Port Adelaide’s first round pick draft pick Chad Wingard has survived a tough introduction to AFL football, bouncing back from a mountain bike fall during the team camp in New Zealand.
The 18 year-old - who was selected by the Power at pick six in last Thursday’s AFL National Draft - came off his bike on Wednesday while riding at Mt Peel, near Christchurch.
The fall left an already weary Wingard shaken but not seriously hurt. With his bike damaged by the mishap, he was taken by helicopter to the next check-point where he was given a replacement and rejoined his group. He then rode for a further four hours and completed the day’s activities.
The promising midfielder-forward also took part in Thursday’s action-packed whitewater rafting expedition on the Rangitata River.
Defender Troy Chaplin said the draftees - including Wingard, 17-year-old Brendon Ah Chee and 21-year-old Nathan Blee - were impressive in their first camps, surviving a gruelling three days which began with an 11-hour hike up and down Mt Peel.
That was followed by the day-long biking expedition, before the “fun day” of rafting through raging rapids and plunging into the alpine waters.
“It’s pretty tough on those guys, but now they sit back and they can have a bit of a laugh about it, it’s so rewarding,” Chaplin said.
Chaplin described it as the toughest camp of his nine years at Port Adelaide.
“You laugh about it now, and you just really appreciate what you’ve gone through and you’ve got through it,” Chaplin said.
“I‘m absolutely spent … I’m glad it’s all over, but it’s been very beneficial to the club.”
Chaplin said as well as testing the group’s physical and mental endurance, the camp has brought the young team together and given it belief.
“When we got to the top of the mountain yesterday, Matty (Primus) pulled the group together and said: ‘What was one of the reasons you thought we did this for?’,” Chaplin recalled.
“His biggest one was: ‘It doesn’t matter how hard you’re hurting, you can keep pushing on.’
“The boys worked to their max levels and he just said: ‘On a footy field it doesn’t matter. If it’s the third quarter or the fourth quarter, it doesn’t matter how you’re feeling. You should remember this and how much you pushed on.’
“Hopefully, we can take that into this year.”
After returning to Christchurch late Thursday afternoon, Primus and a group of Port Adelaide players took local Canterbury Australian Football League representatives for a training run in the city’s northern suburbs.
The club also donated training strips, equipment and junior footballs to assist the local competition which - like every organisation and individual in the region - was affected by February’s devastating earthquake.
The team returns to Adelaide on the weekend.
