Who would have predicted just four months ago that the skinniest kid in the draft and the last player added to the Power list would be the duo climbing ahead of their more fancied teammates to grab a spot in the Power’s Round 1 team?

Nathan Krakouer and Adam Cockshell will make dream AFL debuts on Saturday against Fremantle at Subiaco.

Here’s their stories...

Krakouer arrived at Port Adelaide in mid-December weighing just over 60kg. He had spent time in hospital with an infected hand so arrived later than the other players the Power had picked in the NAB AFL Draft.

Before Christmas, he wasn’t able to do any competitive work, instead he spent his time at training just kicking goals from outside the boundary line while his teammates did the tough stuff.

After Christmas it all started clicking for Krakouer. He quickly became a cult hero among his teammates for his shy but fun personality that was coming through, his unique skills (like soccer juggling a football), and his many nicknames.

He played in the last three pre-season trial games, stunning the crowd in the AAMI Stadium game against St Kilda with three great goals and as many creative assists.

He now officially weighs just 66kg but Dean Brogan put it better than anyone when he spoke to PortAdelaideFC.com.au after the St Kilda game...

“The opposition might think they’d be able to smash him round a bit but you’ve got to catch him first,’ Brogan said.

“He was very exciting (against St Kilda). He’s unbelievable.

“The last couple of weeks he’s really come along. He had a slow start to pre-season with his infected hand but the last couple of weeks he’s really shown us why he got picked up.

“He’s silky smooth and he’s fearless. He’s very quick and agile. He could play Round 1 without a doubt.”

Cockshell didn’t get picked up in the regular NAB AFL Draft. All the club’s overlooked him. Not that he was expecting to get picked up.

But his surprise turn did come in mid-December when he filled the last spot on the Power’s list at the NAB AFL Pre-Season Draft.

“I was very surprised to wake up this morning and hear you’ve been drafted to Port, really surprised,” Cockshell said back then.

“I’d be ecstatic if I was able to play one (AFL) game but I just want to play some good football at my SANFL club Norwood and really stamp my authority there so that’s really what I want to do this year,” he said.

“It’s amazing to come out here and stand alongside those blokes (Tredrea and Cornes). They’re larger than life. It’s just great to be alongside of them.

“I hope that I can learn from Tredders and seeing I’ve only been playing footy for a short time hopefully I can learn quicker than other people and really bring my footy forward.”

He’s not quite the regular new draftee. He’s a bit older at 20 and didn’t come through the state U18 system like so many of the new recruits these days.

He played a full season of league football with Norwood last year after being a bit of a late starter in football. He played high-level pennant tennis through his teenage years and was an excellent athelete, particularly in the power-events like javelin, shot put and discus.

Cockshell (pronounced Co-shell by all except Mark Williams), lives with his grandmother in Greenwith (near Golden Grove) which is a good 40 minutes drive from Alberton in the mornings.