During the pre-season when a senior player was asked which one of the new recruits had caught their eye, Robbie Gray was a popular answer.

This weekend, Robbie showed what he’s capable of in a best-on-ground performance for West Adelaide and development coach, Darren Trevena, has named him the Power SANFL Player of the Week.

“Overall he’s a very smart player. Robbie is now showing the potential he displayed at under 18 level, at senior level. Once his body adapts to AFL conditions he is going to be very exciting for Power supporters,” Trevena told us.

“He took some telling one-on-one marks at important times and finished off with some team settling goals.

“He has some real special attributes. It was a great game, both in the way that he kicked goals from marks and by crumbing.

“Previously when he was resting up forward he was playing a bit high, but now he’s adjusted his game to suit the West forward structure and was rewarded with his goals.”

While Trevena named Robbie Gray as Player of the Week, it was a tough decision with a number of Port Adelaide players impressing in the SANFL at the weekend.

Robbie Gray (West Adelaide)
Kicks 14 / Marks 8 / Handballs 4 / Goals 4 / Tackles 2

Ryan Willits (West Adelaide)
K 13 / M 7 / HB 4 / G 3 / T 2
“This is probably his best game of the season by far. He presented well and looked busy when the ball hit the ground. He’ll get some real confidence out of this game. He set a standard that we’d expect to see week in week out.”

Paul Stewart (Eagles)
K 12 / M 7 / HB 5 / G 0 / T 0
“He was in the Eagles best players. He played out of the back line and ran off well. He made two great intercepts which shows that he’s reading the play well.”

Adam Cockshell (Norwood)
K 6 / M 4 / HB 3 / G 2 / T 2
“It was Adams best game since he’s been at the Power. He presented well. He marked well but could improve his goal kicking.”

Nick Lower (Norwood)
K10 / M 3 / HB 3 / G 0 / T 1
“He started on Weatherly and had two goals kicked on him in the first quarter. He adjusted his game to suit his opponent and over the four quarters, he won the position.”

Alipate Carlile (South Adelaide)
K 11 / M 2 / HB 3 / G 0 / T 1
“It was a solid game by Alipate, he created lots of run and used the ball really well. He is showing steady improvement.”

Brad Symes (Centrals)
K15 / M 11 / HB 8 / G 0 / T 1
“He was unlucky to miss out, he went back with the right attitude. On the day he was probably a class above and he was very unlucky not to be our player of the week.”

Justin Westhoff (Centrals)
K 8 / M 5 / HB 3 / G 1 / T 2
“He came back from his two week suspension and looked a little bit rusty at times. He didn’t play in the forward line all day and mixed it up in the ruck. He took some fantastic marks and was just a little inaccurate, this could probably be put down to missing a couple of weeks.”

Travis Boak (Glenelg)
K 7 / M 7 / HB 15 / G 0 / T 2
“Travis was clean with his hands and fed it out to the runners. He was around the mark, that he’s set in previous weeks. Like Symes, he looked like one of the real class players on the ground.”

Gavin Grose (North Adelaide reserves)
“It was a good game by Gavin. He spoiled well and played both ends of the ground and his defensive positioning was excellent. He is working on developing his game further.”

Nathan Batsanis (Eagles reserves)
“He had 45 touches and kicked 1 goal 4. It was a fantastic on ball game by him. He tackled well and got the contested ball. If he had finished off in front of goal it would have been his best game. He is pushing for league selection.”

Hugh Minson (Norwood reserves)
“Hugh rucked well at centre bounces. He also played full forward and kicked two goals. He is also developing his contested marking.”

Ryan Williams (Centrals reserves)
“He provided lots of run. He was good off both feet and tackled well. He looked solid.”

From Trevena’s reports, Power players in the local league continue to create pressure for spots in the senior AFL team. Come back again next week to see who the Power SANFL Player of the Week is.