Less than a fortnight ago, they were State league players - two of them teenagers, the other just 21.
Today, they are members of an AFL list and hard at pre-season training having slogged it out during a gruelling pre-season camp in New Zealand.
Port Adelaide’s three selections at the 2011 AFL National Draft, Chad Wingard (pick no. 6), Brendon Ah Chee (45) and Nathan Blee (51) are already right at home at Alberton after their action-packed introduction to life at the Power.
Within four days of being drafted, they were flying out of Adelaide with their new team mates and bound for high adventure two hours south-west of Christchurch.
Ah Chee and Blee had arrived in Adelaide from Perth the night before leaving for New Zealand and the long hours of arduous hiking, mountain biking and whitewater rafting that were to follow.
“It was an interesting experience,” Ah Chee told PortAdelaideFC.com.au.
“I’d only been in Adelaide for the one night so to get straight into the New Zealand trip was pretty hard. Safe to say it was the hardest thing I’d ever done in my life.”
Ah Chee - a promising on-baller from South Fremantle - says the trip was a great introduction to the Power playing group.
“I bonded with a lot of the boys,” Ah Chee said. “I know pretty much all of their names now and a little bit about them, so it was definitely a good way to get to know all of the boys and get around and kind of go through that whole hardship together.”
The youngest of the trio at 17, Ah Chee said the challenges were physical and mental but he believes they have made him stronger.
“I certainly know the AFL is going to be really hard, but also the fact that you’ve got your team mates there to get you through it,” he reflected.
“That real mateship that AFL teams have is great, so I feel real comfortable amongst the boys and really welcomed.”
It’s been a whirlwind for Wingard who’d flow to Sydney for the draft in the days before the journey to New Zealand.
Hailing from Murray Bridge and Sturt, the SA under-18 captain said he was forced to push himself harder than he had before.
“I think a few of us hit the wall and had to push further,” Wingard said.
“It was a good experience and we can only learn from good experiences.
“When I thought I was through and thought I couldn’t do anymore, the boys would say a few words and get me through an extra kilometre or so. I realise how far I can push myself and it’s really good to know that.”
With the Power’s selection keeping him on “home” soil, Wingard enjoyed the chance to meet his team-mates.
“It was a great way to know everyone’s personality and I suppose everyone as a group as well. It showed a lot of characteristics about everyone,” Wingard said.
Sharing the sentiment of even veteran Power players on the trip, 21-year-old Blee described the NZ experience as the toughest three days of his life.
“Especially those mountains and the bike riding, I’d have to say it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” Blee said.
“Just walking up those mountains and riding and pushing those bikes pushed me to my limits physically and mentally. A couple of times I thought I was spent but the boys pushed me through along the way. They were great support throughout the whole trip.”
A defender selected from East Perth, 21 year-old Blee says he learnt he had physical and mental strength beyond what he’d been required to find before.
“I think those mountains pushed me even further than my limits,” Blee said. “I think now I can push harder than I ever thought before and that trip just proved to me how far I can go.”
The playing list was divided into seven groups to compete in the challenges and Blee says the team-members worked together throughout to help one another, especially the recruits.
“When we were pushed, they supported us throughout the whole trip,” Blee said.
“My group was great. I was lagging out the back and they did help me get through and without them I’d still be up that mountain in New Zealand. So, it was a great trip.”
The playing group is back at Alberton into traditional pre-season training routine.
