WHEN Nathan Krakouer arrived at Alberton Oval in November of 2006 he was seen as a long-term project player years away from being ready for AFL footy.
The skinny West Australian weighed just 66kg and, while he blitzed in sprint testing, he struggled to cope with the physical demands of pre-season training.
Vice-captain Chad Cornes even went as far as to make a $1000 bet with coach Mark Williams that Krakouer wouldn’t play an AFL game. But Cornes soon realised it was a bet he wouldn’t win.
"He came out here and threw up three times in a time trial, which is only three kilometres," Cornes said.
"Then during a handball game, he just couldn’t run. [He was] obviously just a young kid and hadn’t worked on his fitness at all," Cornes told the club magazine Power to the People.
"I told Choco (senior coach Mark Williams) two weeks into the pre-season 'If he ends up playing an AFL game, I’ll give you $1000'.
"As pre-season went on you could see him improving bit by bit and once the trial games started I went up to Choco and said: 'yeah, I think I owe you that money.'"
Krakouer impressed so much in trial games and the NAB Cup competition that he earned a hometown round one AFL debut in the Power’s stirring win over Fremantle.
He went on to play 11 games in his debut season and on Wednesday signed a contract to keep him in the black, white and teal until at least 2010.
"I did surprise myself last year, actually," Krakouer said.
"I went for a couple of meetings with the [Port Adelaide] Maggies over the pre-season and I didn’t expect to play too many AFL games at all in the first couple of years.
"But going on to play 11 games with the Power, I couldn’t be happier with that.
"Now I just have to keep improving and I’m looking forward to this year. Hopefully I’ll play alongside Robbie (Gray) and Boaky (Travis Boak) and I’m just looking forward to the team going forward."
Krakouer, who is the nephew of former North Melbourne greats Jim and Phil, is the latest in a long line of indigenous players to pull on the Power guernsey.
The 19-year-old said Port Adelaide’s coaching staff and strong core of indigenous players had helped him settle in at Alberton.
"Early last year I moved over and the first couple of months were pretty hard for me just with not speaking to my family and those sorts of things," he said.
"But with the full-on training the coaches get to talk to you personally one-on-one, and they ask you how you’re feeling and settling in.
"I talk to my family once or twice a week, so not too much, but it is nice to be at Port Adelaide and I’m very happy, so I’m not looking to go home anytime soon."
Krakouer is widely regarded as one of the best kicks in the Port Adelaide squad and has pace and skill to burn. Against Sydney last week he booted three goals and was amongst the Power’s best players in the loss to the Swans.
Krakouer has also added a whopping 12kg to his wiry frame since joining Port Adelaide and now weighs in at a respectable 78kg.
"At the start of the pre-season I chucked on four or five kilos but since then it has been pretty full-on running so it is hard to put on weight," Krakouer said.
"But when the running slows down hopefully I’ll push the weights harder and put on a bit more."
