Port Adelaide recruiting boss Blair Harley has given a resounding endorsement of the four players the Power added to its senior list at Saturday’s NAB AFL National Draft.

The Power selected tall forward Matthew Lobbe at selection 16, classy on-baller Marlon Motlop at 28, tall forward Matthew Westhoff at 33 and quick defender Mitchell Farmer at 49.

“We’re extremely happy with today’s draft and the players we have added to our young talented playing group,” Hartley told PortAdelaideFC.com.au.

“We got a good mix of players – we got some tall key position types into our program in Lobbe and Westhoff, some additional class into our midfield with Marlon (Motlop), and some hardness with Mitch Farmer.

“We’ve now got four players who will go to what we believe is the best football school in the country, with a great learning environment. It’s very exciting!”

The 2007 NAB AFL Draft had a familiar feel about it with two players related to current Power stars. Marlon Motlop is Daniel Motlop’s couein, while Matthew Westhoff is Justin’s brother.

It means eight Power players now have relatives alongside them at the club with the Burgoyne and Cornes brothers having been teamed up since the 2000 draft.

Hartley expected both Marlon and Matthew to benefit enormously from Daniel and Justin already being at the club.

“We’re a club that had great success with family connections and to bring Matthew in with Justin, and Marlon with Daniel is a great story and something we were very keen to do,” he said.

Harley, along with football manager Peter Rohde, SA recruiting boss Geoff Parker and media manager Hitaf Rasheed, visited top draft pick Lobbe at home in the hours following the draft. They were quick to put a Power guernsey on him for the accompanying photo.

Hartley gave PortAdelaideFC.com.au an insight into each of the club’s draft selections…

Matthew Lobbe
“He’s a key position tall who can also ruck. He’s got great endurance and work rate and fits in with the way we play. He’s a long term prospect. He’s got strong character and leadership qualities, he’s been vice-captain at Eastern Rangers and we feel like he’s going to be a very good player in time. He’s grown 2 ½ centimetres this year and put on 8 kilograms and we’re thinking he’s still got a bit more growth in him.”

Marlon Motlop
“He’s a bottom age prospect, younger than all the other players we’ve drafted. Marlon’s a classy midfielder who can also play forward. He’s been through the AIS program and is based in Darwin at the moment and cousin of Daniel.”

Matthew Westhoff
“Matthew is similar to his brother, who obviously excited us all this year. He probably isn’t as advanced as what Justin was, playing mainly reserves this year, but showed enough to say he’s going to be a player in time. He’s capable of doing the freaky thing, but certainly a development player.”

Mitchell Farmer
“Mitch is a small running defender with good speed and a nice hard edge. He will certainly develop nicely. We believe he will start as a small defender but has also shown he can play as a small forward and has a lot of strings to his bow. He adds some grunt to our group.”