AFL 2021: Latest team and injury news out of Port Adelaide

Connor Rozee says the decision to undergo surgery for a foot issue will allow him to tackle 2021 unimpeded in what is an ominous sign for AFL rivals.

Port Adelaide has a big decision to make on Connor Rozee. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Dean Martin

Port Adelaide young gun Connor Rozee says he will now “be good for the rest of the season” after having surgery on his right foot in Sydney.

Rozee, 21, arrived back in Adelaide on Wednesday after successfully completing the procedure to remove a small piece of scar tissue from the joint, and said he was happy to fix the issue.

“We thought there was a possibility of me getting through it without having to have surgery but I’m really happy with how the club handled things and hopefully I can be back for the majority of the season now,” he said.

“I should be running in a couple of weeks I think, which is pretty soon. I think I just have to let the scar heal and then I’ll be back running.”

Connor Rozee kicked two goals against the Crows.

The Power say the injury is separate to the plantarfascia problem which saw him miss a handful of games last season.

Rozee pulled up sore after the club’s internal trial last month, but the issue wasn’t enough to keep Rozee out of the AAMI Community Series game against the Crows at Noarlunga Oval, where he had 16 touches and kicked two goals in his side’s 71-point thrashing of its crosstown rival.

The club said at the time that Rozee’s taking the field despite the looming surgery was part of an approved plan to get valuable game time into him in advance of the procedure.

Rozee said surgery ended up being “the best-case scenario”.

“I didn’t have to have any extra stuff done that we didn’t want to have done so I think it’s going to be about three or four weeks until I’m back,” he said.

“I guess it’s just good to have this ongoing issue sorted now and I’ll be good for the rest of the season.

“I could have tried to push through it and maybe miss some games during the season or just get it done now, so it was just better to have it done.”

COULD SON OF A GUN MAKE ROUND 1 DEBUT?

– Simeon Thomas-Wilson

Son of a gun Jackson Mead will play in Port Adelaide’s senior side for the first time, while Power assistant Jarrad Schofield says surgery remains the last resort for Connor Rozee.

Mead, the son of the inaugural Power best and fairest winner and three-time Magpies premiership player Darren Mead, will be part of the Power’s squad to take on Adelaide in Sunday’s Community Series match at Noarlunga.

The father-son pick will be joined in Port’s 26-man squad by captain Tom Jonas and star Robbie Gray after they sat out last week’s trial game at Alberton against the Crows.

Jackson Mead will play for Port Adelaide on Sunday. Picture: Mark Brake

Schofield said Mead would at least get a half to showcase his talent, after battling hamstring issues and having to deal with no SANFL footy last year.

“He is strong at the contest like his dad,” he said.

“Not as big as Darren but he is strong in the midfield, very clean inside and very contest orientated

“Uses both sides of his body well also.

“He was someone who has missed a lot of footy last year through COVID but also had a hamstring injury that he needed to battle through so an unfortunate year for him but I think it built resilience.”

After the big win over the Crows last week, Power defensive coach Brett Montgomery said every player on Port’s list had been challenged to learn a secondary role for 2021 with quarters back to full lengths and interchange rotations down.

Schofield said Mead had responded well to the challenge.

“His vision and awareness in traffic stands out and he is one, like all of our players, not just in the midfield, that has to have a secondary position and he has really worked on his craft to play as a high forward,” he said.

“So that’s why his fitness base was a real focus for him in the pre-season as well, so now he is not just purely an inside mid.”

Jackson Mead, right, with dad Darren, at his first press conference in 2019. Picture: Russell Millard

Mead, Jonas and Gray will come in for Hamish Hartlett, who has hamstring soreness, Trent McKenzie, after he suffered a corky and Todd Marshall, who received a cheek contusion in the trial game last week.

Rozee will play as the club still deliberates what to do about his new foot issue, with surgery still a possibility.