Brad Ebert on returning to pre-season training:
“The body is feeling good.
“I had the last six weeks off of the year with the PCL. All of this off-season I have followed a standard program and come back into training at 100 per cent.
“I ran the time trials okay, so I’m feeling fine and reasonably fit.
Ebert on his off-season training:
“I spent a bit more time in the gym.
“I had to do a lot more prehab stuff than what I normally had been doing in the past. It probably took a half-an-hour more of my off-season per day, every couple of days.
“I don’t mind getting in there and doing that. The same with the running - a lot of it in the off-season is straight line.
“I just had to add a little bit of change-of-direction exercises just to make sure I was okay to jump back into training pretty quickly.
“I came back with the young boys on and off for those couple of weeks, and it felt fine.
Ebert on his concussion issues in 2019:
“That side of it is all good.
“From when I got cleared to play again, they were saying - the specialists in Melbourne and the doctors here - they were confident I was back to 100 per cent.
“I haven’t really had any ill-effects from concussion or anything like that, I think it’s just sleep deprovision with an eight-month-old at the moment that’s keeping me nice and tired.
“I’ve had enough time off the let myself recover.
“I played four games after coming back from concussion, and at the point, a lot of it was about comfort and confidence to feel okay going back into a collision sport.
“I felt like I came out the other end of that okay, and if I didn’t do my knee, I would’ve dropped the helmet by the end of the season anyway.
Ebert on his future:
“I still feel like I’ve got enough good footy left in me.
“Having that time off has almost reinvigorated the love of football. You sometimes come back to pre-season and mope around.
“But missing a half of a footy season last year - I was watching finals footy a little bit more eagerly.
“I was even watching the trade period.
Ebert on the belief at the club:
“I have always been eager to do my best and get success with this club.
“That is something that has never changed. Every year you come in hoping for the best and expecting the best.
“We are back to square one and all start again. We are eager as ever.
Ebert on his role in 2020:
“I think I will end up finding myself down forward a fair bit.
“We can probably tinker with the percentages - by the end of last year it was majority of my time forward.
“I think I can still contribute a little bit to the midfield. We are trying to find that right balance between forward and mid.
“Sometimes it will be game dependant - if I need to spend 90 per cent time forward then that’s fine. We will just take it game by game.
Ebert on Port Adelaide’s midfield:
“As a whole we have the right midfield mix.
“You can even throw the likes of Connor Rozee in there at times. You saw Xavier Duursma this year. Karl Amon really came on nicely.
“You have the outside run but then you’ve also got the big boys on the inside like Ollie (Wines) and Pep (Powell-Pepper) and they will keep developing.
Ebert on his time with Adelaide United:
“I’ve got to know (Gertjan) a little bit – I did a sports science degree over the last eight years or so and I finished it last year so through their pre-season and after I did my knee (last season) I was going out there a bit and hanging out with their high performance team seeing how the soccer team works and operates.
“It was good to see him out there. The way that football is going, a lot of the time there are elements of soccer that can filter in and who knows, not as much the other way, but from our end there’s definitely the way they set up, their set plays, that you can continue to learn from.
“I have a bit of an interest in soccer and I enjoy it so getting out there and checking out another code is really interesting.
Ebert on this year’s draft crop:
“Each year you are in the game there is a new young crop coming through.
“You are always trying to help them blend in to the culture and blend into the team as quickly as possible.
“When it does work successfully, you see you get three really strong performers like we did last year. They were able to fit into the mould of our game and add their own flair really quickly.
“We will do whatever we can to get around the new draftees and support them, and make them feel welcome at Port Adelaide.
