- Jason Horne-Francis has been warned by his coach
- The young player had a disappointing performance against the Suns.
- Ken Hinkley said he expects more from the former No. 1 draft pick
Jason Horne-Francis still has a lot to learn, says his Port Adelaide coach, after the 21-year-old met his match in a narrow loss to Gold Coast.
The talented power forward scored two goals in Sunday’s 14-point loss to the Suns, but gave up four free throws and had just nine touches despite assisting on 10 rebounds from center.
He had not recorded any disposals when he conceded a 50-metre penalty after pushing to the ground Suns midfielder Sam Flanders, whom he had just tackled high, in the second quarter.
Horne-Francis then got into another fight with Nick Holman in the final, throwing the Suns hardman to the turf.
Six possessions in the third quarter boosted their numbers, after just two touches before halftime and one in the final period.
Port manager Ken Hinkley made no excuses for his youth when addressing the former number one’s difficult day.
“It has to be better than it was today at times… and we won’t accept that as OK,” he said.
‘He has learned a lot, but he still has a lot to learn.
Jason Horne-Francis received a brutal spraying from his Port Adelaide coach
The former No. 1 draft pick struggled to make an impact in Port’s loss to the Suns.
Coach Ken Hinkley said he expects more from the young midfielder
‘He’s an aggressive player who looks for body contact and once you let the opponent see it, he tends to chase you a little bit more.
‘Jason is learning to deal with it and he has to get better.’
The defeat cost Port, who had won twice in a row, fourth place amid a 12-team battle between second and 13th, separated by just two victories.
A concussion to Lachie Jones and a freak hip injury to striker Todd Marshall compounded Port’s problems.
Jones was lifted up by Alex Davies while Marshall’s legs took the weight of team-mate Charlie Dixon, who went down and the striker underwent scans to determine the extent of the damage.
“I’ve been around a long time, I’ve seen a lot of strange things happen on the football field and this is another one to add to the collection,” Hinkley said of the nature of Marshall’s injury.
“In the end we paid a high price.”