Ruckman Sam Hayes says his aim is to continue to build consistency during his current position as Port Adelaide's number one ruckman. Image: AFL Photos.

SAM Hayes has waited a long time - five years - for this opportunity to be an AFL ruckman. He is not going to give it up easily. He is not just keeping the seat warm for injured team-mate Scott Lycett.

"I like to back my own ability," says the 205cm Hayes of the challenge to build an impressive resume as Port Adelaide's new lead ruckman during the next three months while Lycett recovers from knee surgery. "(My aim) is to keep that consistency in my game. If my game holds up ..."

Master and apprentice - Lycett and Hayes - have become rivals and comrades in a year of unexpected twists for the two ruckmen. Lycett's shoulder injury - suffered in the second term against AFL premier in Thursday night football at Adelaide Oval last month - ended the wait for Hayes' long-anticipated debut.

Hayes' strong start to his AFL career has Port Adelaide's coaching staff more and more confident that the critical ruck role in his good hands, hands that have been noted by opposition teams for the neat touch that creates hit-outs to the advantage of the Port Adelaide midfielders.

And Lycett is on notice as to just what will be required when he comes off the long-term injury list.

"We have competition for spots while we are helping each other," Hayes said at Alberton on Thursday. "We're helping each other and at the same time we are crashing into each other. It is good; it is competitive and it is why footy is good. It is always a battle ... it is good."

"You don't want to see a team-mate go down," added Hayes. "But when opportunity arises, you take it - and you put your best foot forward. It feels like I have put a few good games together and I'm just loving being out there at the moment."

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Sam Hayes press conference - 12 May 2022 | PTV

Sam Hayes speaks to the media at Alberton.

Hayes, 23 next month, has overcome a lost season - by serious injury - in his first year at Alberton in 2018 and another upon his return when the club was unable to take its place in the SANFL competition due to the pandemic, to create an impressive resume that includes the Port Adelaide SANFL AR McLean best-and-fairest award last season. Now he is increasingly sure of his place in the AFL.

"I've loved every minute of it," Hayes said of his first month on the AFL stage. "I'm happy to have had the call up; I was happy to take on (the lead ruck role in Lycett's forced absence). I have good help in Jeremy Finlayson, Todd Marshall and Sam Powell-Pepper; they are helping me out. It's good cover when I need a rest."  

Hayes has put solid figures on his progress chart during his first month of AFL football. From the debut against Carlton with 20 hit-outs to 47 against West Coast, 12 hit-outs in the tropical sweatbox of Cairns against St Kilda and his former mentor Patrick Ryder and 37 at the weekend against the Western Bulldogs.

The team scorecard is three consecutive wins after a three-point loss to Carlton, suggesting Port Adelaide's midfield is in tune with Hayes' notable clean taps at stoppages.

"I'm loving working with (midfielders) such as Connor Rozee and Zak Butters," Hayes said. "And the more experienced guys like Ollie Wines and Travis Boak."

And each match has delivered an invaluable brief for the fast-learning Hayes.

"I've definitely learned something from each game," Hayes said. "You are coming up against different ruckmen each week. It is a different beast each week, so you can learn a little something each game.

"(Carlton ruckman) Marc Pittonet in my first game ...

"West Coast - that was real fun to play; a lot of front-half footy and we were getting good looks out of the centre. It just feels awesome when you are playing like that.

"And then I had 'Paddy' (Ryder), who is a really experienced ruckman.

"(Against the imposing Western Bulldogs midfield last week) I had to keep following the ball. I'm not just a ruckman; I am a midfielder. I am continuing to work on following the ball, hunting and getting involved.

"And it is Todd Goldstein (at North Melbourne) this week. He is a real mobile ruckman, he gets around the ground very well and he is quite crafty with his hands in the ruck. So I have to be accountable for him, but also know I can bring my strengths at centre bounce and keep improving my hunt around the ball. It should be a good contest.

"It is a different challenge every week, but I am definitely learning something each week."

Sam Hayes battles with Paddy Ryder in Round 7. Image: AFL Photos.

For all the lessons being learned from the mature ruckmen in his way, Hayes want to become "my own sort of player ... but I like to take little bits out of (other ruckmen's) games."

"I love (Melbourne premiership ruckman) Max Gawn, the way he plays," Hayes said. "He is the best ruckman in the competition at the moment and I watch a bit of his vision when I can and learn off him. But you want to bring your own strengths and have your own game as well."

Opportunity always was to be before Hayes this year after the Port Adelaide coaches have patiently built his base for AFL duty. The chance to be play as a ruckman-forward in a ruck tandem with Lycett was a timely opening made for Hayes with Peter Ladhams' trade to Sydney at the end of last season.

"The plan was simple for me," Hayes said. "It always was going to be a good battle between me and Scott. During the pre-season we always fight hard. You don't know who is going to take the No. 1 ruck role - that is up to the coaches.

"Scott has been a good ruckman for a long time and I have learned a lot off him. He has given me heaps (of advice). I watch my vision with Scott during the week and we do our weekly plans on the ruckmen I am coming up against; we review the game together. Scott is a premiership ruckman, a really experienced ruckman, so I am continuing to learn heaps from him and (ruck coach and former Port Adelaide player) Matthew Lobbe. He is a massive help as well."

Eventually - perhaps in the last month of the home-and-away series in August - Port Adelaide might be again looking at the Lycett-Hayes combination.

"We can both play in the same side," Hayes said. "It's the coaches who decide that, but I definitely think Scott and I can play in the same side, for sure.

"I can play forward. I started out as a forward as a junior and I am still working on that and there could be opportunities where I get to go forward and I want to take my best foot forward doing that. I will never count that out that's for sure."

Sam Hayes says he has learnt a lot from fellow ruckman Scott Lycett. Image: AFL Photos.

No-one has questioned Hayes' prospects as a ruckman. But in an AFL game that demands flexibility and versatility from its players put the challenge to Hayes of developing his field play.

"That is something I am working on," Hayes said. "I'm continuing to improve, showing glimpses. I am putting my head down hard with Matthew Lobbe and the coaches to get better at that every single week.

"(The challenge is) to get involved in general play, to link up the play. You see guys like (Collingwood ruckman) Brodie Grundy, (Melbourne captain) Max Gawn - guys I look up to. If I can keep getting involved and keep getting the footy as much as I can, it is only going to help us and help me individually."

Hayes was regarded as the best ruckman in the draft pool in 2017 when he was claimed by Port Adelaide at pick No. 47. His progress to any senior football was put on a detour in 2018 with a training mishap that wiped out his season while he recuperated from a serious knee injury.

"That was tough," Hayes recalled. "I was young, 18 and to do your (anterior cruciate ligament) five games into that year sucks. No-one wants to go through that, but the boys and the club helped me out heaps. There were some dark days, but I've just learned heaps.

"It was a blessing in disguise. I was able to work on my body, on my fitness and here we are now."

The apprenticeship has been a long one for Hayes. Not in doubt, however, is where he wanted to graduate from apprentice to master in AFL ruck craft.

"I've never thought (of looking elsewhere); I was just focused on putting my head down and working hard, improving my craft," Hayes said. "I never think about going anywhere else. I love it here; I love the club. They gave me an opportunity and I want to repay the faith."

Port Adelaide will name its match 22 on Thursday evening and complete its training program with a captain's run at Bellerive Oval in Hobart on Friday afternoon.

There will be two forced changes with the loss of defender Riley Bonner (ankle) and midfielder Trent Dumont (health and safety protocols). And there will be intense interest in how Port Adelaide works the comebacks of forwards Charlie Dixon and Orazio Fantasia on a weekend with no SANFL game for the club.

"Both moved really well (at training on Thursday morning)," Hayes reported. "Charlie's comeback (from two rounds of ankle surgery) in the SANFL at the weekend - he got through that game. Orazio is moving really well too.  

"They're always a chance (for AFL duty). I'm not selecting ... but I would love to be out there with them."

Forwards Charlie Dixon and Orazio Fantasia are nearing their return to AFL action. Image: AFL Images.

Port Adelaide has played one AFL game in Hobart - against North Melbourne in 2013 - and last played in Tasmania at Launceston in 2019, against Hawthorn. All up, Port Adelaide has a 5-6 win-loss record with AFL matches for premiership points in Tasmania.

Port Adelaide's preparation for a game that is made more intriguing for all the off-field noise at North Melbourne has stayed true to coach Ken Hinkley's demand to focus on what is within his players' control.

"Nothing changes for us," Hayes said. "We don't look into (North Melbourne's issues) too much. They are going through their own thing and we are focusing on our plan. “We just want to stick to our plan and our process and it has been building really well with three wins on the trot now. We just want to keep moving forward and building to something pretty special."