Port Adelaide ruck Jordon Sweet knows he needs to work hard to earn his spot in 2025, despite being the number one ruck for much of last season. 

Fresh from marrying partner Juliet in the Christmas break, the 26-year-old has been “cracking in” during pre-season, and is keen to improve on his 2024 form. 

Sweet spoke to the Adelaide media on Wednesday about his personal goals, how pre-season is shaping up, and on his relationships with his fellow rucks. 

Sweet on getting married in the Christmas break 
“It was amazing. It was a really good day. It was a nice, lovely day up at Glen Ewin. Juliet loved it, and we had a great time.” 

Sweet on pre-season 
“It’s been good. It's been nice and warm. And the boys are cracking in a fair bit. The intensity is really up at the moment, and we're training really hard and obviously trying to get better and better and improve on last year. So I think the boys have done a really good job so far.” 

Sweet on no longer being one of the new guys 
“It's nice. I mean, you're not wondering what's next, and you know the game plan now, which is good, it changes a little bit, but you know the roots of your game plan and stuff like that, so it's nice to be able to do things without thinking.” 

Sweet on his mindset 
“I think there's still no stone unturned for me. I mean, I’ve got to keep cracking in and doing as best I can. Things aren’t given in life, you've got to earn it. So, you know, I've got to train well and hold my spot, and, you know, fight for that number one ruck spot once the boys (Soldo and Visentini) come back from rehab. The pressure will be on from there.” 

Sweet on his relationship with the other rucks 
“It's great. I mean, we have a good relationship. So we do a whole lot of gains and craft together. And we obviously do some stuff out of footy, so we’ve got a good relationship. Yeah, I think it's pretty good.” 

Sweet on the number one ruck spot 
“I mean, that helps (that I’m in full training now), but it's a new year, and things restart, and like I said, you’ve got to earn it. So I'll try my best to obviously earn it coming up to the games, and trial games we've got coming up. Put my best foot forward and see how we go from there.” 

Sweet on his personal goals 
“New goals for myself are probably, obviously, still being the number one ruck would be ideal. But then if I can find the ball around the ground a bit more and use my legs and run around a fair bit and get on the end of a few possessions, that'd be great. Bump those numbers up, that might make me a better footballer. So that's probably a good goal, and then to play consistent games and consistent footy, I guess. And whatever that leads to is positive.” 

Sweet on his first season at Port Adelaide 
“It’s huge. I mean, I didn't expect it to happen at the time. I played, what, 17 games, and it's a whole lot more games than I thought I was going to play. And I’m stoked with how it ended up for myself personally, but obviously, not going to the grand final hurts, but we strive to try and get there this year. 

“I feel comfortable now. I know I can compete against the best rucks in the AFL and match it and take it to them. So I feel confident.” 

Sweet on Ivan Soldo  
“He’s, he's great. I mean, he's fitted right back into the group. The boys love him, and we all get around him. So, I think he’s fitted in quite well. We haven't really spoken about it (his trade request). I mean, things happen, people do what's best for them. We obviously welcome him back. And, you know, we try and get better as a football club. 

“Obviously he’s been in rehab, so it’s a bit harder for him and Dante to get within the group at the moment, so once they're back in training and, you know, I’ll help them get steady and comfortable from there on. They're both going to push me, obviously, to be the best we possibly can be.” 

Sweet on the possibility of playing two rucks 
“We haven't spoken about it (yet), but it could happen. I don't know. I mean, obviously, with Charlie gone now and Todd going down, it could happen. You’ll have to ask Kenny that one.” 

Sweet on which forward could take on ruck duties 
“It’s a good question. I mean, it could be anyone. If Jez is playing, or Lordo could do it if he’s playing, whether Ollie goes in for five minutes, which is probably the biggest break for what you need. So I don't know, it's still up in the air I guess, it's not up to me.” 

“Those two (Finlayson and Lord) are who I'm rucking against at the moment in match sim sort of stuff now. So Jez has pushed me pretty hard. He's really good with his hands and ruck craft sort of stuff, and throws a different look at me. So he's definitely keeping me on my toes and when Lordo comes in there, he's really good with his forward craft. So when he pushes forward and I have to go with him, he’s hard to match.” 

Sweet on Wednesday’s training session 
“It was more so about defence today, we weren't really focusing on offence. It was more so about being connected as a group defensively and stopping teams from getting rebound goals.  

“Yeah, I think (it was something that was identified we need to improve on). I mean, we're just trying to get better as a group, defend defensively, as a team. So if we can stay on the same page and communicate and do the right things we’ll be able to get through.” 

Sweet on his groundskeeping work experience at SACA 
“Trent probably misses me a bit at the moment, I haven't been there for a while. I did some cricket stuff over the break, one day, where I helped out the women's Strikers side and watched over Trent and the boys over there and did some game day stuff. So that was good, but yeah, I probably need to get back out there.”