PORT ADELAIDE recruit Aliir Aliir says he is embracing the challenge of breaking into the competition’s meanest backline, saying the competition will only make the team stronger.
Aliir joined the club during the trade period in a deal which saw a future second-round draft selection head to his former club Sydney.
The 26-year-old has played 64 AFL games since being drafted from East Perth in 2013, becoming renowned for his agility, intercept marking and drive out of defence.
He arrives as the tallest option in Port’s backline and as an option to rotate through the ruck and even up forward.
But during a press conference on Wednesday after his first week with the club, Aliir said he hoped to break into the defence.
“To be able to play back – that’s where I think I play my best football and hopefully I can do that here for Port Adelaide,” he said.
“They had a great year last year and the backline was a really tight unit.
“They have been playing some great football together so for me coming here it’s just about working hard, putting my best foot forward and seeing what happens at the end.
“It’s not a bad thing because great teams, there’s always fighting for positions. We’ll all get along but having that fight for positions is a healthy thing and I’m looking forward to that.”
The former Swan was the last to join Port Adelaide training after being forced into a fortnight of quarantine, having returned to Sydney to see the surgeon who operated on his jaw at the end of 2020.
The jaw operation came about to correct an underbite after he had his wisdom teeth removed and was not the result of a football injury.
He has been eased back into training and will build into full contact training in the coming weeks.
“It’s probably not the start I wanted to have in Adelaide… but it’s good to be out. I had a bike and treadmill so I could keep fit but it’s good to come out and meet the boys and know Adelaide a bit, just driving around,” Aliir explained.
“The jaw’s all good. I had surgery at the end of the year and the surgeon wanted a check-up.
“I’m being eased into it. Running on a treadmill is a bit different to running on a treadmill. Hopefully I’ll be back with the main group in no time.
“I’ll have to wait another couple of weeks before I do full contact but the main thing for me is that I’m out there running and getting the k’s in my legs, that’s the main thing for me.”
Aliir said he had been welcomed with open arms by his new teammates and club staff.
While his move to Adelaide surprised many, the strongly built backman said he left Sydney with no ill-feeling and was purely excited about a new challenge with a club renowned for success.
“The club itself has a history of winning from SANFL level,” Aliir explained.
“Last year the boys were able to do well and I want to be part of that and hopefully I can add something to (the team).
“The Swans are a great club. They looked after me for seven years, since I was a 19-year-old kid.
“I have nothing but respect for them but I’ve come to another great club in Port Adelaide.
“They’re looking after me pretty well and I’m looking forward to the next four years.”
Aliir on learning by working against the best forwards, including Lance Franklin and Charlie Dixon:
“Being a key back, if I can match up on Charlie as much as I can at training will hopefully make me better and hopefully make him better. It was the same thing at the Swans. I tried to match up on Buddy as much as possible to learn. The more learning you can do out there on the track, the better it is when you go out to play.
Aliir on moving in with Sam Powell-Pepper:
“It’s been good. He was living with Boaky last year and I’m pretty sure Boaky would have been getting him into the swing of things. He’s just bought a house, never lived by himself. He rang me and said if I wanted to live with him I could til I find something. The pool’s clean, there’s a lot of couch time, a lot of movies. I get along with him well. He’s one of the guys I knew before I came here so it made the move a little easier.
Because I was on the soft diet he was cooking his steak and stuff and I was on pasta and stuff that was softer. The longer we live together, the better it will be. We’ll need to work out who is going to cook what night and who is going to do everything else. The first step is getting him to show me around Adelaide. It’s pretty small compared to Sydney so it shouldn’t take me too long.”
Aliir on moving to Adelaide and the differences he has noticed already:
“AFL’s not as big in Sydney as over her. It’s a real football town. I haven’t seen much of the town because I was quarantining. I’ve only seen a bit driving around with Pep but I’m looking forward to getting to know it over the next four years.”
Aliir on his passions outside of football:
“The older I have gotten, the more I have embraced the role I was doing with multicultural kids. Whether it’s going out and playing football, basketball, different sports to get them to do things or going to school just for the sake of it, that’s a role I’ve embraced and looking forward to doing something like that here in different communities.
I was studying business so hopefully I’ll be able to do a bit of that here.
“Usually on my days off I go out somewhere and shoot some hoops. Golf, I tried to get into but you’re either doing well or you’re doing pretty bad. I tend to be going (badly). There’s a few guys here who are into it so I’m looking forward to getting into it.”
