“THEY don’t get any easier no matter how many you’ve done...”

... So says Port Adelaide’s only listed veteran, Dom Cassisi.

Entering his thirteenth year at Alberton Oval, the club’s oldest player has come to appreciate the importance of a good pre-season.

Having played under three coaches and in two grand finals, Cassisi remains one of the most experienced players in the AFL.

The unassuming midfielder and club captain for the past four years has built a reputation as one of the Power’s most solid defensive players through his prolific 203 game career.

But at the ripe age of 30, Cassisi knows the value of sweltering kilometres on the track and what it can provide for an up-and-coming team.

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He saw it in 2000 when the Power went from cellar-dwellers to top four finishers.

He was there in 2004 when the club broke through for its inaugural AFL flag and again in 2007 with the fleet-footed, youthful Power squad reached its second grand final in four years.

Again he will be there as a young Port Adelaide seeks to make amends for a disappointing last season.

He described this pre-season to portadelaidefc.com.au as one of personal challenge, but also of significant reward.

“Darren Burgess has come in and really upped the intensity of this pre season,” says Cassisi.

“It’s actually a really important time of the year, as you get older and go along in your career you start to realise the importance of a pre-season.

“In the early days I’d get through the sessions but didn’t really value how important they were.

“If you had a good pre-season it would set you up for a good year, not only personally but for the club as well.

“It’s been a good challenge both physically and mentally.

“I really love this time of year.”

But the pressure will be on Port Adelaide in three weeks when it takes on Adelaide and St Kilda in the opening round of the NAB Cup.

For Cassisi, pre-season offers an opportunity to focus the squad’s efforts away from the strain of match time on sheer physical and mental improvement.

He hopes it will make for a more consistent Port Adelaide team looking to improve on the single- figure wins tallies accrued in the previous two campaigns.

“You don’t have the win-loss pressure this time of the year – there’s pressure to improve – but you just get a real sense of fulfilment when you have a real hard day on the track and see the group take a few small steps ahead each day,” says Cassisi.

“That’s the exciting part and we’ve just got to put it together in game time – and that’s only 3 or 4 weeks away.

“I just want [the club] to be more consistent, not just in our effort but the way we approach it and to really bridge the gap between our best and our worst.”

It’s thanks to the new training methodology of high performance manager Darren Burgess that Port Adelaide’s players have begun to take strides.

Visibly intense fitness sessions with little downtime between exercises has led many players to publically state their enjoyment of this pre-season and the fitness goals they have achieved.

Cassisi hopes that increased endurance and intensity within the group will allow the Power to play an exciting, attacking, defensively sound brand of football.

“I feel we’ve laid a pretty good platform over the summer which will help us sustain intensity in games for a longer period of time.”

“I just want us to be really consistent in our attack on the footy, in our game plan and Ken’s really endorsing that in our training – for us to be brave and take the game on.

“At the same time I think we’ll see a huge improvement in the defensive side of our game. It’s the hallmark of the best sides over the last ten years have been the best defensive sides.

“We need to make our most improvement in that area.”

Cassisi praised the contributions of senior coach Ken Hinkley and coaching and strategy director Alan Richardson since they joined the club in October.

Cassisi believes Hinkley’s clear direction coupled with the high level of support Richardson provides will be crucial to the team’s performance in 2013 and their working relationship with the coaching panel and playing group has ensured all members of the football program are “on the same page.”

Hinkley has certainly raised the level of expectation at Port Adelaide and with few preconceptions about the capability of individual players, it is the playing group that has risen to his challenges on the field.

“Ken comes with a huge amount of confidence in his game plan and structure,” explains Cassisi.

“He was at Geelong during their dominant era and has seen what worked there.

“He’s really clear and decisive in the way he wants us to play our footy, in his feedback to us as a group and he sends a consistent message which is good for us.”

The addition of a coaching director to the football department is also paying dividends, with Cassisi lauding the extra dimension of experience the group is enjoying for the first time.

“Richo [Richardson] really supports Ken well and he’s also got a wealth of experience,” he says.

“You can see that in the way he talks to the group and communicates with other coaches as well.

“We haven’t had a director of coaching at the club before and you can see why other clubs have had it in the past few years.

“There’s so much to footy these days and the more experienced heads you can have the better.”

After captaining the club for the past four years, Cassisi is well aware the winds of change are blowing through the club.

Whether that means he will again don Port Adelaide’s famous number one jumper again in 2013 remains to be seen.

But for the veteran there is one responsibility that a player of his experience has – to provide leadership in everything he does on and off the field.

“I think the duty of care for any player at any club is to take the responsibility of mentoring younger guys and to lead by example and offer support.”

“It’s part and parcel of what you should be doing day-to-day – it’s no different whether you have the title of ‘captain’ ‘vice captain’ or ‘leadership group’.

“If you’re not in those roles it’s still important to provide that.

“True leadership stands out in the tough times during the season.

“When you’ve got experience behind you, it’s a natural expectation that you will always provide leadership and that’s what I’ll be doing ... whatever happens.”


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