RYAN Burton knows all about working through adversity. And how staying positive - and focussed - can make the difference between crumbling under pressure and finding success.
In the lead-up to his 100-game AFL milestone on Sunday, Burton - free of his personal demons with injury - is playing a major part in dealing with the wounds of a Port Adelaide team challenged to rebound from a 0-4 start.
Just as Burton learned hard work was the key to ending his woes, so it is for the team that will face Carlton at the MCG on Easter Sunday.
"The team is in good spirits," said Burton at Alberton on Tuesday after a training session that kept lead ruckman Scott Lycett (right shoulder) in the frame for selection on Thursday when Port Adelaide could also regain All-Australians Aliir Aliir in defence and Robbie Gray in attack.
"And we have to be that way. If we start getting down in the dumps it will not help our performance. We are staying positive; we feel we have a good opportunity (to break the winning drought) this week.
"That starts with the leaders and the older guys making sure we are getting better. The young guys bring so much energy every day; they are not going to be brought down (by defeats). And we have driven our connection for three-four years now.
"We are not going to stop because of the losses."
Burton, 25, reaches his first triple-figure milestone with his 53rd senior game at Port Adelaide - the club he supported in his youth while surrounded by fans of the intown rival at West Lakes.
Burton, son of North Adelaide SANFL premiership player Craig, joined Port Adelaide during the dramatic 2018 AFL trade period when he became a key part of the deal that allowed Port Adelaide club champion Chad Wingard to move to Hawthorn.
"And it means a lot," said Burton of clocking up 100 AFL games. "It means a lot to my family as well. They went through that all trade stuff with me (while on holiday in the United States). My manager as well.
"But it is just great to be at Port Adelaide. I grew up barracking for the club. I didn't expect to play my 100th for Port Adelaide; I thought I would be in Melbourne. I am so grateful that I am here - at the club I grew up with and in a (player) group that we have at the moment. I love being here; I love all the players.
"Now I am looking forward to running out for Port Adelaide in my 100th. (During the injury disruptions) this did seem a fair way away. But 30 games ago, when I started this roll of games in a row, I could not have been keener to get to 100.
"Reflecting on it now, it is good that I have got through a fair bit of adversity through my years - and now I look forward to playing some good footy."
Originally drafted at No. 19 in the 2015 AFL national draft, Burton played 47 games at Hawthorn where he earned a Rising Star nomination in 2017. He also was named in that season's best under-22 line-up, as chosen by the players' union. His talent - and versatility - have never been in question.
Burton's strong work ethic has allowed him to overcome challenges posed by injuries that date to his schoolboy football matches, in particular in 2014 when he broke a leg. He played in all of Port Adelaide's 24 senior matches last season and all four so far this year.
"I've continuity in my training (rather than a change of luck)," Burton said. "That is about it ...
"I've been rocking up every week, twice a week for training and then game day. I am just trying to do my thing every week and recover the best that I can. It is holding me in good stead at the moment. So we will keep doing what we are doing."
With rising confidence in the strength of his body - and less time in the medical rooms - Burton can now focus on his game and his want to be a team leader.
"I was confident in my body as a kid ... and then all of a sudden I had a big injury," recalled Burton. "From then on, it was hard to be confident in my body because I had little things go wrong a lot."
While many have been told to scale down the demands on the body, Burton took the opposite track by finding "more is best" with his training workloads.
"Getting a really good (training) base a couple of years ago - after being told by our fitness staff that I had done all the work - meant I should have been confident," Burton said of the turnaround in his fortunes. "Playing every game last year has me extremely confident now.
"This pre-season, I stepped up again and done even more. I am confident every week."
Physically stronger, Burton now intends to be culturally stronger at a football club needing its 23-26-year-old players taking greater responsibility in setting the off- and on-field agenda.
"I want to develop myself as a leader," Burton said. "I am doing some work on that with some other boys who are a similar age to me. I want to keep helping the young guys - and I want to step up in big games just as leaders do.
"I am always learning and aspiring to be better in that (leadership field)."
Port Adelaide's review of the six-goal loss to AFL premier Melbourne at Adelaide Oval last Thursday has found progress being made in correcting the blemishes from earlier losses to Brisbane, Adelaide and, in particular, to Burton's former club at Hawthorn.
"We have taken some good parts out of last week's game - our ball movement; and the way we controlled the ball kept us right in the game until a 10-minute period (at the end of the second term when Melbourne scored five goals)," Burton said.
"The last quarter was promising as well. We matched it for 85 per cent of the game against the reigning premiers and we will have a game plan for Carlton that we will stick to - and give it a real good shake."
The match presents former Port Adelaide assistant coach Michael Voss on the opposition bench as Carlton coach.
"And that drives the boys even more," Burton said. "We had a great relationship with Vossy. It will be good to go against him - trying to knock him off."
Port Adelaide's match committee meeting will look for clarity on Aliir (who had ankle surgery after the loss to Brisbane in round one) and Lycett (who dislocated his right shoulder after taking a heavy knock early in the second term against Melbourne).
"We will give them the full week (to prove their fitness)," Burton said. "There are a few key players (to decide on); they know their bodies, they are experienced and I am sure they will train Friday and Saturday (before the final team is assigned travel papers to Melbourne).
"Robbie Gray (free of COVID protocols) ran well today. Aliir is doing stuff (on the training track) - and that is really good. Lycett will get the full week; he is a key part of our team. We will see a lot more Friday and Saturday.
"Aliir, as an All-Australian, will bring anything to any team. He is dominant in the air; he takes a key forward every week, so his return would help. If not, those of us in the back six or seven will adapt. I will step up and play tall if needed.
"Scott will do everything he can to get right. We will give him until Friday and Saturday."
Doubt on Lycett brings renewed focused on Port Adelaide's SANFL club champion Sam Hayes who remains close to his AFL debut.
"He is ready to go," Burton said of 203cm ruckman Hayes. "Sam Hayes has been dominant in the SANFL for a couple of years now. We saw a bit in the pre-season game against Gold Coast when he got his hands to a lot of balls. He will be a serious player for the future. If he gets his opportunity (on Sunday), I am sure he will be ready."
