Port Adelaide first-round draft pick Mitch Georgiades rated better than Eagles premiership forward Jack Darling at the same age
Port Adelaide development coach Chad Cornes has pumped up first-year key forward Mitch Georgiades, saying he’s already showing more talent than what one star West Coast player did at the same stage of his career.
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The excitement surrounding rookie Port Adelaide key forward Mitch Georgiades continues to grow, with development coach Chad Cornes saying he is ahead of West Coast premiership forward Jack Darling at the same age.
Revealing the Power’s recruiting team compared the 18-year-old Georgiades to Darling before taking him at No. 18 at last year’s draft from WAFL club Subiaco, Cornes said the athletic high-flyer had produced one of the best pre-seasons he had seen from a young key forward.
“Before the draft we got told he’s a bit like Darling, but I doubt Darling was this impressive in his first pre-season, although I think he’s a brilliant player,’’ Cornes said.
“It's been one of the best pre-seasons I’ve seen from a young key forward.
“I don’t want to pump him up too much, but he’s done really well and I’ve never seen a young kid fly for as many marks as he does.
“He has a brilliant leap, he’ll fly from places he probably shouldn’t fly from, but the way he launches at the footy, hits the ground and gets straight back up is amazing.
“He’s got a really good engine too, the way he covers the ground as well as the stuff he does in the air is pretty exciting.
“His aerobic ability is right up there in terms of forwards in the AFL.’’
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The 191cm Georgiades – named in Port’s first Marsh Community Series team to play Brisbane at Moreton Bay Central Sports Complex at 3.40pm on Sunday – has been one of the club’s biggest pre-season surprise packets, given he missed all of last season with a bad quad injury.
“He had a really severe quad injury that calcified, so he hasn’t played for well over a year,’’ Cornes told Sportsday SA.
“So to perform the way he has over the pre-season, without having much footy behind him, makes you pretty excited about what he might be able to do going forward.’’
Georgiades’ dad, John, played 15 games for Footscray including a spectacular debut in 1989 when he booted eight goals against Carlton.
Cornes indicated Georgiades was a strong chance to make his AFL debut in round one and expressed excitement at what a tall forward combination of Georgiades, prime target Charlie Dixon and Todd Marshall could produce.
He said Dixon – finally fully fit after overcome a badly broken leg in 2018 – was marking the ball as well as he had seen him.
But he said the heat had been applied to fourth-year forward Marshall, with the first-round draft pick yet to fulfil his potential.
How good was this guy on Friday night!
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“He realises it’s his time to perform,’’ Cornes said.
“I love Todd, I’m pretty close with him, and I’ve been pretty impressed with the way he’s attacked his footy over the pre-season.
“He’s put on 3kg, hit five personal bests in the gym, which was an area he really wanted to improve.
“Just his toughness and contests around the ball (need to improve).
“He's so skilful when he gets it, he’s just got to get more of it and be a bit more consistent with his contests.
“He’s training really well and if you’ve got him, Georgiades and Charlie, who had a down year last year and knows this year is one he has to perform in, then it’s (a nice combination).’’
Cornes said much of Port’s pre-season focus has been on improving the “connection’’ between the Power’s on-ballers and forwards.
“We want to be a bit more predictable about how we enter the forward line, try to be a bit more attacking, just so we can increase our scoring, just by one or two goals,’’ he said.
“Defensively we’ve been really sound in the past couple of years, so it’s just about hitting the scoreboard more.’’
Cornes said the move of one-time defender Dan Houston to a full-time midfield role – “he’s flying and is probably our best kick,’’ he said – and more on-ball time for AFL Rising Star runner-up Connor Rozee would provide more opportunities for the club’s forwards to shine.
Originally published as Port Adelaide first-round draft pick Mitch Georgiades rated better than Eagles premiership forward Jack Darling at the same age