DON'T speak to Jordon Sweet about being patient.

Standing at 206 centimetres - 6 foot 9 for the old school - Sweet is the tallest player ever placed on a Port Adelaide AFL list.

"They say big men take longer to develop," repeats Sweet, now 26 and clearly tired of being in a queue as the apprentice and what is often said of young ruck. "That's annoying (that theme). You don't want to hear that when you are 203cm at 18 years old."

Western Bulldogs senior coach Luke Beveridge - facing the uncertainty on his lead ruck Tim English extending his contract - tested Sweet's patience during last year's AFL trade period in October.

"Eleven (AFL) games in five years ...," Sweet recalls of his time at the Western Bulldogs.

"But when I was not getting an opportunity at the Western Bulldogs .... I knew I was no chance with a talented guy in front of me. If I was not getting in front of Tim English, I was not getting AFL games. So, it was a pretty easy decision in the end.

"It is hard to leave good mates who I still speak to every day. But even they told me I had to go, I had to do it. It was a pretty easy decision in the end."

This is how it began.

How is it going?

After starting in a genuine three-man race with Richmond recruit Ivan Soldo and the in-house young ruck Dante Visentini, Sweet has become Port Adelaide's most-capped ruckman of the season with Saturday's win against Richmond at Adelaide Oval. The 41-point victory marked his ninth AFL match with Port Adelaide. He also achieved career-best figures of 43 hit-outs.

In five months, Sweet is on track to supersede all he could get at the Western Bulldogs in five years.

It has been a testing timeline for all three ruckmen at Alberton.

After a busy summer, Soldo won the nod to be No.1 from the season-opener against West Coast. 

After six games of "solo Soldo", Port Adelaide finally tried the two-ruck combination of Soldo and Sweet in round seven against Collingwood at the MCG. Senior coach Ken Hinkley then preferred Sweet over Soldo in returning to the one-ruck model. 

Then there was the six-week chapter of a revolving door with lead rucks while Soldo dealt with a knee injury, Sweet with illness and Visentini with the reality the No.1 spot was very much a competition at Alberton.

"That is what Josh Carr said (during the trade period)," Soldo recalls of his conversations with the Port Adelaide midfield coach and his 2018 SANFL premiership coach at North Adelaide.

"He told me the coaches would pick the best ruck ... Josh was very honest with me."

SWEET was meant to be at Port Adelaide, even if he has needed to be more than patient to achieve his childhood dream. He is the poster boy of the new era when Port Adelaide's recruiting heartland is far beyond the confines of the traditional Le Fevre peninsula.

Sweet found his passion for Port Adelaide without following his late father Ron Sweet's devotion to Norwood in the SANFL. Nor his grandfather Bob Loveday's allegiance to West Adelaide. Such ties usually develop angst towards Port Adelaide.

"My three older brothers are all Port Adelaide fans -  'Port nuffies' - and so is my dad's best mate; he would take me to trainings, open sessions and stuff like that," Sweet says. "It all grew from there.

"I would go to games when I could afford to get my own tickets."

There is on social media the much-viewed photo of Sweet inside the Port Adelaide changerooms during the NAB Cup clash with Fremantle at Victor Harbor in early March 2012. 

"That day sticks out the most," recalls Sweet of his childhood association with Port Adelaide. "My brothers took me down there with them ... the photo in the changerooms was nice."

And later that year, Sweet was inside the inner sanctum completing a school work experience assignment at the Port Adelaide Football Club.

"When Chad Wingard was at his peak; I remember that. Year 10. It was a good insight (to the club)," said Sweet. "That's where I found my passion to support Port Adelaide. 

"Brendon Lade was probably my favourite player," adds Sweet, admiring another big man. "The combination of Shaun Burgoyne and Brendon Lade was nice.

"Matthew Primus, Warren Tredrea .... Wingard.

"Then you get drafted and you lose it, you can't support another team obviously. Now, I have it all back again."

But that pathway back to Alberton certainly tested Sweet's patience.

BUT back to the beginning.

It all starts at Ingle Farm, far from what was once considered a catchment zone for would-be Port Adelaide league footballers. His father Ron was a coach of the under-age teams.

"And my neighbour, a year older than me, was playing under-9s at the Ingle Farm Football Club," Sweet said. "We kicked the footy in the front yard. We lived in a cul de sac; 40-metres long, perfect for a child to play cricket. We played everything out the front. We had an electricity pole one side and a tree on the other side. They were the goals. We would play scratch matches out the front on the road ... quiet as. It started from that.

"By the time I turned eight I was at the Ingle Farm Football Club. I played six years there; my dad was a coach for five of them and I was pretty lucky because I won the best-and-fairest every year.

"I went from Ingle Farm to Tea Tree Gully because my mates from school were there. Then it was North Adelaide to play under-13s, 14s, 15s, 16s and 18s."

The breakthrough year - for SANFL league experience - was 2018, after Sweet had played for a short time in the North Adelaide reserves ranks and well after he had been under AFL talent scouts' watch in the pre-draft screening of an AFL academy squad in 2016.

"Josh Carr put me into the league side with two or three rounds to go in 2018," Sweet recalled. "We lost to Norwood at The Parade that day. I played alright.  From fifth, we won every game - we won the flag and I was drafted to the Dogs."

Patience was rewarded, finally.

SWEET needed three national draft cycles to make it to the AFL. 

Big guys need time to develop, remember.

After the second rebuff, Sweet was tested.

"First draft year (2016), I thought I was a good chance," Sweet said. "I was in the AFL academy group from where 66 per cent get drafted; 33 per cent don't. I didn't want to be that 33. But I ended up being in that 33. It was average.

"But then I had to get back to work. They were saying (as feedback) 'big men take longer to develop'. That's annoying. You don't want to hear that when you are 203cm at 18 years old. 

"In 2017, I went to the rookie combine again (and was overlooked in all drafts).

"In 2018, I didn't get invited and I thought I was no chance at all. I was telling my mates I would go play country footy or play with them at Tea Tree Gully again.

"And I get drafted."

Not in the main draft pool, but as the No.23 call at the rookie draft - a pathway even the great Dean Cox had to find as a big man needing time to develop at West Coast.

Ron Sweet had a son at the Western Bulldogs that - as Footscray - was home to his idol Ted Whitten and one of his AFL favourites, Scott West.

"It was really good to be in the AFL," Sweet said. "I made some really good friends at the Western Bulldogs. As bad as 2020 was for the rest of the world, it was a good year for forming relationships in the hub.

"I have good friends from the time at the Western Bulldogs. The playing group was good; we were a close knit group. It was hard to leave, but I was not playing. I left for the right reason - to play more footy. I don't think I would have played any AFL this year if I was still at the 'Dogs.

"I definitely made the right choice to come to Port Adelaide.

"As a kid you think of playing AFL for Port Adelaide. Then, you get the chance to do it. It feels normal now. It would have been a massive difference had I been drafted straight away as a Port Adelaide fan. It would have been huge then. It is amazing now still when I think about it.

"I have gone from my dad's favourite team to my favourite team. I feel I have done my family well. I am very lucky to be in this position."

EVEN Port Adelaide tested Sweet's patience with his first attempts to seek a trade to Alberton stalled by the club's strong stock on rucks who included the now departed pair, Scott Lycett and Sam Hayes.

"It started when dad's health declined," said Sweet whose father passed away as his Norwood side claimed the 2022 SANFL title against Jordon's North Adelaide.

"I had spoken to Josh Carr about getting back here. I didn't want to be taking for granted all that my family does for me. I thought I would wait another year because there were a few rucks on the list already. It was not the right time. No worries, I played last year with the Western Bulldogs and stayed in contact with Josh Carr. Things panned out the right way.

"It is a weird one because I never really spoke to (Port Adelaide list manager) Jason Cripps like the other recruits did. It was a good connection with Josh Carr. And it is good to be home .. 

"I now can go to birthday occasions; small things like dinner with family and friends - I don't have to wait for every second month to be home. That is really important being with family again, that is really nice. Even my close mates, I was seeing them just once a year. It is good seeing them on days off."

ALSO at the Western Bulldogs there was the reminder of Port Adelaide.

"(Port Adelaide 2011 club champion ) Jackson Trengove to start with was my first mentor," Sweet recalls. "Once he left, Stef Martin came in; he is the best I have had. He has been huge for me. Then Brendon Lade. He helped a fair bit. Steven King was ruck coach for the first three years.

"Here at Port Adelaide, Matthew Lobbe has been massive. I am grateful for all that I have had so far.

"And (at the Western Bulldogs) I was working against Tim English for most of that time. I learned a lot off him about the moves to make in ruck. Those moves help me in my game."

And clearly such experience helped Sweet in the grand match-up with English at Adelaide Oval in round 18 on July 6 when Sweet out-tapped English (then career-best figures of 42 hits to 24) and won a highly anticipated battle. 

"That was a nerve-wracking week for sure," recalls Sweet. "From the start ...

"The whole week was like a grand final, it honestly felt like a grand final. The Western Bulldogs boys were pretty funny through the week. They were giving me trash, saying 'They have been talking about you at meetings; 'Bevo' said this, 'Bevo' said that'. They were talking crap which was pretty funny.

"Then you walk out there for the centre bounce. You see Sam Darcy taking the centre bounce. That's different. For two seconds I thought, this is weird. But then I had to switch on and find a way to beat him. It probably did not work for them in the end. We were on top in the first quarter winning the clearances by six. I don't know if it was better for them to play games ... I don't know, but it was exciting.

"They did not talk much crap during the game. I don't think they got the chance to. We were on top quickly which was good from my end."

SWEET has learned more at Port Adelaide. He also has had to do his own teaching to a midfield that is not only adjusting to new rotations but also new rucks.

"You follow what (senior coach) Ken Hinkley wants," says Sweet. "And you try to play your own game as well.

"I tell the midfielders what I like to do, compared to what Soldo would do or Dante. You have to play to your strengths. It is working for us at the moment as a midfield group.

"It is a great group. A very young group. It is a very different to what I have worked with before. They are a different breed. They are very dynamic, agile and rapid, so fast. You just have to put it in space for them and let them do what they can do best.

"Jason Horne-Francis reads the ball off my hand really well; he is the best at doing that. We have big bodies in Ollie Wines; Willem Drew and Jackson Mead are solid boys. Connor Rozee and Zak Butters make a quick fleet. It is a really good, dynamic midfield."

And there is still the battle to be the lead ruckman to this group once Soldo recovers from his knee injury.

"It is good; it is healthy," says Sweet. "We want to get better. We have all improved so much already. 

"Dante has been amazing. His form in the SANFL is so good. 

"Unfortunately, Ivan has been injured. 

"I have been given the opportunity. It is what I wanted.

"The competition is healthy for the group. It is a weird feeling. You have to compete really hard for your spot, you also have to be really good mates. And we do not dislike each other. It is weird, but we do it well I reckon."

When Soldo comes off the injury list, the two-ruck question will resurface.

"We have tried it once," Sweet recalls of the round seven clash with Collingwood at the MCG. "It worked for the first quarter; we started really well against Collingwood.

"It just depends on the dynamic of the team. What we need, what we are up against. It all depends ...."

SWEET has had just one setback this season - the COVID curse he thought he had left behind in Victoria after dealing with the virus three times while at the Western Bulldogs.

This forced Sweet out of the win against Geelong at Kardinia Park where Visentini stepped up as the solo ruckman.

"It cooked me," Sweet said. "This one rattled me on Monday and Tuesday. I was fine on Wednesday and Thursday. Protocols stopped me playing that Friday. I did not run until Thursday. Whether I would have been fit enough to for that game, probably not.

"I finally had the opportunity to play ... and then COVID stops me. This time it got me good too. I was napping - and I don't nap at all."

WHOEVER the "footy gods" are, they do work in mysterious ways with Sweet having significant keynote moments that have tested emotions during his football journey.

"I kicked my first goal (for Port Adelaide) against my old team, my dad's favourite team," says Sweet of the breakthrough moment against the Western Bulldogs. "It is weird; very weird how the world works."

Now there is also the test of Sweet's patience at the ultimately frustrating task of perfecting a golf game.

"I play a lot of golf," says Sweet. "I have not played as much here as I did in Victoria. The boys know I play a lot of golf at Glenelg. Every day I would be there hitting balls, if I could."

Now there is a game, regardless of height, that will teach Sweet the need for patience ....