PORT ADELAIDE senior assistant coach Michael Voss chatted to the media after Friday night’s intra-club clash at Alberton Oval.
Here are the key takeouts from the press conference:
Voss on the feeling after Friday night’s intra-club clash:
“It was largely uneventful, which is exactly how you want your internal trials to be.
“Being able to look at your game style and see how the guys are executing that – some of the blustery conditions made it a little bit hard to move the ball around but it was good to be able to see the guys have a full hit-out, got some good run into a few players that have been a little bit short in recent weeks like Hamish Hartlett came back into full load today, managed a bit towards the end and Todd Marshall, who has been a little bit compromised – but other than that, we got some really good match practise into the guys.
Voss on Charlie Dixon:
“He’s full of energy, that’s for sure.
“If a guy has got a look in his eye this year about how he wants to play and have a presence on the competition, it’s definitely Charlie.
“We need the big fella up there. Every team wants their big power forward doing something and being long down the line or marking strongly in front of goal so he’s had a really strong pre-season and I’m sure he’s looking forward to making it real.
Voss on Mitch Georgiades:
“I think we’ll be talking about him and how he launches himself at the ball.
“He’s not afraid to jump in anyone’s way. You’d like him to temper it but you certainly don’t want to take that away from him.
“He’s gung-ho in the contest and as we saw with the goal that he kicked, he missed a mark, the ball hit the ground, he was back into the contest and in the goal square and kicked the goal.
“His second efforts are going to make it a real challenge to be able to match up on him.
“The reports were that he had limited exposure last year so to be able to make that call on the back of not as much information this year is a real testament to the guys.
“He’s come into our program and just his attitude and the way he’s got around the guys.
“As I said, he’s probably been more a danger to himself with some of the things that he flies at but we won’t take that away from him.
“He’s got a lot of courage for a young player and as he builds his body and builds his presence, he’s going to be a strong force.
Voss on Miles Bergman and Dylan Williams:
“Miles had a couple of nice little cameos, flying at the ball and he finished with that nice goal.
“Obviously Dyl got a couple of looks on goals and I think in some ways, we got a little look at what each of them can do.
“Dyl is really skilful around goals, he’s got a natural sense to finish off his work and we’ve been working on our efficiency in the front half, we know it’s going to be continued to be worked on but to have a young fella who can finish up there is nice to have.
Voss on Xavier Duursma’s cut cheek:
“He was alright other than a bit of blood in the eye. He’s got a tough sticker on the cheek for a couple of days and it’ll go away and be ok.
Voss on having another three debutants for round 1 like last year:
“I would have thought it’s more unlikely this year but there are a couple that are certainly impressing, that’s for sure.
“If you measure the talent, we’ve certainly got some good talent there and we’d expect that we’d see them at some stage throughout the season.
“Mitch probably has been the one who has been the most consistent out of the lot of them but I would expect that we would see a few of them throughout the year.
“I said to Parksy (Recruiting manager Geoff Parker) you’ve set an unfair standard, having three players who can play first year and play 20-odd games (each) of football, that’s a bit of an unfair standard for the recruiting team but still to get one, or even just have them figure throughout the season will be a big reward for us.
Voss on the ruck situation:
“Scotty has certainly been our powerhouse throughout the whole pre-season,”
“Our ideal model is both of them get a look.
“Pistol (Ladhams) can play also play forward, so if he can hold down a spot there and Scotty can take on that number one ruck mantle, that will be a nice combo to have.
Voss on Jack Watts’ return to football:
“It was really promising today, I thought he played really well,”
“It just goes to show when the footies are out and the real thing comes.
“He was a little bit compromised through pre-season. He’s been building fairly steadily and today I thought he was really good.”
Voss on Houston’s midfield shift:
“He’s got some really natural midfield movement,”
“Whether that’s around stoppage or when the ball leaves the area. The things that has impressed us the most is his ability to get from one contest to another. It is a real strength of his. It will make him a real challenge to match up on.
“And of course we know the polish he’s got with the footy. He’s a class act when the ball’s in his hands.”