TRENT MCKENZIE knew he could play football at the highest level again. It was just a matter of proving it to his teammates and coaches after a wretched run with injuries.
The 28-year-old has become a mainstay in Port Adelaide’s backline in 2020 despite being one of the last players re-signed last year and only being on one-year contracts since coming to the club as a delisted free agent in 2017.
He has played 13 of Port’s 15 games this season, averaging 12 disposals and five marks per match as part of one of the competition’s stingiest backlines.
And as reward, he has signed a two-year contract extension to remain at the club until the end of 2022.
“I think I’ve had two one-year deals and haven’t signed until really late in the year so it’s been hard but to say I’ve signed a two-year contract half way through the year now is something I probably wouldn’t believe but I knew I could do,” McKenzie said at a press conference after his re-signing was announced on Tuesday.
“There’s a lot of relief. I can really look forward to playing some strong footy and hopefully we can go a long way this year.
“It’s been a few tough years, my time here, so it’s good to be able to extend with such an exciting group.
“I’ve had some injuries – it’s been well documented throughout my career – but I just kept that consistency and just trying to win a few people over – coaches and players – just to prove that I could still play at the top level.
“I think I’ve done that.”
McKenzie played 106 games for Gold Coast after being one of the fledgling club’s first signings as a teenager.
Delisted in 2017, there was little external expectation that he could re-ignite his career at Alberton.
But there was never any doubt in his own mind.
“I knew personally I had the ability to do it so I just had to work hard at my game and prove to my teammates that I could play a role in the team,” McKenzie said.
“I had a lot of support from (coach) Kenny (Hinkley) but there’s a lot of coaches and players on the list.
“I’ve worked on the defensive side of my game. My strength is obviously my kicking but to be able to play my role defensively in one-on-one battles and when I’m out of position to hold up my end, I’ve had to work pretty hard at that.
“(Defensive coach) Brett Montgomery has been very good for me in that space, working hard at training, so I’ve got a lot to thank him for.”
Port’s defence has become renowned as one of the competition’s best, currently having conceded just 795 points at an average of 53 per game.
Collingwood leads the competition in that department having conceded an average of 51.6 points per game. Port is ranked third behind Geelong (52.1 points per game).
A big factor in that is the understanding that has developed between McKenzie and his fellow talls, skipper Tom Jonas and Tom Clurey.
“It makes it a lot easier when the team is going well and we’ve got a pretty solid backline,” McKenzie said.
“We’re working together well with the three tall defenders, which is working nicely.”
With his future locked away, McKenzie has turned his attention to stopping an Essendon side, which will likely have gun forward Joe Daniher leading the line.
Port tackles the Bombers and then Collingwood before finals start, and McKenzie was adamant winning both games would be important.
“He’s a very talented forward,” he said of Daniher.
“He’s a big boy and has a big jump as well so we’ll have our work cut out, myself and Clurey and Jonas but we’ll back our team defence in to do the job.
“To give ourselves the best opportunity to have a crack at the flag, I think we need to play very well.
“It’ll give us some confidence going into finals if we can win these two games.”
Port Adelaide on Tuesday also announced the re-signing of rookie defender Jake Pasini and midfielder Willem Drew.
