Port Adelaide defender Josh Sinn opens up on injury history, first-year struggles, trying to replace Dan Houston
Josh Sinn has spent lots of time sidelined but is now enjoying his first full pre-season. The youngster sheds light on his frustrating start in the AFL and how he has turned his body around.
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Josh Sinn glances across Port Adelaide’s defence, sees Jase Burgoyne and savours the moment.
The close mates are playing together for just the third time at AFL level, three seasons into their careers.
It happens to be in a knockout semi-final against Hawthorn in front of more than 50,000 people at Adelaide Oval.
Hampered by injuries since joining the Power, Sinn is determined to take his chance to help his team avoid elimination, rather than being overly nervous on his major-round debut.
Meanwhile, Burgoyne in his second final, in a breakout season, is about to have the game of his life.
“It was pretty cool,” Sinn, 22, tells this masthead.
“I remember looking at each other in the backline and it was a surreal moment because he’s my best mate here.
“It helps everyone knowing someone like Jase can play such a big role (in a final).
“Like ‘why can’t that be me? Why can’t that be Logan Evans?’”
Misfortune has held Sinn back from getting more of those opportunities.
The line-breaking left-footer’s past five years have been interrupted to say the least, predating his time at the Power.
Covid wiped out the Victorian’s bottom-aged season at Sandringham Dragons in 2020.
Injuries struck during his draft campaign in 2021, limiting him to five under-18 games.
Sinn’s rough luck continued after the Power selected him at pick 12 that year.
In 2022, groin issues restricted him to one AFL and three SANFL matches.
In 2023, he needed season-ending hamstring surgery after playing 11 games in the state league and three at the top level.
Last year, Sinn broke his collarbone in May.
But this time, the half-back ended the season in the AFL side – in two finals – instead on the sidelines.
Coincidentally, it was teammates’ unavailability that gave him the shot against the Hawks.
Dan Houston (suspension), Kane Farrell (hamstring), Ryan Burton (calf soreness) were ruled out, prompting the Power to pick Sinn for his first AFL game in two months.
Playing his part in Port’s thrilling one-point semi-final win, on a night when Burgoyne was best-on-ground, was a reward for his resilience.
“It was definitely frustrating but I learnt so much about myself and the people around me who helped me,” he says of his run of injuries.
“I probably let the first year get to my head a little bit and I became quite frustrated, and agitated.
“There’d be multiple days where I’d call in sick because you’d rock up, couldn’t really run or walk, so you’d sit on a bike by yourself.
“I was one of the only ones injured and, as a first-year kid who’d come over (from interstate), I didn’t really know anyone that well.
“I didn’t want to come in.
“Mum and Dad came over quite a lot in my first year.
“But the last two years have been pretty good.”
Moving out with Burgoyne in their second seasons helped Sinn become more settled in Adelaide.
“Me and Jase joke around a lot but he’s a genuinely good kid, and so supportive,” he says.
“He’s always down to take my mind off things.
“We went to Monarto zoo the other week. We’ll pretty much do anything.”
Coach Ken Hinkley has been “massive” for Sinn, particularly during his injuries.
Not putting so much pressure on himself has been another key ingredient.
“I just stripped it back to enjoying actually playing,” he says.
“It’s amazing what that can do to your football.
“It’s helping me play a lot better and be a lot more confident.”
Wanting to make the most of his positive end to the season, Sinn scrapped plans to travel overseas with friends from Melbourne during his break and instead had a four-week training block with a strength and conditioning coach.
“The conversations with the club at the end of the season were ‘I need to get my body right’,” Sinn says.
A US trip with teammates Jason Horne-Francis and Lachie Jones also proved beneficial.
They went to the University of Wisconsin-Madison for biomechanical testing and learnt more about why some of their injuries were recurring.
Port’s medical services boss, Tim O’Leary, helped organise a visit to the Milwaukee Bucks – his ex-employer – where he introduced them to NBA superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo.
“They’d played three games in four days and he was the only one in the gym still doing work,” Sinn says.
“You work out why he’s one of the best in the world.”
When they returned to Adelaide, Sinn was part of Port’s main training group from the first pre-season session – and had been since – for the first time in his career.
“I reckon I’ve come into every season underdone,” he says.
“I’ve had goals just to try to get back into the side halfway through the year.
“Now, I’ve had a full pre-season, I can be ambitious.
“I’m hoping halfway through the season just playing every week shouldn’t be a goal anymore, that it’s the norm, and I can chase something bigger.”
Sinn is heading into the final year of his contract focused on football.
Off the field, he is set to study finance.
“I’m all right at numbers,” he says.
As the Power chases another deep finals run, the numbers in Port’s defence have fallen in his favour.
A spot in the team has opened because of dual All-Australian half-back Houston’s trade to Collingwood.
“I want to prove to myself that I’m a good AFL footballer,” Sinn says.
Six weeks from the Power’s season-opening match against Collingwood at the MCG, Sinn is sitting on the balcony of the club’s high-performance centre.
He is appreciating the little things and feeling optimistic.
“One thing I really missed when I was injured was all the banter you get from training,” he says.
“We train for three hours, but only probably doing drills for two hours, so there’s an hour of banter and I feel like I’ve missed hours of that.
“Our list has developed a lot over the past three months and we’re in a pretty good spot to attack this year.
“And as a backline, yes we lose Dan, but it allows me, Logan Evans and Kane Farrell to step up even more, which is exciting as well.”
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