Hamish Hartlett ready to prove he made the right decision to stay at Port Adelaide

HAMISH Hartlett will “return” to the Port Adelaide jumper this Friday convinced in his decision to stay at Alberton and confident of playing without regret.

Hamish Hartlett at Port Adelaide training. Picture: Sarah Reed

HAMISH Hartlett will “return” to the Port Adelaide jumper this Friday convinced in his decision to stay at Alberton - and confident of playing without regret after being primed by a perfect summer training routine.

“Physically, I have no problem after getting through another pre-season - and mentally I am in a really good space as well,” Hartlett says in an exclusive interview that will appear in Saturday’s Advertiser.

This renewed enthusiasm is built against the backdrop of being asked to look at other AFL clubs in October, being taken out of the Power’s midfield battery to become a defender when training resumed in November and losing the Port Adelaide vice-captaincy in December.

RUCCI: NOW PORT ADELAIDE HAS NO WHERE TO HIDE

ALBERTON: POWER TO MIX AND MATCH IN FIRST TRIAL

ADDITION: LADE TO HELP FIRE PORT BACK INTO FINALS

Hartlett, 26, will take his new place on the Power half-back line in the internal trial at Alberton four months after rejecting opportunities to be traded to Essendon and again to Richmond.

Hartlett’s transfer to the Power defensive unit coached by Nathan Bassett was detailed by senior coach Ken Hinkley during the round of golf the pair played at Grange in October when Hartlett decided he would not leave Port Adelaide.

“And that new role is going to benefit me significantly,” Hartlett said. “I know I have a lot of development to do in terms of general one-on-one defending, but I feel I can offer the team a lot of value across half-back.”

Hamish Hartlett shares a laugh with Ollie Wines and Angus Monfries. Picture: Sarah Reed

In an exclusive, no-limit interview to feature in The Advertiser on Saturday, Hartlett says he has emerged from this tumultuous off-season “really, really comfortable” still to be a Port Adelaide player.

And contrary to the image left by losing his “untouchable” tag in the Power’s list-management review in October, Hartlett says: “I never felt at any point that the club was saying, ‘We don’t want you, we don’t think you are any good’. It was as if they always had my best interests at heart - and that will be difficult for a lot of other people to understand.”

Hartlett, the highest draftee (No.4, 2008) ever called by the Power, this season starts the five-year contract he gained during the 2015 AFL trade period when North Melbourne and Richmond made major offers to lure him from Alberton.

Hartlett will approach season 2017 with a new attitude based on remaining positive rather than being his harshest critic and a critical new role at half-back. But he will be loaded with old expectations, particularly from the Port Adelaide supporters base wanting to see Hartlett live up to the dreaded tag of “potential” from being a top-10 draft pick.

Hamish Hartlett after Port Adelaide’s loss to GWS last year. Picture: Sarah Reed

Hartlett responds the fans’ demands are no different to his own. However, he has now learned how to cope with expectation.

“I’ve always had really, really high expectations of myself,” Hartlett said. “I expect to always be a perfectionist on the footy field. But that’s not always going to be possible ... ”

Hartlett is not alone in being under the spotlight at Alberton where the entire Port Adelaide football program has to answer how the team that was considered on the path to a flag with its revival in 2013 and 2014 collapsed to be a non-finalist in the past two seasons.

The internal trial, part of the club’s traditional pre-season Family Day, will start at 5pm (CST). The gates at Alberton will open at 4pm.

[e-mail]