Cage wrestler John Donehue (in white) is Port Adelaide's tackling cocah. Picture: Charlie Suriano (Blitz Publications) Source: Supplied
PORT Adelaide believes the confronting training conducted under controversial tackling coach John Donehue will be one of its greatest weapons this season.
Donehue, a former cage fighter who has worked with Melbourne Storm, Essendon and Carlton, has a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and his methods have shocked the Power players because of their intensity.
He is listed as a tackling consultants on Port Adelaide's staff list and his regular sessions at "the snake pit" - a training facility next to the police academy at Largs Bay - include bare-breasted, high-impact wrestling and grappling.
Other drills include players jumping over one another and quickly getting to their feet, to underline one of new coach Ken Hinkley's mantras: when you're on the ground, you're not in the game.
"We don't want to be a team that's on the ground all the time," Hinkley said.
The sessions are said to be highly intimidating.
"In the back of their minds, they don't want to do it, but they just put a smile on their face and do it, " Port Adelaide assistant coach Josh Carr said.
(Donehue) doesn't take lip and he's very big on respect
Hinkley said there had been times even he had had to look away as the players clashed and fitness coach Darren Burgess said it had taken him a while to change his view to the physical and potentially injury-causing drills.
The club has included the Donehue training as part of its pre-season "Malice" regime and players have noted other benefits.
Chad Wingard, the club's top draft pick in 2011, said the tackling techniques taught by Donehue had helped him protect himself better.
But the tackling consultant's approach is not universally condoned.
Among his fans is Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy but the way Donehue has taught league and AFL players has also brought him into a storm of controversy.
He was linked to the Chris Judd "chicken wing" issue last year, when he was brought in to help toughen up the Blues, and retired Melbourne forward Brett O'Farrell in 2008 said the Storm was the pioneer of the grapple, a tackle considered one of the most dangerous in the code.
An official from another club offered a stark appraisal of the training when Donehue was at Carlton.
"His defensive sessions are some of the most brutal things I've ever seen," the official said.
"He doesn't take lip and he's very big on respect.
"He's a genuinely nice bloke, almost your smiling assassin type."
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