Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley won't guess what sanction his ruckman Paddy Ryder faces for a behind-play hit on an Adelaide opponent in the Power's Showdown loss.
Ryder appeared to land a left-arm punch on Crow Riley Knight's jaw in the last quarter of Port's 17-point loss to the Crows on Saturday night.
The Power ruck reacted after being blocked by Knight, who was felled by the blow but recovered to take a free kick - and kick a goal.
"He got a bump himself off the ball and he reacted to it," Hinkley said of Ryder.
"You would prefer he didn't have to react to it but it's a game of football, it's competitive.
"From what I seen - you know what I'm like, I'll tell you what I seen - it wasn't too much.
"I don't think there was an enormous amount in it but we'll let that be and see what happens.
"The vision I have seen is not really clear so I'm not going to guess."
Ryder's act will be scrutinised by the match review panel in the aftermath of Port's first loss of the season.
Hinkley said the defeat hurt - but not because it came to Port's bitter hometown rivals.
"I couldn't care less about the Crows, losing to the Crows," he said.
"I care how we play football. And we lost a game of football, that is all I care about."
The Power paid for being unable to halt an Adelaide scoring spree in the second and third terms when the Crows kicked six unanswered goals en route to a 15.10 (100) to 12.11 (83) win.
"We didn't quite match them in some crucial moments ... they were able to get enough score on the board, 100 points probably wins you most games," Hinkley said.
"We learnt that we stuck at what we were trying to do and we still weren't good enough to get over the line. And we are not happy about losing."
Share
