Guys like Lewis Stevenson and Campbell Heath have come from excellent cultures at other clubs and have really added a lot to the dynamic down back.
Our depth is outstanding and the biggest thing of this pre-season under Ken Hinkley has been a focus on team defence.
My best defenders are Jake Neade, Jay Schulz and Travis Boak, guys like that.
That might surprise you.
But Jay Schulz is such a good defender with his attack and hunger for the footy playing such a pivotal role in the way he performs on match day. Neade has shown already that he loves to tackle, Boaky’s game is built around winning the ball – all our players have learned the value of defence.
In the modern game it’s so important that every player has defensive ability. When you have an eight-goal loss and everyone blames the back six, you have to wonder how your opponent was able to get it back down so easily from the other end!
So we’ve made great gains this pre-season in terms of team and individual defence – probably our biggest gains of any particular area in fact.
The group has gelled, we’ve got some really good characters in this group who want to succeed together and will work well together.
Here are my individual defender reviews:
#3. Campbell Heath
Campbell comes to us from Sydney, I guess he was a bit unfortunate in that he couldn’t break into their side with that really good back six they have. He brings some fantastic knowledge of the game as well as organisation and leadership skills to our back six. He has fit in really well alongside Jackson Trengove, Bobby Carlile and Tom Jonas. I think he’s going to help us in terms of compensating for our loss of experience down back having played alongside some of the most experienced players in the competition at the Swans. I also think we’ll see him take the kick-ins more often than not – that’s a credit to his beautiful left foot kicking skills.
#12. Jackson Trengove
Jacko had a really good off-season coming into pre-season and has finished off the NAB Cup with two outstanding performances. He’s our key back, a core part of our spine and will have a big job every week on some big name forwards. At the moment he’s playing a really attacking role with lots of strength in the air. I think you’ll see a much different side to him this year.
#13. Cameron O’Shea
He’ll probably play a bit more through the midfield because of his engine - he can run all day - but he will definitely come and pinch hit down back when we need him to play as another tall. He started his football with us playing down back and has learned to defend first, which is great for us.
#15. Lewis Stevenson
Over from West Coast, Lewis is another quality player like Campbell Heath who couldn’t crack a very experienced back six. He’s played alongside some of the best and has beautiful skills: he uses the ball really well and has good speed and endurance. We’ve really got him into our side for run and we’ll be looking to play him in a similar way to Jasper Pittard to give us some real ‘spunk’ out of our back half. Coming from a team that’s been right near the top, you can see the professionalism that’s in him – he’s a very good footballer.
#17. Tom Clurey
Tommy’s come to the club through the draft and he’s very raw, but is also another player who’s got very good foot skills (we couldn’t work out if he was a left or right footer at first - turns out he’s both). He dominated at junior level as a key back but he’s one that will take a little bit of time to get into the game at this level. That’s the same for most key-position players. He’s like a sponge around the club soaking up around as much information as he can and we’ll hopefully see him sooner than most people expect.
#19. Nick Salter
Salts is obviously having a few issues with injury at the moment and has had a limited pre-season. He’s basically doing everything he can to get back and help the back six out. He’s really involved himself around the club in terms of helping the other guys out in their review processes and so on, so we couldn’t ask more of him from a cultural aspect, but he really just wants to get back into footy. I’d expect to see him fight his way back midway through the year.
#24. Nathan Blee
Blee is another key back but can play in the midfield as well (he plays on a wing in the SANFL). He’s really worked on his fitness, had a great off-season and got through our pre-season really well. For him it’s a fantastic opportunity to try and break into this side and try to cement a spot. He’s a beautiful user of the ball and rarely turns it over. We’re specifically working on his second and subsequent efforts and making sure that he always pushes to win the ball back.
#27. Alipate Carlile
I’ve been here three years and this is the best pre-season I’ve seen from him. I think some players take a little longer for it to ‘click’ and realise exactly what they need to do to reach their potential and become that excellent footballer. Bobby can be the elite footballer that we need him to be and he’s given himself the best opportunity to do that this year by getting himself fit. He showed against West Coast that he can play on talls and smalls. Hopefully we’ll see him step up to another level and play consistent footy on key opponents for 22 weeks of the year.
#29. Jasper Pittard
After last year’s disappointment with injury it’s been great to see Jasper getting back and doing everything possible to get into the team. His best game of the pre-season was definitely against Sydney two Sundays ago where he had 25 possessions – that’s what we expect from him. He’s a ‘wild’ footballer, a little adventurous and that’s what we love to see from him. We’ve worked a lot on his defensive side and ways for him to get the footy more. He plays his best footy when he’s got a job to do and he’ll certainly have a few of those this year.
#30. Sam Colquhoun
Sam’s been a fantastic little pick-up for us. We didn’t know if he would be ready to play in Round 1 but he’s played two really good games in the NAB Cup and was heavily involved against Sydney. He made a few mistakes in that game but he got on with it, kept playing and found the footy. There are a number of teams in the comp that play several small forwards and he’ll be suited to those types of opponents. I’m not sure which way we’ll go in Round 1, but if you’d asked me four months ago where we thought he was at, it wouldn’t have been anywhere near as close as we think he is now.
#36. Jack Hombsch
Hombsch is a really good pick up for us. His overhead marking and courage in the air is outstanding and his skills are superb. He’s had a little setback with a rolled ankle which is why we haven’t seen him play NAB Cup. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him playing the majority of games this year when he works his way back. The precision he can give us with his foot skills and reading of the play makes up for the speed he lacks. He’d definitely be up in our top seven or eight defenders.
#42. Tom Jonas
Tom has been around the mark for a few years on the rookie list. Now he’s had the opportunity to play off the senior list and you can see the maturity he brings to our backline. He’s just a really solid footballer in every aspect. He can defend, his foot skills are spot-on, he’s an organiser and a general of the back six. If there’s ever a big job that we need done against an opponent then his name is always in the mix. That opponent could have any number of strengths but Tommy seems to always do the job. He’ll be one of our club stalwarts and hopefully help us succeed going into the future.
#44.Tom Logan
We haven’t seen much of Tom this pre-season as he recovers from patella tendonitis but he’s come back at SANFL level and you’ll find him fresh as a daisy three to six rounds into the year. He’s got experience playing on key small forwards and nowadays we see that as a critical ability to have. We see him coming in and shutting down those sorts of players.
#46. Justin Hoskin
‘Hosko’ is on our rookie list and has done everything right this pre-season. Training-wise he went up against some of the best that we have and held his own. He loves racking up the ball with the Magpies, and we’ve worked hard to improve his defensive skills. He’s a long-term prospect being on the rookie list so we’ll see what happens over the next 12 months.
Tomorrow: Garry Hocking reviews the forward line. Join the club in 2013 and Show Your True Passion at www.weareportadelaide.com.au
