THERE'S no secret weapon in front of goal for Port Adelaide's Jay Schulz - his only 'trick' is practice.
The high-flying forward has been Power's main man inside 50 for the last two seasons and, while not prolific in his returns, he's been deadly accurate.
He was ranked third in the league in 2011 for goal-kicking accuracy of players who booted more than 30 goals in 2011, with 31 goals at 75.6 per cent.
The Western Bulldogs' Barry Hall was second with 55 goals at 76.4 per cent and North Melbourne's Aaron Edwards was the most accurate, with 36 goals at 81.8 per cent.
Such a return is a long way ahead of many of the game's elite, including Collingwood's Travis Cloke, who kicked 69 goals at 59 per cent in 2011, and Hawthorn's Lance Franklin with 82 at 57.3 per cent.
"It's just having the confidence and finding a routine, for me, that I'm comfortable with and then just practising over and over and over," Schulz said.
"I like to be a good goal kicker, that's what I'm paid for.
"It's one of the most important aspects of my game I think."
Despite kicking with the best in front of goal, his return of 64 majors over the last two seasons has been below that of most key targets.
Schulz said that while he hoped to kick more in 2012, it didn't matter how many he slotted as long as the Power improved.
"I'm happy to kick one goal a week as long as we're winning," he said.
"I have no real expectations on myself apart from being competitive and trying to play my role so that we can get wins on the board."
He emphasised the importance of practicing goal kicking, spending a couple of extra sessions a week fine-tuning his craft.
"We always do a bit of goal kicking at training, in our skill sessions … I always talk to the fitness staff about when I can do extra kicking just so I don't over do it with my legs," Schulz said.
"But a lot of the time in training I'll come aside out of a drill and do extras."
Port Adelaide enjoyed an impressive pre-season and looks to have heeded coach Matthew Primus' call for increased competitiveness.
A continuation of that form into the regular season is imperative, given the difficulty of Power's early draw.
After St Kilda on Sunday, they face Essendon, the Sydney Swans, Collingwood and Adelaide; all sides tipped to play finals football later in the year.
Schulz said his team wasn't too worried about the draw, as the strength of the competition meant it didn't get any easier after the Showdown in round five.
"Our draw is very tough; there are a lot of good sides in the first five rounds, but then again the rest of our season doesn't look that easy either," he said.
"Everyone's getting stronger and stronger.
"(But) if we can stick to our structure and compete at the ball for longer periods of games, which we weren't able to do last year, then we think we're a chance to be in every game."
Harry Thring covers Port Adelaide news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_Harry.
