Ollie Lord urged to bring his aggression to Port Adelaide
The words of coach Ken Hinkley and his Brownlow Medal winning grandfather were ringing in Ollie Lord’s ears as he arrived at Port Adelaide
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Ollie Lord arrived at Port Adelaide on Monday with the words of coach Ken Hinkley and the advice of his famous grandfather ringing in his ears.
The 18-year-old who describes himself as a “key forward who can pinch hit in the ruck”, said one of his main traits as a footballer was his aggression and that’s what Hinkley and his Pa, Geelong premiership player and Brownlow Medallist Alistair, want to see.
“I spoke to Ken on the phone on Wednesday night and again today (Monday), and I’m quite an aggressive player, I love to play on that aggression and he just said to bring that – not so much anger but ferocity for the ball,” Lord said.
“That’s one of my main strengths and somewhere I can earn the respect of Ken and my teammates. Definitely Charlie Dixon if I can emulate that aggression of his and working with Todd (Marshall) today, he moves so well for a tall prospect and I’d love to emulate a bit of that.”
Lord was drafted by the Power with Pick 48 from the Sandringham Dragons and Geelong Grammar.
His grandfather, who played 122 games for the Cats from 1959-66, has been one of Lord’s biggest supporters and mentors.
“He thinks he knows it all which he does, but he’s been a huge mentor of mine, someone I can lean on for advice because he knows what coaches are looking for and how to improve yourself,” Lord said.
“He just says ‘have a crack’, he knows there are a lot of tactics behind the AFL at the moment but he says ‘have a crack, control what you can control and if you throw yourself at everything and give it 100 per cent you’re bound to get rewarded’.”
Lord arrived in Adelaide on Sunday and got straight to work on Monday, meeting his teammates and hitting the training track for the first time in a Power jumper.
“It wasn’t until Friday morning when I woke up and realised ‘wow, this is amazing, I’ve lived a boyhood dream’,” he said.
“Then moving here was pretty realistic and I’ve met most of the younger blokes and loved it so far, can’t get the smile off my face.
“I knew Port Adelaide celebrated 150 years last year, and moving into its 151st I was just excited to be part of such a successful club.
“I knew there were high quality coaches and players who are striving for success and I was really eager to be part of that.”
WHY SON OF A GUN WILL GET ‘NO FAVOURITISM’ AT POWER
Simeon Thomas-Wilson
Taj Schofield once ran out with Travis Boak as Port Adelaide’s mascot when the Power played in Perth, now they will be teammates.
And premiership winning father, and Port’s midfield coach Jarrad, says while he is extremely proud of Taj, the Power’s new rookie can expect no favouritism from him when he reports for pre-season at Alberton on Friday.
The son of a gun was selected by the Power as a father-son prospect with the 37th pick of the rookie draft on Thursday, joining his dad at Alberton.
“I think it is going to be good fun, obviously he has coached me a little bit during my junior ranks but at the end of the day I will treat him as one of the coaches and he will treat me as one of the players and I think we will be fine,” Taj said.
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“We are really looking forward to working with each other.
“I know he had a good career here at port and won a premiership. I’m hoping to follow in his footsteps.”
A creative forward/midfield, Taj moved back to Adelaide when Jarrad became Port’s midfield coach and put himself right under the noses of the Power recruiters.
“It has been a long time coming, I guess,” he said.
Jarrad said being in the system made him even more appreciative of the opportunity his son had to follow in his footsteps at Port.
“In a way it has been a two-year opportunity, for myself in coaching but we felt that moving over they could have a closer look at Taj as a father-son,” he said.
“They (father-son prospects) do get a leg up but at the same time … it doesn’t mean there are any guarantees, but credit to Taj, he has handled the expectation when we first came over.
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“Sometime there is more pressure on a father-son, especially if the father is a premiership player and then the situation going into this year’s draft with no guarantees.
“I think he has handled it really well, he’s got all the hard work in front of him now.”
Taj and Next Generation Academy prospect Lachie Jones will report to Alberton for pre-season training on Friday, with the newest Schofield at the club already having the benefit of knowing some of Port’s stars personally.
“When you look back on when we were living back in Perth and he was the mascot running around in Port gear running on the oval with Travis Boak looking after him to where they are now, kicking footys to each other, I can’t not get excited about that,” Jarrad said.
“But he knows that he is just one of many players now.
“He will get no favouritism from me, but I’m really excited for him to be wearing the colours.”
Jarrad said while he believed Taj would initially be a forward for Port, he hoped he could move into the midfield as he matures in the AFL system.
GOLDSACK REVIVAL ‘JUST MAKES SENSE’
Getting Collingwood premiership player Tyson Goldsack out of retirement is part of a plan to speed up the development of Port Adelaide’s young players, Power recruiting manager Geoff Parker says.
As first reported by The Advertiser, the Power rookie listed the 33-year-old Goldsack, who was their development coach this season, to provide its SANFL team with some much-needed experience.
He will also be insurance for Port’s AFL team, and Parker told The Advertiser it was an idea that “the more you thought about it, the more it made sense”.
“He is still young enough to play,” Parker said.
“He might think he’s finished, but he has a great football background.
“Now he cannot only work with the players from Monday to Friday, but he can also work with them on a Saturday as well.
“It was an idea that was floated and the more you thought about it the more it made sense for a variety of reasons.”
SANFL rules restrict Port Adelaide and Adelaide to just one marquee signing next year and their top-up players must not have been on an AFL list for the past two seasons.
Port Adelaide last week announced that Cameron Sutcliffe would fill its marquee spot with the Maggies in 2021 after he was delisted by the Power.
Parker said Goldsack would provide vital experience to a Port list in the SANFL that would be extremely young.
“We have a pretty young list. We’ve drafted a lot of young kids over the past couple of years and hopefully him playing can help speed up their development,” he said.
Goldsack will also be able to continue his coaching at Alberton, with his rookie listing also helping the Power with a tightening soft-cap on football departments.
“Most definitely he will still be available to do a bit of that, from Monday to Friday and then help the Magpies players on the ground come the weekend,” Parker said.
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