PORT ADELAIDE development coach Matthew Lokan will take the guide the club’s young list during an under 23 trial game against Adelaide this Saturday.
Lokan spoke with the media at Alberton Oval on Friday morning.
Here are the key takeaways from Thomas’ press conference:
Lokan on the opportunity it presents Port Adelaide’s younger players:
“It’s a real exciting opportunity for the majority of our young guys to get out and play tomorrow.
“It’s been a long pre-season and for a lot of the guys it’s their first game for our footy club.
“The mood’s really good. I thought the boys trained great this morning and we’re really looking forward to getting into the game tomorrow.
Lokan on whether Jackson Mead will play:
“I’m not quite sure if Jackson is going to play tomorrow.
“He’s obviously had some restricted training over the last couple of weeks.
“We’ve got to make that call of whether he’s right exactly to go, but we won’t take any risks.
“We’ve got Jackson, we’ve got Trent Burgoyne who you’ll see tomorrow – it’s an exciting time.
“A number of our new guys to our football club are playing and we can’t wait to get into it.
Lokan on why Port Adelaide’s 2018 draftees are not playing:
“I suppose it’s an opportunity to give some guys some game time.
“Those three guys (Rozee, Butters, Duursma) played some footy last week in our Marsh Community Series game so it’s probably not as necessary to get minutes into them tomorrow – we won’t play them tomorrow.
Lokan on why Brad Ebert is playing in an under 23s game:
“Brad Ebert is going to play. To be able to get some minutes into Brad, who hasn’t played a lot of footy over the last 12 months, is really important.
“It will be good to get him out there with our younger guys.
Lokan on deciding whether Hamish Hartlett should play:
“Hamish is a little bit different because he’s had such a delicate comeback from him knee.
“We don’t want to take too much of a risk of giving him too much game time.
“We can simulate from a training session what we want to get from Hamish.
“Brad’s a little bit different because it has been a concussion and not that physical strain on the lower part of his body.
“We certainly did discuss Hamish having a run around in the under 23s game, but we decided against it.
Lokan on whether Ebert will be wearing a helmet throughout the season:
“He (Ebert) wore the helmet last week in the Marsh Community Series game so I’d suggest he’ll wear it tomorrow.
“It’s just one of those things of how he feels at the time.
“Medically he’s cleared and been training really well. It’s probably just the mental side of things that he’s got to overcome to be able to take the helmet off and feel comfortable without it.
Lokan on the excitement surrounding Dylan Williams:
“I’m really looking forward to seeing Dylan (Williams) play – he’s exciting.
“He only needs 6-7 possessions to be able to score 4-5 goals.
“He’s one of those young guys that we’ve brought into our football club that will have a really bright future and I can’t wait to see him play.
Lokan on Miles Bergman and Mitch Georgiades not playing:
“Miles got through a rehab session today, he’s rolled his ankle last week so he’ll miss tomorrow’s under 23s game.
“Hopefully, if he doesn’t play in the Marsh Community Series game next week, we’ll get him back for the first SANFL trial the following week.
“He’s right on track. He’s been training really well, he’s really athletic and he moves really well.
“We’ve all been able to see what Mitch (Georgiades) did through our intra-club and the start of the Marsh Community Series.
“He’s a little bit sore, so we thought the smarter option was just to give him a week off and let him freshen up and make him available for selection next week.
Lokan on whether Georgiades can make his debut in round 1:
“He’s certainly close.
“That’s the good thing about our group. We’ve probably got 25-30 players that have put themselves right in the mix for round 1 and Mitch is certainly one of them.
“There’s a little bit to go before round 1, and selection is going to be tough, but he’ll certainly be in the calculations.
Lokan on Jake Patmore returning from a serious knee injury:
“Jake Patmore gets to play his first game back from his knee reconstruction last year.
“He played in the intra-club and did some really good things.
“He’ll play his first proper game so I’m really excited to see him.
“He (Patmore) started to show some real improvement at the start of last year over pre-season and in the first couple of trial matches.
“He’s an elite runner so we’ll see some more time from him through the midfield, but it’s a bit of the unknown and he’s one of those guys we need to step up and play some consistent football.
Lokan on getting game time into younger players:
“Getting more game time into guys like Todd Marshall and Kane Farrell is really exciting.
“Both of those guys are going to have really good AFL careers, but they just need some consistency with their form.
“This game provides that opportunity. Sure, we want to win, we want to be competitive against Adelaide, but we also need to make sure guys are getting into good form for the start of the season.
Lokan on Robbie Gray:
“Robbie’s looking great.
“It’s been well publicised that Robbie’s had a fantastic pre-season.
“He’s a little bit sore so he’s pulled out of the State of Origin game tonight, but we expect him to hopefully get some minutes next week.
“There shouldn’t be any issues for round 1.
Lokan on Ollie Wines:
“Ollie keeps telling me he’s right to go and he wants to play some footy, but I’m sure it’s still a number of weeks to come.
“He ran around a little bit today at training and did some shadowing – he’s obviously no contact.
“The good thing with Ollie’s injury is he can run. So once he gets to all clear from the surgeon that he is right to go, I’m sure he’ll put his hand up pretty quick.
“Knowing Ollie, he’ll be really keen to get back. We’ve just got to be smart and calculate it with our medicos around the right time for him to come back so we don’t put him at any risk.
