KARL AMON is hoping to cement his place in Port Adelaide's senior side in 2016, and plans to use the upcoming NAB Challenge - and a few extra kilos on his frame - to help stake his claim.
The 20-year-old made his senior debut last year and finished with seven games to his name - showing a terrific turn of pace and genuine goal sense when forward.
The left-footer will be pushing hard to see increased game time in 2016 on the back of another pre-season, and has added several kilograms of muscle to give himself a better body to run through the midfield.
But he insisted he wasn't pressuring himself.
"It's not so much pressure, it's just trying to improve as a player for me - if I improve as a player then that (game time) should take care of itself," he said.
"It was a really good experience last year playing those seven games - obviously it'd be nice to play more than that but I just want to play footy and whether that's for Port Adelaide in the AFL or the SANFL, it's just good that I'm playing here.
"I showed some signs last year that I belong [at AFL level] … that gave me confidence and when you've got confidence you play really good footy."
Amon is all but certain to feature in Port's opening NAB Challenge game against the Sydney Swans on Saturday.
As they have in recent seasons, the Power will field a young side early in the pre-season competition before finetuning a more senior outfit by the end.
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