In the national competition, with its draft and salary caps, we know that the ultimate success is not possible all the time. But we must always strive, always learn, and always improve.
In our round 22 match against North Melbourne we fielded a side with 11 players with around 50 games experience or less (in comparison the Crows had eight in their round 22 side). Those players included:
• Alipate Carlile (53 games)
• Justin Westhoff (50 games)
• Travis Boak (49 games)
• Robbie Gray (35 games)
• Nathan Krakouer (33 games)
• Matt Thomas (29 games)
• Paul Stewart (18 games)
• Hamish Hartlett (11 games)
• Jason Davenport (10 games)
• Nick Salter (7 games)
• Matthew Broadbent (3 games)
The bulk of those young players will form the basis of our squad going forward as we develop toward another serious tilt at the premiership. We will see other young players in 2010, including Jackson Trengove and Mitch Banner, while with Brendon Lade’s retirement there will be a chance for our young ruckmen Matthew Lobbe and Jarrad Redden to step up.
What we desperately need to see as well is improvement out of our middle or core group – the players with four to six year’s experience.
Of that group, I think it would be fair to say that only Troy Chaplin and Jacob Surjan could be satisfied this year. This is where we need to find consistency and improvement, and we will be working hard to achieve that over the off-season in a variety of ways.
I would also like to pay tribute to our captain Dom Cassisi. Dom will be one of the great Port Adelaide captains. All year Dom displayed the commitment we all want to see from all our players, and toward end of season he played with injuries that would have sidelined many.
Finally, the Football Department is well aware that without your valuable support we would not be able to field a team every week. We are working hard to improve and know that – with your support – we will achieve more in 2010 and beyond.
Mark Williams
Senior Coach, Port Adelaide Football Club
