ALIIR ALIIR is back home in Western Australia and excited at the prospect of playing in front of his large but tight-knit family against Fremantle on Thursday night.

The 28-year-old has recently started a family of his own, and admits to missing his partner and young son while Port Adelaide finalises its preparation for the 2023 Premiership Season with the second of two pre-season games in Perth.

Speaking to the media immediately after training at Joondalup on Tuesday, the intercept marking backman says after an injury-interrupted 2022, he is eager to regain his All-Australian form of the year before and help his side return to finals action.

Aliir Aliir on being back in Perth

“It's always good to come back here, a few little memories. The club's been good, allowing me to be able to go see my family at times but we're also here to play football and just (form) that connection as a group. I've really enjoyed it.

“Got a game Thursday to finish off and then we’ll get our season going. I guess with covid it made it a little bit tough (to get back home) but that's not just for me, there's a lot of people that had that situation. Port have been great and as soon as the border opened they allowed me to go home and see family. I'm enjoying being in Adelaide and I've got a home there so I'm really set there. Mum's here (in Perth), brother, sisters, I’ve got about 10 nieces and nephews, we've got a whole squad here. They were at the game on Friday and they'll be here again on Thursday. You can usually spot them from far away.”

Aliir Aliir on the intra-club and match simulation against West Coast

“We played pretty well (against West Coast) but I think there were a few little mistakes in the midfield and all over the ground. I thought we had a chance to go get the win but didn’t quite hang on.

“Pre-season is a long time these days and you want to go have a proper football hit-out and I guess it's tough sometimes when you've been playing against yourself for a couple of months. The way we were able to play (in the intraclub) was just very sloppy, our skills weren't up to the level. Skills were a lot better when we played the Eagles but our contest in the air wasn’t as great from mid to the backline. I think the good thing with practice matches is we get a good chance to review it and then get another run before we start the season. We have been able to review it and will implement what we can at the game on Thursday.”

Aliir Aliir on whether he would prefer to take the best forwards or play his natural intercepting game

“We've been able to do that towards the back end of last year, where I've been able to go on the number one forward and try and shut them down. When I did come over here (to Port Adelaide), I sort of told them, I'm not just the intercept player because that's what everyone thought. I can play tall and small. I've always told Ken (Hinkley) from the start, whatever you need me to do. I'm happy to do it. It's up to the match committee, whether they're exploring me to play on the number one or whether they want me to be that intercept player. As long as we're getting wins, I don’t really care where I play. You can go play me up forward and I'll be happy!”

Aliir Aliir on 2022 and getting back to his best form

“2022 didn’t start too well, doing a syndesmosis in Round 1, so I think that's the disappointing bit. My form just wasn’t great, I got better toward the back end but certainly the first 13-14 rounds weren’t that level I wanted, particularly after my 2021 season, which was probably my best year. I'm a confident player, I always have that high spirit and high confidence. Every game I go to, I go in with that confidence. Sometimes things happen that you don’t want to happen but I think that’s just the reality of the sport but it's just trying to keep that fluctuation to a minimum.”

Aliir Aliir on getting more attention from opposing teams after being an All-Australian in 2021

“That happens and I think it’s just probably finding a way to get around that, whether it's working with the line coach and trying to find a way around it. If two (players) are coming to me, how are we going to use that to our advantage. You certainly go into games after reviewing and knowing the type of player that's going to try and lock you down and not let you play the way you want to play but good players find a way out of that.”

Aliir Aliir on becoming a father in the off-season

“I don’t even know how to describe (becoming a dad) to be honest. It's been such a blessing. I’ve got a little six-month-old baby and there's times where you get two hours sleep but you wake up and you've got him in your hands and it just feels like you slept for nine hours. He's the best thing that’s happened to me. I kind of miss him being here for eight days so I can't wait to go back to him but it's been the best thing that's happened to me, it's such a blessing.

“(My partner) is not too happy when I'm away for too long but that's part of the job. There's times where I have to go on camps and things like that but she's good. That’s just the beauty of technology now, we FaceTime every morning, every night and (I get to) see their faces, they're the reason why I do what I do so I can't wait to go back and see them. There's a couple (of dads in the team) now. Pep (Sam Powell-Pepper), Jez (Jeremy Finlayson), TJ (Tom Jonas), Strong (Chad Cornes). The good thing is that all the (partners) get along well so they're able to get a group chat and see each other. Pep's got his second one coming, TJ's got two, but I'm just happy with the one at the moment and we'll reassess once he gets a little bit older.”