Port Adelaide news: The latest news out of Alberton Oval

With Miles Bergman rejecting a return to Victoria by re-signing, Port’s attention turns to Mitch Georgiades with coach Ken Hinkley confident a deal can get done.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – MARCH 25: Orazio Fantasia of the Power celebrates a goal during the round two AFL match between Collingwood Magpies and Port Adelaide Power at Melbourne Cricket Ground, on March 25, 2023, in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

Port Adelaide and Mitch Georgiades’ representatives will sit down and discuss his future over the next month or so as Power senior coach Ken Hinkley reiterated his confidence that the young forward will remain at Alberton.

The Power announced the re-signing of the 14th pick of the 2019 draft Miles Bergman on a two-year deal on Thursday.

On Friday Hinkley described keeping Bergman, who has had a breakout year for the Power this season, as “just an outstanding result for our football club”.

“When you consistently see people from interstate want to stay at our football club it says a lot about what Port Adelaide stands for and culturally that our football club stands up,” he said.

Out of contract Mitch Georgiades is attracting attention from rival clubs but Ken Hinkley is confident Port can retain him. Picture: James Elsby/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Now attention turns to Georgiades, taken four picks later in the 2019 draft, with the Western Australian high-flying forward out of contract.

The 21-year-old is recovering from a ruptured ACL he suffered in the SANFL earlier this year, which means there hasn’t been a rush to discuss a new contract with the focus on his recovery.

It is understood that the Power and Georgiades’ camp are expected to sit down in the next month or so to discuss his future.

Georgiades is happy at the Power and on Friday Hinkley said he was confident he would remain at Alberton despite any potential lure of home.

“ I’m honest enough to say that with any of the young Victorians and interstate players the pull of family is real,” he said.

“We got Jason (Horne-Francis) back, we are never going to be totally immune for that and we will face that challenge ourselves but we lost Karl (Amon) last year wanting to return home.

“Most of the time with all that stuff if you give them an environment that they thrive in and play good football in most of the time they will stay.

“We’ve seen examples of players wanting to stay and Mitch is a bit different given that he has a serious knee injury that he is dealing with.

Ken Hinkley concedes his team will lose players and gain players due to the pull of their hometowns. Picture: James Elsby/AFL Photos via Getty Images

“We need to give him the fullness of time to make sure that he has all the information of what he is dealing with to let him recover from his knee.

“It is not a rush for Mitch and it is certainly not a rush for us as a club.

“But we are extremely confident that Mitch loves being at our club.”

On Thursday Bergman expected Georgiades to re-sign.

“It is up to him but he does seem like he’s loving it (at Alberton),” Bergman said.

“We’ll see what he does but I’m pretty confident he’ll stay.”

The Power also have some veterans such as Travis Boak, Charlie Dixon, captain Tom Jonas and Scott Lycett out of contract.

When asked about Dixon’s future, Hinkley was emphatic.

“I’d be staggered, staggered if Charlie Dixon wasn’t here next year,” he said.

Power voice support for embattled skipper as exile continues

Port Adelaide midfielder Willem Drew says he is extremely confident the club’s captain Tom Jonas can win his way back into the Power side.

But Jonas’ exile from the AFL side looks set to continue this week as the Power seek to break the trend of sides losing after their bye when they take on Essendon on Saturday night.

The Power captain hasn’t featured at AFL level since Round 10 and has been trying to recapture his form in the reserves.

This looks set to continue this week with Jonas in the weaker side at Power training on Tuesday.

Drew backed Jonas to eventually end this exile.

“TJ has been the exact same, just the person he is. A really strong leader for the club,” he said.

“It doesn’t matter whether he is in the AFL side or the SANFL side he is always going to be our captain and he has no difference in his attitude.

“He is playing some really good footy in the SANFL, he will be back no-doubt.”

The Power captain hasn’t found a way back into the senior team. (Photo by Steve Bell/Getty Images)

Joining Jonas on the bibs were Xavier Duursma and Lachie Jones as they look to return from a knee injury and a broken jaw respectively either this week or next week.

Junior Rioli was on the stronger black side after he was a late withdrawal from the Power’s last game against Geelong with illness.

Mid-season draftee Quinton Narkle, who was the late replacement for Rioli against his former side, was in the bibs side.

As was former first-round draft pick Josh Sinn with Riley Bonner on the blacks.

After suffering hamstring tightness in his last match at SANFL level Orazio Fantasia did some running and kicking away from the main group.

Power vice-captain Ollie Wines didn’t participate in match sim, but Drew said he would be fine to take on the Bombers.

The Power will be looking to avoid what has become a trend of sides losing after their bye.

The win-loss record of teams following their week off stands at 2-10 this season.

Drew is hopeful the Power can arrest the concerns of teams coming off the bye. (Photo by James Elsby/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

The only two victories have gone to teams whose opponents were also coming off a bye

Drew said it was something the Power were aware of.

“We sort of did mention that this morning, it is a sort of a weird stat but for us we are going to go back to the way we have been playing and bringing that intensity and pressure and we are going to go out there and do that and hopefully get the win,” he said.

Drew said he wasn’t concerned at the prospect of the Power losing some of their winning momentum from having a week off.

“I think it was just a great opportunity to relax, and have a reset,” he said.

“The boys were able to get a freshen up and crack into the second part of the season.”

Luckless Power forward struck by injury curse again

Port Adelaide will learn this week whether Orazio Fantasia will miss a game with a hamstring issue, while two young guns are expected to return in the next two weeks.

Fantasia, who has battled with injury issues over the last two years, reported hamstring tightness after Port’s loss to Norwood in the SANFL earlier this month.

The Power said on Monday that the out-of-contract small forward would be assessed later this week to determine his availability for selection.

The 27-year-old has played 99 AFL games but what will happen with the injury-prone goalsneak will be determined by how many games he can string together in the back half of the season.

If he does not play regularly then Fantasia could be in trouble, after featuring just once at AFL level last year as an unused substitute.

Fantasia has been constantly struck down by injuries throughout his career. (Photo by James Worsfold/AFL Photos/via Getty Images)

He has featured three times in 2023, with his last game as the sub in the Round 3 Showdown before he was sidelined with another quad injury.

Since Fantasia has been out of the side the Power have gone on an 11-game winning streak with Jed McEntee and Darcy Byrne-Jones shining as pressure forwards.

While Fantasia could be facing another hamstring issue there is better news for two Power young guns.

Xavier Duursma and Lachie Jones have been listed as tests by the Power and are expected to return in the next two weeks.

Duursma suffered a PCL (knee) injury in late April and will be tested this week during training.

Jones fractured his jaw in the Power’s Round 13 win over the Western Bulldogs.