The Moment on Monday: How Willem Drew learnt his craft playing country footy at Koroit and debuted for Port Adelaide on the MCG
The boys at Koroit in western Victoria were planning to play a trial game against Torquay on the weekend but some of them got a better offer — the MCG to watch mate Willem Drew debut. Plus see where your club sits in this week’s Power Rankings.
Reece Homfray
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- Every Round 1 SuperCoach score
The boys at Koroit in western Victoria were planning to play a trial game against Torquay on the weekend but some of them got a better offer — the MCG.
So on Saturday they made their way to Melbourne to watch three-time premiership teammate Willem Drew make his AFL debut for Port Adelaide.
“The numbers dwindled fast. Quite a few of the boys his age opted for the MCG rather than Koroit,” coach Chris McLaren said.
As they sat in the stands they watched Drew, 20, do everything he used to do for them.
The No. 33 draft pick from 2016 accumulated 21 disposals — 10 contested — and five tackles. The best of them came 19 minutes into the second quarter when Jake Melksham hit the contest at full pace and tapped the ball in front of him.
Drew came from the side and began tracking him like a cheetah running down a deer. He took 12 steps at full tilt and lunged at Melksham to cause the turnover and Port went forward and scored.
“One thing that really stood out at that age was his tackling,” said McLaren, who played with Drew at Koroit.
“In country footy most blokes will look at a kid and say ‘you can’t stop me’ but his ability to grab them and hang onto them was unbelievable.
“He was getting our highest tackle numbers from word go, and there’s some footage in grand finals where blokes were trying to bulldoze over the top of him and he was just dragging them down.”
Port Adelaide laid 71 tackles in their win over Melbourne and Drew contributed five.
Is there a more pleasing stat for a coach to judge effort and intent than to benchmark the tackle count against possession? Port Adelaide had more of the ball on Saturday (426 disposals to 333) and yet still made 18 more tackles.
It wasn’t lost on Hinkley, whose beloved Camperdown was beaten by Koroit in last year’s Hampden League grand final, and was full of praise for Drew.
“People like Willem Drew, it gets under the radar, it was his first game too, and he’s such a team-oriented person, he just plays the right way,” Hinkley said.
“One of my calls in the box was to keep Drew inside, because he’s a young player (and he) can tend to get pushed out a little bit, but I wanted to be really strong in backing him in and letting him go on the inside because that’s where he does his best work.
“He’s had an outstanding summer and it’s great credit to him because he’s had to persevere for a long time, he had a really bad Achilles injury that caused him all sorts of trouble.”
Drew played in three senior flags for Koroit before he was drafted. The first at age 15, second at 16 and third at 17 when he didn’t feel right coming back from the TAC Cup to take someone’s spot but the club insisted and he won the medal for best-on-ground.
“Not many play at that age and certainly not many in premierships,” McLaren said.
“His footy IQ was unbelievable, young kids normally run around crazy but he was always in the right spots.
“His endurance running was terrific and by the time he played his last grand final he won the medal, his second half running and three goals just took them apart.”
Drew had to wait two years for his AFL debut and last year he played just one SANFL game yet Port was so bullish about him they signed him to a new two-year deal.
“We see Willem’s future as a bigger-bodied midfielder. He has good hands in tight and a very good work rate,” football manager Chris Davies said.
Koroit knew it, Port knew it and now the fans can see it for themselves and this weekend the crowd will include the Koroit Saints who missed out on seeing him at the MCG.
“We’ve got next week off before we start so we’re a fair chance to head to Adelaide Oval and watch him next week,” McLaren said.
GAME NOTES
Talking points from the Round 1 notebook:
POWER V DEMONS
THERE was a passage of play with 3:35 left in the second quarter which showed exactly why Port went after Scott Lycett. He won a free kick by playing in front of Max Gawn in the ruck at half-back, the next long kick found Paddy Ryder at half-forward and Justin Westhoff then marked and goaled from the top of the square. Five goals to Westhoff will create some interesting discussion about where he best fits when Charlie Dixon is back.
EARLY in the third quarter Connor Rozee ran full steam into Clayton Oliver — one of the hardest and strongest midfielders in the competition — and knocked him over. For all of Rozee’s silky skill, composure and smarts in traffic, Ken Hinkley says his pressure is underrated. Rozee had 53 pressure points in JLT 1 (ranked 1st for his team), 54 in JLT 2 (ranked 2nd) and 32 on Saturday (ranked equal 7th). Butters and Duursma hit the scoreboard but Rozee hit the opposition just as hard.
HOW satisfying for Port’s recruiters and list management that three maligned arrivals last year — Jack Watts, Tom Rockliff and Steven Motlop — were among their best in the big win over the Dees. The highlight of Watts’ day came with 3:50 to go in the third quarter when he was outnumbered 1 v 3 at half-back, flew for the footy, won possession, spun out of trouble and got them moving. Minutes later he won a contested possession on the wing.
CROWS V HAWKS
TOM Lynch insists the Crows were “cracking in” and the contested possession count backs that up given they were +18 and won overall possession by +72. But they butchered the footy particularly going forward. In the first quarter Matt Crouch had a chance to hit a target without immediate pressure and kicked straight to an opponent and it started a trend.
THE CROWS were outworked and out-ran. They trailed by nine points at half-time and were still very much in the game but the first 53 seconds of the third quarter brought them undone. As the Hawks streamed towards goal there were three free players at the top of 50 and just inside, and in the end it was James Worpel who put it through without anyone near him. A horrible look.
IT wasn’t all bad. There were three feel-good moments in the first half that didn’t change the result but showed great team care. When Chayce Jones, Brad Crouch and Rory Sloane all kicked goals they were mobbed by their teammates for different reasons but with the same smiles that said it all.
ALEX Keath got the nod ahead of Kyle Hartigan for the other key post in defence alongside Daniel Talia and Tom Doedee and did a very good job. His ability to read the play is his strength and midway through the second quarter he got the better of Jarryd Roughead in the square by spoiling, tackling and causing the turnover to stop a certain Hawks goal.
MR 1 PER CENT’ER
Who are the unsung heroes of SA footy? The players who have an impact on their team without hitting the stats sheet. Champion Data records one per centers by tallying spoils, knock-ons, shepherds and smothers every game. Here’s the leaderboard from Port Adelaide and Adelaide after Round 1:
9: Tom Jonas (Power), Daniel Talia (Crows).
7: Jake Kelly (Crows).
5: Jack Watts (Power), Alex Keath (Crows).
4: Justin Westhoff, Darcy Byrne-Jones, Tom Clurey, Scott Lycett (Power) Wayne Milera,
Rory Laird, Sam Jacobs (Crows).
3: Brad Ebert (Power), Rory Sloane, Brodie Smith, David Mackay, Taylor Walker (Crows).
2: Connor Rozee, Riley Bonner, Zak Butters, Willem Drew, Paddy Ryder (Power), Bryce Gibbs, Tom Lynch, Eddie Betts, Tom Doedee (Crows).
QUOTED
That’s what young people do, they’re full of enthusiasm. I’ve got a grandson who’s one, he’s full of enthusiasm, you can’t control him, he’s running around everywhere and that’s what happens in a football sense.
— Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley.
SUPERCOACH TOP 10
DID SuperCoaches forget what sort of player Rory Sloane is after he missed half of last year with a foot injury?
The new Crows co-captain is only in seven per cent of teams but dominated with a mammoth 155 points on Saturday, thanks to his incredible game-high 22 contested possessions. No Hawthorn player had more than 12. SuperCoaches who opted for Justin Westhoff as their second ruck will be celebrating hard after his five goals and 149 points while Willem Drew is confirming his cash-cow credentials with 103 on debut.
Top 10 SA SuperCoach scores from Round 1:
1. Rory Sloane (Adel) 155
2. Justin Westhoff (Port) 149
3. Matt Crouch (Adel) 138
4. Tom Rockliff (Port) 138
5. Travis Boak (Port) 119
6. Willem Drew (Port) 103
7. Rory Laird (Adel) 102
8. Brad Ebert (Port) 99
9. Brad Crouch (Adel) 91
10. Robbie Gray (Port) 91
TIPS
An early look at Round 2 tipping:
COLLINGWOOD to beat Richmond and ADELAIDE to bounce back against Sydney at the SCG. ESSENDON just over St Kilda and PORT ADELAIDE to win easily over Carlton. GEELONG to keep the Dees winless, WEST COAST to open its account against the Giants, BRISBANE to go 2-0 against North Melbourne, HAWTHORN to beat the Bulldogs and I’ll tip GOLD COAST against Fremantle after I liked what I saw from them first-up and they’re at home.
POWER RANKINGS
1. HAWTHORN (1-0)
There were some big wins in Round 1 but this was the biggest. The Crows were fully fit, in ominous form and at home and the Hawks suffocated them with pressure and skill.
2. PORT ADELAIDE (1-0)
Finals-like emotion on the ground and in the rooms after the game. The kids were great but the veterans even better — Travis Boak (30) and Justin Westhoff (32) looked like they were 21 again.
3. BRISBANE (1-0)
They were chanting ‘Brisbane’ in the stands at the Gabba on Saturday night and fair enough too when you beat the reigning premier in Round 1. Big upset.
4. WESTERN BULLDOGS (1-0)
Lost both JLT Series games to St Kilda and Gold Coast, yet held their nerve brilliantly in a tense final quarter against Sydney to win on Saturday night. Hold those doomsday scenarios.
5. GEELONG (1-0)
Huge win perhaps not as surprising as the four teams ranked above them but for the Cats to play finals then rolling the Pies is a huge tick.
6. GWS (1-0)
Clinical performance to sweep aside the Bombers and the big guns fired in Coniglio, Whitfield and Cameron.
7. FREMANTLE (1-)
Couldn’t have been more convincing, apart from it being against the Kangas, but welcome back Nat Fyfe and welcome to Freo Cam McCarthy.
8. ST KILDA (1-0)
A one-point win over Gold Coast in Melbourne shouldn’t be cause for celebration but that was huge for Alan Richardson.
9. RICHMOND (1-0)
Softest win of any Round 1 victor given the fixture had them up against Carlton who won two games last year. The Tigers were never threatened and the bigger test is Collingwood this week.
10. COLLINGWOOD (0-1)
The Pies haven’t won Round 1 since 2015 so not overly surprising. Had their chances but the Cats took theirs instead.
11. GOLD COAST (0-1)
Brave Suns could well have won but that one-point loss will hurt because they won’t get a lot of opportunities like that again.
12. CARLTON (0-1)
Looked like a disaster in the first quarter against Richmond but the Blues showed enough to give fans hope after half-time.
13. SYDNEY (0-1)
Lance Franklin is clearly far from fully fit but they had enough to talent to win and couldn’t match the Dogs on the inside.
14. WEST COAST (0-1)
Took an inexperienced forwardline to Brisbane and all looked OK early before the Lions over-ran them after quarter-time.
15. MELBOURNE (0-1)
Started strongly then were out-muscled, outworked, out-ran and outplayed by the Power. Midfield isn’t fit and they had a shorter off season so will be eyeing the back half of the year.
16. ADELAIDE (0-1)
A 32-point loss at home is a very disappointing start after such a promising summer. Won the key indicators against Hawthorn such as contested ball, clearances, inside 50s, but couldn’t score.
17. ESSENDON (0-1)
Disaster first-up from the Bombers who only had 26 points to three-quarter-time and were smashed by the Giants.
18. NORTH MELBOURNE (0-1)
Catastrophe in Perth. Conceded 36 scoring shots and if Freo kicked straight they could have lost by 120.
10 games in four years: Why Power has faith in Drew
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