is tough and plays hard footy and attacking.
"At this point in time we're doing it for one week but not the next and until we get consistency we're not going to be regarded in that area."
Former Port Adelaide player and now pundit Dwayne Russell has contended that some of Port's players lack self-motivation, saying the league's best practitioners "do not find the next step in their careers because the coach is prodding their backsides every week".
Cassisi denied that, but reckoned anyone missing the drive from within would quickly find themselves out of the team and eventually the list.
"I wouldn't like to think so, if you're lacking in that area then you won't be playing in our team for too long," he said.
"You get given a wonderful opportunity to represent the club and play at an elite level and if you haven't got the self-motivation then you're not going to last too long in the game, so I wouldn't think that's an issue within our club."
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