Brett Ebert returned from a hamstring injury for Port Adelaide’s SANFL senior side and kicked a goal in an encouraging first performance back.
“Brett played as a high half-forward and rotated deeper for his breaks,” development manager Daniel Healy explained to portadelaidefc.com.au.
“He looked really lively kicking 1.1 and he moved pretty well coming back from a hamstring injury.
“He said he felt fresh and so that’s an encouraging sign from him.”
Robbie Gray also impressed in his game with the Magpies reserves, with Healy telling portadelaidefc.com.au earlier in the week Gray’s agility and physicality in close was on show in a three-goal performance.
Veteran Dom Cassisi found the going tough in his first game back from a calf injury with the Magpies reserves although managed 17 touches across 60 minutes of game time.
Danny Butcher, Ben Newton and Justin Hoskin all played for the Magpies’ league side and had solid performances.
Butcher played a shutdown role in defence and was successful in keeping his opponent to only a handful of touches during the game.
Healy feels Butcher may have found a niche role that he can look to develop during the year.
“Butcher’s goal was to annoy and frustrate him (his opponent) and he kept him to just a few touches during the game,” said Healy.
“It was a job well done to Danny and I think the Magpies coaches were pretty happy with his performance.
“Hopefully he can make that role his own and cement a place in the league squad.”
Newton was quiet for most of the game but found form in the last quarter - kicking a goal and collecting seven possessions - while Hoskin played several roles through the midfield and defence to good effect.
The Magpies went on to beat the Tigers by a whopping 11 goals, and three Power players were in the Glenelg team on the receiving end of it.
Tom Logan was most impressive of that trio, initially playing on Brett Ebert and moving well in defence.
“Tommy had a little bit of time on Brett Ebert and kept him quiet – he started well and got involved early,” explained development coach Tyson Edwards.
“He’s still moving really well which is good to see.
“In the third quarter he played on Luke Harder and only got out-marked twice.”
Cameron Hitchcock and Tom Clurey also played for the Tigers, but both struggled to get involved in the shortened game.
At Elizabeth, Jack Hombsch played in defence for Sturt on a night where the Double Blues were convincingly beaten by Central.
Development coach Stuart Cochrane told portadelaidefc.com.au Hombsch has all the makings of a quality backman.
“Everything that Jack’s shown would suggest that he’s going to be a very good backman,” said Cochrane.
“He had a reasonable performance on a night where Sturt got beaten by 40 points including three really good spoils going back with the flight of the ball.
“It was a tough night for the Sturt defenders to get involved and rebound, but Jack’s game was solid given the result.”
The Power had three players involved in the trial between Norwood and South Adelaide at The Parade.
Brent Renouf and Darren Pfeiffer lined up in the Redlegs league side while Mason Shaw played in the Panthers’ reserves.
All three had quiet games and according to Port Adelaide’s development team still need to work to improve in several areas before being considered for AFL selection.
The health of the Power’s injury list is likely to see a number of players line up in the SANFL starting this Thursday night with the club’s AFL selection to dictate the allocation of players to teams this week.
Stay tuned to the SANFL Report on portadelaidefc.com.au every Tuesday this season with the inside word from the Power’s football development team.
