Port Adelaide's development team had late nights last weekend as they took to local grounds around Adelaide for the opening games of the 2012 SANFL season.

Daniel Healy was at Thebarton Oval to watch Port Adelaide score an upset early on with a convincing victory over the reigning premiers, Woodville-West Torrens.

Matthew Nicks watched the other Round 1 game where West overcame a slow start to defeat the Panthers at Noarlunga.

Tyson Edwards travelled to watch the trial clash between Norwood and Sturt where the Double Blues overcame their local rivals in a clash with several senior Power players.

Mitch Banner (for Port Adelaide v Eagles)
Mitch was probably best on ground at half time against the Eagles, kicked 3.1 and looked really lively. He moved with speed that we haven’t seen from him before, which is something that he’s been working on. He had a quieter second half but finished with 18 possessions and was an important part of the Maggies’ win.

Brett Ebert (for Port Adelaide v Eagles)
Was a bit of the opposite of Banner - started slowly but got into it as the game progressed. His second half was very good and he ended up with 2.1 and took four marks inside 50. He was a good target for Port Adelaide up forward and looks like he’s getting better each week after his extended layoff due to hamstring injury.

Brendon Ah Chee (for Port Adelaide reserves v Eagles)
Played up forward and on the ball and is just taking his time to find his feet in the SANFL. He had 14 possessions, and he continues to learn his Magpies teammates and the team’s game style. He’ll continue to get better as he gets used to his new environment.

Jarrad Irons (for Eagles reserves v Port Adelaide)
Irons had a very quiet first half but then started to get into it during the second where he was able to start doing some of the things we know he is capable of. He finished with 17 possessions playing up forward and on-ball and kicked a goal as well. Certainly his second half was very pleasing.

Daniel Webb (for Bloods v Panthers)
Webby played up deep up forward for the first half - deeper in attack than usual - and West were getting convincingly beaten. He changed to centre half forward and rotated in the ruck in the second half and really had a big influence on the game. He was real competitive in the areas we’ve asked him to work on and we couldn’t ask for anything more in that regard!

Ben Newton (for Bloods reserves v Panthers)
Newts is again looking for more game time, more footy and he got through to the third quarter which is a good sign for him. That’s another game he’s got through unscathed and will play again this week. He’s come out of the match with a number of things he can work on and is in a really positive headspace so we’re in a good place with Benny going forward.

Matt Thomas (for Redlegs v Double Blues)
Matty played League and it was quite a good game for him. He mainly played the match out in the midfield, but also along half back during one quarter. He had just over 20 posessions, a few clearances and tackling was a feature of his game -it was certainly solid from him.

Tom Jonas (for Redlegs v Double Blues)
Tommy played mainly half-back and a little bit on the ball. Another solid game for him and he’s been in great form. He rarely gets beaten down back and that is something that is positive for him heading into the real season.

Simon Phillips (for Redlegs v Double Blues)
Played half forward where his tackling, harassing and forward pressure was a feature of his game. He kicked a couple of goals in a team that got soundly beaten, so he did quite well considering the delivery and entries coming in were not that frequent… so quite a good game from him too!

Mitch Curnow (for Double Blues reserves v Redlegs)
Mitchy is working on his positioning around the ground - trying to get to contests and we’ve been working on that with him. His ruck work was reasonable when he was on the ground, although he played just under half the game. We’ll certainly look for him to get more involved in the game next week.