PORT ADELAIDE SANFL senior coach Matthew Lokan said he was excited for the SANFL season to begin given that his squad hasn’t played in the state competition since the 2019 grand final.

In their first outing in 529 days the Magpies faced off against South Adelaide in a practice match on Thursday evening, winning by 12 points.

Lokan said it was great to get the win, but most importantly it was an opportunity for his young playing group to get some match practice.

“Not having any SANFL football for the last 12 months, that’s the first time some of our second-year guys have played in our SANFL team,” he said.

“This season I am really looking forward to seeing those second-year guys who haven’t played a lot of football, the likes of Dylan Williams, Jake Pasini and Trent Burgoyne, and then you throw in Ollie Lord and Taj Schofield who were great tonight in their first game against men.

“While it was only a trial match it was good for a number of reasons, one of them was to give our young guys some exposure against a pretty good SANFL team.”

This year the team will be led by captain Cameron Sutcliffe, along with the experience of Collingwood premiership player Tyson Goldsack. 

Lokan said these experienced heads would be invaluable for the development for the younger players.

“We have a really good balance of experienced guys and younger guys,” he said.

“Jarrod Lienert, Joel Garner, Sam Mayes and Sam Hayes all have experience now and they led us well tonight.

“The last time we played together was in a grand final so being able to expose our younger players to our culture and what we are about as a footy club is really important for our SANFL program.

“It is exciting to be able to play back here at Alberton and I am looking forward to the next couple of practice games and then Round 1 against Norwood.”

Port Adelaide will play Sturt in a six-quarter practice match next Friday night at Alberton Oval from 6pm, and Adelaide on March 26 before its season commences on April 1.