How Port Adelaide hit the draft jackpot a year after blooding the fewest kids in 2018
Last season the Power gave the fewest games to first year players of any club in the AFL. This year something is brewing at Port Adelaide — and it is being led by the club’s department of youth.
Something is brewing at Port Adelaide — and it is being led by the club’s department of youth.
A season after the Power registered by far the fewest amount of games from its first-year players of any club — just five — its shock round one win against flag fancy Melbourne was led by a bunch of kids who brought class, enthusiasm and excitement to the team.
Last year’s draftees Connor Rozee, Zak Butters and Xavier Duursma were so good that veteran swingman Justin Westhoff said he had never witnessed such outstanding debuts from a group of teenagers.
“We fed off the young guys,’’ said Westhoff, who will play his 250th game against Carlton at Adelaide Oval on Saturday.
“I haven’t seen so many young guys do what they did on Saturday, play so well on such a big occasion on debut, with us being underdogs at the MCG.
“It’s super exciting for the club to have those guys start out the way they did and a huge step forward for where we want to go.
“They showed they would be around for a long time with their skills and super footy-smarts.’’
Westhoff agreed with coach Ken Hinkley’s big call that it was Port's best win in his seven years at the club because of the performance of the Power’s youth brigade.
Port fielded four first-gamers, with third-year midfielder Willem Drew also debuting.
Two other players — West Coast premiership ruckman Scott Lycett and former Hawk Ryan Burton — also played their first games for the Power.
But it was the inspiring debut feats of Port’s three first-round draft picks from last year - Rozee was selected at pick 5, Butters at 12 and Duursma at 18 - that turned most heads as the club showcased a new, attacking game plan.
It was a far cry from 2018 when the Power — thinking it was close to a flag — went all-in on high-priced recruits Tom Rockliff, Steven Motlop and Jack Watts and, after trading away top picks, hardly fired a shot at the draft.
Its national draft selections — Sam Hayes (No. 46 overall), Kane Farrell (51), Jake Patmore (58), Joel Garner (60) and Dom Barry (61) — played just 10 games between them.
Farrell and Barry both played five.
But of the new draftees — Barry, who is no longer at the club, had previously played at Melbourne — only Farrell managed an AFL debut.
The five games Port got from its class of 2018 debutants was 10 fewer than the next-lowest ranked teams, North Melbourne and Essendon.
In contrast, Fremantle got 84 games from its new boys, the Western Bulldogs 59 and grand finalist Collingwood 53.
This year — after a poor finish to 2018 and conceding it had to go back to the draft drawing board and gets its teeth into the first round to secure top some-tier teenage talent — the Power has had instant success.
“With the way those young guys played and the feeling at the club we think we can achieve something pretty big this year,’’ Westhoff said.
DEPARTMENT OF YOUTH
Games played by 2017 draftees in 2018
Fremantle 84
Bulldogs 59
Collingwood 53
GWS 42
Melbourne 42
Carlton 40
Brisbane 38
Geelong 38
St Kilda 31
Gold Coast 28
Richmond 23
Adelaide 22
West Coast 22
Hawthorn 18
Sydney 17
Essendon 15
North Melb 15
Port Adelaide 5
PORT’S 2018 DRAFTEES v MELBOURNE
Disposals: Duursma 16; Rozee 18; Butters 13
Uncontested possesions: Duursma 13; Rozee 13; Butters 9
Pressure points: Duursma 24; Rozee 32; Butters 22
Score involvments: Duursma 7; Rozee 7; Butters 4
Scoreboard: Duursma 1.1; Rozee 0.0; Butters 2.0
R1 Time in position
Duursma — 100% wing
Butters — 91% fwd, 9% mid
Rozee — 100% fwd