Port Adelaide magician Chad Wingard is on All-Australian pace
“HE can make something out of nothing and those sort of players are really special.’’ With those words, Port Adelaide assistant coach Tyson Edwards summed up Power wizard Chad Wingard.
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“HE can make something out of nothing and those sort of players are really special.’’
With those words, Port Adelaide assistant coach Tyson Edwards summed up Power wizard Chad Wingard.
Somewhat lost in Port’s shock fall from grace this season is that Wingard, an All-Australian and Power club champion at 20 in 2013, is quietly enjoying an even better year than the breakout one which propelled him to stardom two years ago.
The brilliant small forward/midfielder has snuck under the radar to lead Port’s goalkicking with 32 — five ahead of his nearest rival, full forward Jay Schulz.
His goals average of 2.3 a game is a career high and better than the 1.8 he recorded in each of the past two years.
Wingard is on target to smash his best goals return of 43 in 2013 and 2014 while his average disposals of 20.5 are within striking distance of his All-Australian year when he churned out an average of 21.2 a game.
The gamebreaking left-footer, who looms as a major threat to the Crows in Showdown 39 on Sunday, is the only player to kick a goal in all 14 matches the Power has played this season.
Only six other men — Adelaide’s Eddie Betts, GWS’s Jeremy Cameron, Hawthorn’s Luke Breust, Melbourne’s Jeff Garlett, St Kilda’s Josh Bruce and West Coast’s Josh Kennedy — have kicked goals in all of their sides’ matches.
After a modest start to the season as he regained fitness following pre-season knee surgery, Wingard has exploded in the past five rounds, kicking 18 goals.
This included a season-high five against Carlton at the MCG in round 12, four against Geelong in round 11 and bags of three against the Western Bulldogs, Sydney and Collingwood. His three goals in the low-scoring slugfest against the Magpies at Adelaide Oval last Thursday were the most kicked by any player on the ground and proved decisive in a match when only 18 goals were kicked.
Wingard, playing more as a small forward this year with midfield cameos, has been remarkably consistent in a year in which Port has flounced, crashing from a pre-season premiership favourite to struggling to make the top eight, in 12th place after round 15 with a 6-8 record.
His lowest disposal game was 12 against the Blues when he bagged five goals to be the Power’s best player.
In every other game Wingard has had between 17 and 27 disposals.
“I think he’s shown this year how important he is for us,’’ Edwards said.
“He has probably been our most consistent forward and that is a real credit to him because we probably haven’t helped the forwards with the way we’ve been moving the ball and the supply coming in.
“He’s had a little bit more time in the midfield at different stages but we’re trying to keep him forward as much as we can because he’s having such an impact there.
“He’s getting some tough match-ups and some tough defenders but he just keeps getting the job done.’’
Wingard, who also is averaging 4.2 marks and 2.5 tackles to go with his elite disposals and goals numbers, must be a strong contender to add a second All-Australian gong to his resume this year.
His scoreboard impact of 20.9 points a game is more than four points higher than the 16.3 he averaged in 2013.
Apart from the raw numbers, Edwards said the 21-year-old Wingard had grown as a leader this season.
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AFTER a modest 2014 when his disposals average slumped from 21.2 to 16.3 and he fell from first to ninth in club champion voting, Chad Wingard’s statistics this season are strikingly similar to his standout All-Australian and John Cahill Medal-winning campaign of 2013.
Rankings for small forwards 2013 2015
Ave AFL Rank Ave AFL Rank
Rankings Pts 98 3 97 2
Disposals 21.2 3 20.5 5
Marks I50 1.4 11 1.7 3
Score involv. 7.3 5 7.1 6
Score assists 1.4 11 1.3 9
Goals 1.8 7 2.3 2
Total scoreboard impact 391pts 7 292pts 2
GOAL-DEN RUN
Chad Wingard has kicked goals in all of Port’s 14 matches this season.
Rd Opp Gls
1 Frem 2
2 Syd 1
3 NM 1
4 Haw 1
5 Adel 2
6 WCE 2
7 Bris 1
8 Rich 2
9 Melb 2
10 WB 3
11 Geel 4
12 Carl 5
14 Syd 3
15 Coll 3
THE NO — 14: Games Chad Wingard has kicked at least one goal in — every Port game.
Originally published as Port Adelaide magician Chad Wingard is on All-Australian pace
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