Port Adelaide star Chad Wingard make case for AFL recall with sparkling performance at training

CHAD Wingard is poised to return to Port Adelaide’s side to play Essendon this weekend after a “best on track” performance at training this morning.

Chad Wingard back on the training track at Alberton on Tuesday. Picture: Sarah Reed

POWER midfielder Chad Wingard is poised to return to Port Adelaide’s side to play Essendon this weekend after a “best on track” performance at training on Tuesday.

Wingard has missed two games with a calf strain but moved freely at Alberton and is all but certain to be recalled.

It comes as wingman Karl Amon faces 4-5 weeks out with an injured patella bone from the loss to Geelong a fortnight ago.

“He (Wingard) got through training, trained really well, looking forward to hopefully selecting him if he pulls up well tomorrow,” assistant coach Brendon Lade said.

“I’d say at this stage it would be more likely than unlikely.

“He was probably best on track today, he was the freshest of everyone out there and looked really good, so barring pulling up sore, he’ll play.”

Port Adelaide has received plenty of plaudits in the past week following its demolition of Hawthorn at Adelaide Oval last Thursday night.

“It’s good to start getting a little bit of respect back in the competition, that’s what we were after at the start of the year,” Lade said.

“We’ve been a lot more consistent this year with our effort and pressure so that’s transferred into some good games against some quality teams that we haven’t quite got over.

“But respect takes a while to build and doesn’t take long to lose.

“It’s the players who have a hunger again to perform, they’ve had two years out of the finals so the real hunger is back within our group to perform each week.

“It’s real competitive out there - today we had four or five competitive drills and they were crashing in, they don’t complain, they’re a great group to work with.

“Everyone is trying to knock each other out to get their spot.”