Hampden: Nightcliff young gun Adrian Scott joins Portland

Portland is the club turning heads in the Hampden league this season and has just got stronger with a young gun joining the ranks.

Hampden league bolter Portland has topped up with the addition of exciting Northern Territory young talent Adrian Scott.

The teenager is coming off a best-on-ground, three-goal game for the NT Thunder in the under-18 Talent League, in the curtain-raiser to the Gold Coast-Western Bulldogs match last Saturday night.

He will debut for Portland against Warrnambool on Saturday as the Tigers aim to rebound from its narrow loss to North Warrnambool in the battle between the two undefeated teams last round.

Scott has also recently played with Portland coach Lochie Huppatz, Daniel Jackson and Jay Moody for Nightcliff in the NTFL summer competition.

“He’s got heaps of talent and will be someone the supporters are going to love to watch,” Huppatz said.

“One area we still need is that nippiness, forward pressure and forward craft to complement players we’ve already got.

“He will play the rest of the year for us and he’s pretty excited about it.”

Adrian Scott playing for the Nightcliff Tigers against St Mary's in the 2024-25 NTFL prelim final. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Portland entered this season on a 33-match losing streak and Huppatz believes his emerging team will learn plenty from going down to North Warrnambool by only six points.

“We lost the game by our doing,” Huppatz said.

“We were up by nearly three goals in last quarter.

“But it will be a good wake up call as North will be right up thereabouts as the team to beat.

“It’s given us a lot of confidence, but also a reality check that we’ve still got a bit of work to do.”

Huppatz also confirmed former AFL player Jeff Garlett will play for Portland until at least round 9 before he joins Picola District league club Jerilderie where he was announced as a major signing over summer.