Jason Horne-Francis still has a lot to learn, says his Port Adelaide coach after the 21-year-old faced his equal opponent in a narrow loss to Gold Coast.
The power talent scored two goals in the 14-point loss to the Suns on Sunday, but caused four free kicks and had only nine touches of the ball despite ten center rebounds.
He had not yet registered possession of the ball when he caused a 50-metre penalty in the second quarter after knocking Suns midfielder Sam Flanders to the ground after he had just high-handed him.
In the final, Horne-Francis again got into a scuffle with Nick Holman, which knocked the Suns tough guy to the ground.
Six possessions in the third quarter increased his tally, after only two touches before halftime and one in the final period.
Port coach Ken Hinkley made no apologies for his youth when discussing his former No. 1 pick’s rough day.
“He has to be better in some moments than he was today … and we will not accept that that is OK,” he said.
“He has learned a lot, but he still has a lot more to learn.
“He’s an aggressive player who seeks physical contact and once you give the opponent a chance to see him, he tends to chase you a little more fiercely.
“Jason is learning to deal with it and he needs to get better.”
The defeat cost Port, who had finished fourth twice in a row, amid a battle between 12 teams for second and 13th place, separated by just two wins.
A concussion to Lachie Jones and a bizarre hip injury to striker Todd Marshall compounded Port’s problems.
Jones was lifted up by Alex Davies while Marshall’s legs supported the weight of his falling teammate Charlie Dixon. The striker was scanned to determine the extent of the injury.
“I’ve been around for a long time and have seen a lot of strange things on the football field, and this is another item for my collection,” Hinkley said of the nature of Marshall’s injury.
“In the end, we paid a high price.”