How Power star Connor Rozee has progressed from promising South Augusta junior to Port Adelaide’s new captain
Right from an early age, Connor Rozee showed signs he would go far in whatever calling he followed. Those close to him are still amazed at just how far the new Port Adelaide captain has gone already.
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Connor Rozee was in a win-win position early on draft night.
If St Kilda chose him at pick 4, he would be going to the club he supported.
If Port Adelaide did with the next selection, he would be staying in his home state.
Michael Kerin, a family friend, St Kilda supporter and president of Rozee’s junior club, South Augusta, was hoping for the Saints.
“Connor’s dad, Robert, was a mad Saints supporter and Connor was as a kid,” Kerin tells this masthead.
“My oldest son was and I remember giving Connor a hand-me-down Tony Lockett guernsey from my lad – a kid’s guernsey with number four on the back.
“I said to him if he ever gets drafted, it has to be St Kilda and if he doesn’t, I want the guernsey back.”
The Saints were said to have had strong discussion about taking Rozee, only to instead choose key forward Max King with their first pick in 2018.
That allowed the Power to pounce.
It could hardly have turned out better for Rozee and the club.
Five years on, the 23-year-old is a dual All-Australian, a best-and-fairest winner and the club’s new captain – one of the youngest skippers in Port Adelaide’s history.
Speak to people who have followed his ascent and two traits they emphasise are his maturity and determination.
“It sounds over the top but even as a 12-year-old kid he was driven,” Kerin says.
Rozee’s SANFL premiership captain at North Adelaide, Max Thring, adds: “He was 18 but one of the more mature blokes of the group and just such a team player.”
Those who watched Rozee come through the ranks always felt he was destined for big things.
But not necessarily the captaincy.
“We had Jack Viney in juniors and you knew he was going to be a leader,” North Adelaide’s regional talent co-ordinator Neil Sanders says.
“Connor was a lot quieter.
“But obviously players develop and once he got in the AFL system, he would have built his confidence up pretty quickly I would have thought.”
Ex-Port Adelaide small forward Boyd Woodcock has known Rozee for a long time.
They were junior teammates at Broadview and North Adelaide, played in the 2018 league flag with the Roosters then drafted the same year by the Power.
Woodcock says while Rozee was always talented and the best footballer in their underage teams, leadership is something he has developed.
“That wasn’t something I think he was gifted with but he is super confident in it now,” says
Woodcock, who played 12 AFL games across 2020-21.
“Coming into a new environment, he was probably a bit more quiet, went about his business and led by example.
“Now he’s got the ability to bring others along, which is probably the most important part of being a leader.
“He’s got some terrific people around who would’ve helped guide him along the way.
“His dad, Rob, has always been his biggest role model and influence.”
Rozee’s first steps in football were at South Augusta, where his father is a Hall of Famer, premiership player and ex-coach.
Rob was a utility who had a stint at South Adelaide under former Crows football manager John Reid.
Reid coached Rob at South Augusta in the early 1980s before convincing him to join the Panthers.
The family moved back to Adelaide, to Oakden in the northeastern suburbs, at the end of primary school for their son and daughter Paige’s sport.
Rozee started with the Roosters’ under-13s and Broadview, while also playing cricket for East Torrens and state junior teams.
“I’m not saying he could’ve gone on to play for Australia, but he was a pretty handy cricketer,” Kerin says.
Mark Bowman, a former junior coach of Rozee’s at Broadview, says the new Power skipper stood out.
Not just because of his talent.
“I always say sport is three parts: skill, preparation and mental,” Bowman says.
“My sister tells a story that he was drinking water and having healthy stuff even at a very young age.
“The mental side of it, he had the tenacity and drive that was a cut above the rest.”
Bowman says making the AFL was in Rozee’s in his sights well before other youngsters.
“Some kids that would break them, but even though he was driven to do that, he also knew he had to find other avenues to relax,” he says.
“It wasn’t to the point where it was a detriment to his failure.”
Rozee won two premierships at Broadview, getting named the club’s best in the under-15 grand final triumph against arch rival Payneham Norwood Union.
Success followed him to North Adelaide, where he played in a league premiership in his draft year.
A dual All-Australian as a midfielder who began his AFL career as a forward, Rozee starred across half-back in the grand final win over Norwood.
The performance cemented his top-five credentials.
And almost didn’t happen.
Rozee struggled for form late in the minor rounds and had a quiet national under-18 championships, leaving him on the verge of being dropped for the SANFL finals.
“I think Carry (senior coach Josh Carr) was tossing and turning and having that conversation but in the end just said ‘his talent is too good’,” Thring says.
“There’s too much we’d be missing out on by not playing him.”
Carr has been significant to Rozee’s career.
Firstly at the Roosters, now as Port Adelaide’s midfield mentor.
“He challenged him a few times when we were at North,” Woodcock says.
“We were two 18-year-olds who probably thought we were better than we were when we first came into the league side and Carry was super good with getting us to play the right way, not trying to do too much.”
Another big part of Rozee’s rise is his vice-captain, Zak Butters.
They were drafted seven selections apart and had become “as close as you get in terms of football and friendship”, according to Woodcock.
The prevailing thought is that they are very different personalities – Butters the spark plug and joker, Rozee the cool professional.
Woodcock reckons they are much more similar than people realise.
“Roze is definitely still a joker, he’s just very low-key with it,” he says.
“Buttsy’s just a lot more out there in the media with it.
“Connor plays the same sort of jokes and has the same sort of laughs with you.
“He’s got the professionalism down pat, knows what’s appropriate and what’s not.
“I look forward to seeing what he’ll do at Port because I think he and Buttsy can take them a long way.”
Thring noticed that professionalism and composure when Rozee broke into North Adelaide’s seniors.
“He just had that sense of calmness about him, which is quite unusual around 18 years of age,” he says.
“A lot of 18-year-olds are trying to get their 20 touches and make sure they play a good game, whereas he was a role and team player.
“He fit in effortlessly and was such a ripper lad.
“He had a quiet demeanour and spent a bit of time reading the room, which is a sign of maturity and emotional intelligence.
“He also lived in the present.
“He knew where his career was going but he was all in with the Roosters.
“There was no showboating, no ‘I’m going to the AFL’.
“He genuinely cared.”
Craig Brooks, a Roosters assistant in their 2018 flag, says Rozee looks like a choirboy but has a bit of an edge.
“He’s always carried himself with a level of confidence without being arrogant or big-headed,” Brooks says.
“That’s what draws players to him – he’s always been a pretty popular player in his teams.”
Woodcock describes his mate as “just a very good human, very respectful, caring and will always take the time of day to help someone”.
Rozee has had a life-changing few months.
In October, he got engaged to his fiancee, Maisie.
This past week, Rozee took over the Power’s No. 1 guernsey, becoming the club’s youngest skipper since Gavin Wanganeen.
He also signed the equal-longest contract in the AFL, an eight-year extension, tying him to Port until 2032.
South Augusta, Broadview, North Adelaide and his mates are all very proud.
“He’s a good kid and always been level-headed,” Bowman says.
“He hasn’t changed for us, he’s still the same lad.”
“He just might be 10 mill richer now,” Bowman adds with a laugh.
“But good luck to him, he’s worked very hard.”
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