WHILE the pre-season is less than a week old, young defender Paul Stewart already has his sights set on round one.
Stewart, 21, established a presence at Port Adelaide with a strong showing last summer and was a near-unanimous selection when the players were asked to pick their own best 22 for the opening round of 2008.
The Power match committee agreed with the players and rewarded the rebounding defender with a round one AFL debut.
Stewart went on to play the first four games of the season and finished the year with 11 appearances to his name.
“At the start of the year I was hoping just to debut, but when I started stringing a few games together, I wanted to play as many as I could,” Stewart said.
“Halfway through the season, I got dropped back to the SANFL for about five games, so my aim was to get back into the team before the end of the year and play 10 games.
“I ended up playing 11, so that was good, but hopefully I can build on that next year and play 15 or 20.
“My aim, first-up, will be to play round one next year and I’ll build from there.”
Stewart, Port Adelaide’s second pick (23) in the bumper 2006 NAB AFL Draft, spent the best part of his first season at Alberton on the sidelines with a shoulder injury.
The Woodville-West Torrens junior watched on with mixed emotions as players selected well after him in the draft like David Rodan, Robbie Gray, Nathan Krakouer and Justin Westhoff, as well as number-five pick Travis Boak, all made their debuts.
Stewart’s frustrating first year motivated him during his second AFL pre-season and he knows he’ll have to work even harder in his third to retain his spot.
The Power have already made 12 changes to their 2008 playing personnel with the expectation of recruiting heavily and well in next month’s draft.
“There will be a lot of competition. We’ll have a group of 40 fit players at the start of next year, so round one is always the toughest team to make. I won’t get ahead of myself and think I’m in there,” Stewart said.
“I really want to work on my fitness and there are going to be a lot of new guys with the upcoming draft. I’ll work on my fitness and my defensive skills and then hopefully consolidate a spot.”
Stewart, who was drafted outside the U18 system, played only school footy between the ages of 17 and 18 before heading back to Woodville-West Torrens, where he quickly caught Port Adelaide’s eye.
The former apprentice electrician demonstrated his defensive versatility over the 11 games, playing on the likes of super-fit Sydney Swans forward Ryan O’Keefe.
And he’s determined to learn as much as he can from former childhood hero Peter Burgoyne.
“I barracked for the Power growing up, so I was a big fan of the Burgoyne boys and Scott Cummings too… back in the day,” Stewart said.
“I used to love watching Peter, so playing with him now is a bit surreal. I don’t think I’ve told him that - it would probably make him feel old.
“But it’s awesome playing alongside him. He’s a great player and he gives you the confidence to have a crack with everything you do.
“He’s good to have back there because when you’re in trouble, you know you can give him the ball and he’ll get you out of trouble and he makes you look good.”
