The Power blooded four first-gamers in round one, more than any other club including developing sides Melbourne, Richmond and Fremantle.
Coach Mark Williams also unveiled two off-season recruits in former Tiger Jay Schulz and ex-Lion Scott Harding.
Freo midfielder Michael Barlow might have produced the debut of the round, with 33 possessions and two goals against Adelaide, but Port Adelaide’s youngsters also showed enough to suggest they have a bright future at AFL level.
Hitchcock, 19, sparked the home side with two first-quarter goals and tough nut Banner racked up 18 possessions (10 contested), four tackles and an inaccurate return of 1.3 in an encouraging display.
Trengove, who is no relation to his Melbourne namesake, gathered 10 disposals and showcased his trademark competitiveness as the Power’s second ruckman, while prized No.9 NAB AFL draft pick Andrew Moore had 14 touches and four marks.
Surjan said it was a credit to the club that it was able to win with six new faces in the side.
“All four debutants were fantastic. Jacko gave Broges some good support in the ruck. Hitchy got us going early, Mitch got better as the game went on and Andrew Moore made some good spoils in defence, so they all showed they can play at the level,” Surjan said.
“It’s a great credit to Garry Hocking and Darren Trevena for putting a lot of work into those guys and also to the recruiters. Hitchy came off the rookie list and the impact he’s had has been enormous.”
Schulz and Harding also contributed to the win with some strong defensive pressure.
The pair laid seven tackles each and demonstrated a willingness to put their bodies on the line. Harding was cleaned up in the opening minutes of the game and Schulz was forced from the ground twice after having his head split open.
Surjan and skipper Dom Cassisi have long been the champions for Port Adelaide’s physical cause and the former said the Power displayed an improved team-first attitude on Sunday.
“It’s all about the team and those little things we do and sacrifices we make all go towards the end result," he said.
"It’s unfortunate for those guys they got hit, but they played their roles and that was the main thing. If we can have 22 guys all doing that week-in week-out we’re going to win more games than we lose,” he said.
