Fans had their first look at Port Adelaide’s recruits on Friday night during the club’s first pre-season hitout for 2025. 

More than 5000 people flocked to a sold-out Mt Barker’s Summit Sport and Recreation Park to watch Port Adelaide take on the Crows in warm 33-degree conditions. 

In a six-period game, the Power started with a squad of 26, which included new additions Joe Richards, Jack Lukosius and Joe Berry, while Sam Powell-Pepper returned to competitive football almost 10 month after rupturing his ACL. 

The entire fit AFL list played at least two periods each, with SANFL-listed players joining in the final two periods. 

Assistant coach Tyson Goldsack spoke to media following the third period, with the coaching group fully focused on areas of improvement.  

“It was okay, it was scrappy, (pre-season games) always are,” he said. 

“But we got to trial some things out. We got to see players that haven't played here before, and we got to get moving on the season, which is nice. It wasn't perfect. (Adelaide) were decent in areas and we were kind of hit-and-miss in some as well.  

“So, it's nice coming away from the game with things to work on clearly…so we'll watch the vision back and see what we liked and what we didn't like and progress from there.” 

Jason Horne-Francis continued his Indigenous All-Stars form providing good contest and intercept marking, while Darcy Byrne-Jones was among the best forwards, kicking three goals. 

Lukosius kicked a monster major from outside 50, giving an exciting glimpse into his capabilities, while Berry showed some strong signs and didn’t look out of place at AFL level. 

Richards was spritely and slotted his first unofficial goal for the club, while Ollie Lord managed a beautiful set shot from the 50-metre line in the later part of the match. 

Powell-Pepper was lively with four scoring shots, with the heart-and-soul player getting through the game unscathed. 

“(Richards and Berry) are such high workers up the ground, so that gives us really good shape on the ground in offence and defence, and they’re pretty clever users of the ball,” Goldsack said. 

“Joe's (Berry) still out there now running around, and he looks a lively type and a likely type going forward.  

“I think the better our ball movement gets, the better (Lukosius) will be, which it probably wasn't tonight. It was a scrappy game, not a lot of free football, but he was moving nicely, working with Mitch Georgiades nicely, so it's a good start again.” 

Miles Bergman was forced to play tall in the absence of injured pair Brandon Zerk-Thatcher and Esava Ratugolea, while Jeremy Finlayson moved into the backline to support.  

“(Miles) was really good,” Goldsack said. 

“He can play high but I think you rob him of other parts of his game if you try and play him on a key too often. He is good to pinch hit, but you'd like to have a bit more freedom with him, to move around the ground and play a bit higher. But tonight, he was really good for us. He saw the ball well, took intercept marks, and was pretty calm with ball in hand, so it was a nice starting point for him.  

“(Jeremy) got his first look (in defence) on Wednesday (at training), and he got his second look tonight, and I thought he looked okay. I thought he did his off-ball work really well, and he competed well, and he used the ball so well. He's got a nice long kick, he's really calm with the ball in hand, and that's where he comes into his own. So I thought he was really good…he’s someone we can lean on if we need.” 

Port Adelaide’s next pre-season game is its AAMI Community Series match on Saturday, 1 March against St Kilda at RSEA Park. 

Scoreboard 

 
Goals P1-3: Byrne-Jones 3, Rioli, Rozee, Richards, Georgiades, Lukosius, Drew 
Goals P4-6: Watkins 2, Lord, Williams, H. Ferrari