NEW recruit Jordon Sweet has relished the opportunity to move home to South Australia, to be with his family and continue his AFL career at Port Adelaide.
The 25-year-old former Bulldog is settling in well alongside his new teammates, and has been impressed by their training intensity in the first three weeks of pre-season.
Sweet spoke to club media on Friday on the Gold Coast about supporting his family, how tough pre-season camp has been and the competition for the number one ruck spot.
Sweet on moving back to SA
“One of the main reasons to get back was to play a little more AFL footy and I'm going to push myself to try and do that with Dante and Ivan obviously fighting for the number one ruck spot. Then also with the added bonus of coming back to see family, friends and being able to support my family with losing dad a year ago, so it's been a big reason why I've come back here.”
Sweet on losing his father last year
“It was definitely an eye-opening experience for myself. He had cardiomyopathy for 12 years so he was battling along for a while. As bad as it sounds it was probably a bit of a relief for my family because mum was battling pretty hard to keep the family afloat. So to get back here and be able to help her financially and all that type of stuff, even just helping her around the house and doing things for her and my young family that we're building is a big reason why I got back here.”
Sweet on pre-season training
“The first three weeks have been really good. The first week was with the young boys and we hit the track pretty hard early, the boys are training really well. And then the older boys came back the second week and it's been really good. The group's been really good to me. Obviously up here (on the Gold Coast) for our third week now and it's been pretty intense, the first day was pretty taxing, and then into another high load on the second day with another gruelling session the day after which is what the high performance crew have got us doing which is really good.”
Sweet on the intense running session on day one of camp
“I think it was 12.5 kilometres of straight running. Definitely different to what I've done the last five years I've been in the AFL system. It's been definitely eye-opening for myself because obviously everything's different but I love it, keeps everything fresh. That first session was tough but we got through and if we can just keep a positive mindset in the way we're going on camp, it's going to be really good.”
Sweet on the beach training session
“We carried different players up hills and crawled up backwards up hills in the sand and it's definitely not easy when you're 108 kilos, running on sand, that's for sure. It's definitely a good team bonding experience where you can collaborate with everyone and use each other's energy to get through the session. It was good down there with Dean Solomon and the Salt crew.”
Sweet on competing for the number one ruck spot
“I've been really impressed by Dante (Visentini) so far, he's a true professional. He competes really hard and it will be great to continue to work with him. And Ivan obviously he's a really good runner and he's a strong athlete and he's played a lot of AFL games already and won a premiership so he's had great experience in the AFL, so it will be good to bounce off him and learn from him. When push comes to shove during pre-season it's going to be good competition.”
Sweet on working with Matthew Lobbe
“He's been great so far, very welcoming, I can't speak more highly of him. He's been unreal. Matthew Lobbe is a very smart and intellectual person so if I can learn lots off him, that will be great.”
