Mitch played some senior footy and showed in those games that he’s got ability. He’s very good at winning his own ball and he’s also able to push forward and kick goals. The attacking side of his game is good, but he needs to work on the defensive side.
Daniel Bass*
Daniel was obviously coming from a long way back with his basketball background, but he’s probably been the most improved player on our list given where he’s come from. Physically he has all the attributes and he’s very competitive, but to become an AFL player he needs to develop a better understanding of Australian football.
Travis Boak
Boaky is one of our most important players. He’s a real leader and very driven. He’s determined to be one of the best midfielders in the competition and he’s certainly on his way. He has the ability to win the ball around stoppages and applies defensive pressure on the opposition. He has an enormous work rate and averages a high number of kicks inside 50. Towards the end of the season he started kicking goals too, so we expect him to develop into one of the better midfielders in the competition.
Matthew Broadbent
Matty played the last seven or eight games and has developed nicely. He’s certainly showed that he can play at the level and is another player with a good balance of offensive and defensive skills. Broady is very clean with his hands around stoppages and uses the ball well. He’s another player that will be a big part of our future.
Dean Brogan
Broges had a slow start to the year and had a couple of little niggles throughout the season, but it was no coincidence that we started winning games when he found some form late in the season. He’s not getting any younger, but we certainly think he’s got another year or two of good footy left in him.
John Butcher
Unfortunately, Butch hardly did any of the pre-season. He had a pretty serious back injury and missed the first half of the year. He played out the last part of the season in the SANFL reserves and probably didn’t find the form that he would have liked. But he was a very high draft pick and we have very high expectations. We hope he can be a 10-year player for us, as a key forward.
Alipate Carlile
He was good and consistent. He played on the best opposition forward every week and did some outstanding jobs. We expect him to develop into a real leader. He just needs to mature a bit more physically and mentally to take his footy to another level.
Josh Carr (retired)
Josh was a fantastic clubman. He’s very popular among the players and has earned an enormous amount of respect for the way he’s gone about his footy. His attack on the footy and the way he’s influenced other players has been outstanding. I’m sure he won’t have any regrets with the career he’s had.
Dom Cassisi
Dom had a pretty slow start to the year by his standards, but like Broges found some form in the second half of the year. He finished the season averaging 25-20 possessions a game. He led our tackles and hard-ball gets and is just a fantastic leader. You just know what you’re going to get from Dom.
Troy Chaplin
Chappy is really important to our structure down back and probably had his best year for the club. He’s really developed his game. He can play on a tall forward or a small and can also play as a spare man. Towards the end of the season, the opposition put a lot of time and effort into negating Chappy’s influence. He’s a future leader of the club and another player that will be really important to our future.
Cameron Cloke* (delisted)
Clokey was limited with opportunities. His form with the Port Magpies in the SANFL was very good, but we thought there were other key forwards ahead of him, like Jay Schulz, Daniel Stewart and Justin Westhoff. We decided to get some games into those guys and Clokey missed out as a result.
Chad Cornes
A disappointing year for Chad. He started off okay and had a pretty good pre-season, but probably wasn’t able to capture any of that form or play to the ability that we know he’s got during the year. He had his finger operated on late in the year and I’m sure Chad will be pretty quick to push this year aside and will be looking forward to a big pre-season and to recapturing some form next year.
Kane Cornes
Another outstanding year for Kane - he’s just very consistent with his effort. His work rate in games and the amount of ball he wins is phenomenal. He gets the best midfielder most weeks and I don’t think there were too many times this season where he was beaten. He was by far our most consistent player.
Jason Davenport
Davvo started the year off well and was leading our goalkicking after the first seven or eight weeks. He was ranked really high in our goalscoring assists and ranked No.1 in tackles inside 50, but then he dropped away in some key areas that are really important to his game. He was a bit inconsistent towards the end of the year and knows there are areas he has to improve to go on and play 100 games of footy.
Glenn Dawson* (delisted)
Glenn struggled. He was on the senior list last year, but was dropped back to the rookie list this season. Physically, he wasn't able to get his fitness levels up to an acceptable level. He played all year in the SANFL reserves and showed moments of brilliance. He’s a terrific mark and a great kick for goal, but he needs to be able to get his fitness levels up to play AFL footy.
Brett Ebert
Ebo had a very good year. He was our leading goalkicker until round 21. Unfortunately, his accuracy in front of goals really let him down. He had only a few less shots than he did in his best year of 2007, but only kicked 30 goals compared to 56 in '07. He's really improved the defensive side of his game and it was probably one of his most consistent years from an effort point of view. Hopefully he can recover well from a knee injury and continue to improve next season.
Robbie Gray
It was a frustrating year for Robbie. The players nominated him as our best player over the pre-season. He was our best player against the Western Bulldogs in the NAB Cup and also in the practice game against Collingwood, but after that he just had setback after setback. The year was basically a write-off for him, but again we saw what a brilliant player he can be. He kicked five goals against Adelaide and we just need to work really hard on getting his body right because we know he’s going to be a really important player for us both in the midfield and up forward.
Scott Harding (delisted)
Scott started the year off really well and got some opportunities, but he wasn’t able to produce consistent performances with West Adelaide in the SANFL. He struggled to accumulate the ball playing in the midfield and was only averaging 12-15 possessions. His defensive work and attack on the ball was very good when he was playing, but we expected a little bit more from Scott in terms of his ability to accumulate the ball.
Hamish Hartlett
Like Robbie Gray, I think everybody has seen what Hamish is capable of doing but we need to get his body right. We see him as being a very important midfielder for us with his skills and competitive nature. He’s very driven and wants to be the best player in the competition. He has all those attributes and we think we have an exciting future if Hartlett, Gray and Boak can get their bodies right.
Cameron Hitchcock
Hitchy was a real surprise packet. There’s not much of him - he’s built like a jockey - but he impressed us in the very first training session. He was very good, so we gave him an opportunity and he burst onto the scene. He kicked 15 goals in his first seven or eight games and then opposition teams worked out that this kid could actually play a bit. He has some special attributes as a small forward, but he’s still learning the game and is still physically very immature. He’s a real exciting prospect for us.
Jordan Johns* (delisted)
Jordan played SANFL twos. He was pretty competitive and worked really hard in games and won a lot of the ball. His ball use let him down at times, but he certainly got the most out of himself.
Nathan Krakouer (Gold Coast)
It was disappointing for it to end the way it did with Krak. We saw him as a really important part of our future, but with Gold Coast coming into the competition we knew he would be a target and Nathan made the decision to go.
Matthew Lobbe
Lobbe got an opportunity this year. He played a few games and showed some really good signs around the stoppages. He’s worked really hard on developing his body. His ruckwork was very good. He just needs to develop his game in terms of winning the ball around the ground and accumulating more possessions. He had two or three hamstring injuries in the second half of the season, which prevented him from getting any more opportunities. We see him as another important part of our future and expect him to take over from Broges in the not-too distant future.
Tom Logan
He doesn’t have the nickname ‘junkyard dog’ for no reason. He was probably concussed four or five times this year and is no doubt our toughest player. He’s brave and puts himself in the contest like no other player in the competition. We played him down back this year because of the injuries to Jacob Surjan and Krakouer. He really grabbed his opportunity and played on dangerous opposition small forwards. He never lets us down and gives his heart and soul every week.
Jasper Pittard
Jasper has a lot of ability and AFL talent. We expect him to be a very good player, but he has a long way to go both physically and mentally from a maturity point of view. He’s still learning what’s required to be an AFL player in terms of the demands of training and the meetings. As soon as he develops in those areas we expect him to be a very good player for us both through the midfield and down back.
Danny Meyer
Danny played half-back for the last six or seven weeks of the season and did a good job. Matty Primus has worked hard with him in terms of him being competitive and aggressive and we’ve seen that improvement. He played on the likes of Austin Wonaeamirri and also Cyril Rioli. He showed the potential we thought he had. He’s been in the system a long time now and really needs to make a decision if he wants to be an AFL player and find some consistency in his game.
Andrew Moore
Moore had a really good pre-season. He played the first game and then developed osteitis pubis during the middle part of the year. He fought his way back into the team and played out the season. He was a high draft pick and has a lot of AFL attributes. We think he’s going to develop into a midfielder for us and is another one of those young guys, who we think has a lot of talent and will be an important player for us.
Daniel Motlop
Motts had a year he’d rather forget. He had a lot of issues with his body dating back to the start of pre-season and had off-field issues that have been well documented. I’m sure he can come back and have a big pre-season and prove a few people wrong.
Marlon Motlop
Marlon broke his foot twice, but at times has showed great evasive skills. He makes great decisions and is a very good kick, but he’s another one that needs to work on his fitness levels to be an AFL player. He’s been restricted with those injuries, so we’re just hoping he has a bit of luck and can have a big pre-season.
Jay Nash
Nash had some opportunities during the year, but probably didn’t grab them as much as we would have liked and has been in the system a long time now. He uses the footy well. He’s a great kick and that’s why we got him to the club because we thought he could fill a spot for us down back. It’s really up to him whether he wants to be an AFL player because his form has been a bit inconsistent.
Danyle Pearce
Pearce had a very good year. He gets criticised a bit unfairly in the media and gets tagged every week without fail. He led our inside 50s and is a very selfless and team-orientated player, which not a lot of people realise. He does a lot of things to help the team and is still very young. In two or three years time I think we’re going to see him become one of the better midfielders in the competition.
Michael Pettigrew
Petters had tendonitis in his knee dating right back to last season and eventually succumbed and had an operation. He played the last month in the SANFL, but really struggled to recapture form. I’m sure he’ll benefit from the break.
Jarrad Redden
This kid has all the ability in the world. He’s been compared to Brendon Lade at the same age. His tap-work, ruck and football smarts are as good as anyone’s and he’s able to go forward and take a mark. He’s a very good kick for his size, but unfortunately for Reddo running is his greatest weakness. We’re going to be patient with him because if he can develop that aerobic capacity he’s an exciting prospect.
David Rodan
Watching him come back from injury and play the way he did was remarkable. His work around clearances; ability to break away and his speed and agility is exciting. He’s still developing his game and needs to keep working on his transitional running to be a consistent performer, but we know how brilliant he is around the stoppages.
Steven Salopek
Sal had a groin injury and then hurt his shoulder again. To his credit there were some games that he shouldn’t have played and he showed great courage to battle on, but it got to the point where his shoulder kept popping out and he had to have surgery. Up until the point that he’s been injured over the last few years he’s been one of our best players and is beautiful to watch. He uses the ball well and is a great decision maker.
Nick Salter
Salts had limited opportunities early in the year, but showed good form in the SANFL. Jay Schulz, Justin Westhoff and Daniel Stewart kept him out of the forward line, but once Chad went out we used Salts down back. He’s a great kick - probably the best at the club - and is very competitive. He’s still learning to play down back, but we think he can develop into a player that can play at either end of the ground.
Jay Schulz
Schulz was one of the finds of the season. From round 13 onwards he kicked the fifth-most goals in the competition. He thrived on not having a Matthew Richardson or Warren Tredrea around him and has the ability to be our key forward for the next five years. It’s really just up to Jay whether he wants to do it.
Daniel Stewart
Stewie has really improved since he’s come to the club. He’s developed in a lot of areas both on and off the field in terms of understanding what is required from a training, preparation and professionalism point of view. He’s a great mark, but needs to keep working on being able to attract the ball other than through marking. We think he has a lot of potential it’s just a matter of how much more he can improve.
Paul Stewart
Had a breakout year and only missed a couple of games through injury. He started off the year really well, but dropped off a bit late. He did some great jobs for us and is very courageous. He provides plenty of run for us and is another exciting prospect.
Jacob Surjan
Surj was a bit inconsistent by his standards early in the year. He had a really good game one week and then a poor game the next. In the end, he suffered a pretty serious knee injury and had season-ending surgery. He’s the vice-captain of the club and is a very aggressive player, so we look forward to him having a good year next year.
Matt Thomas
Over the last couple of years Matty’s had some serious injuries and when he hasn’t been injured he’s been suspended. He did some really good jobs for us this season and played on some of the best stoppage players in the competition. He’s ranked very high in our tackle count and is a very physical player. We just hope he’s going to keep getting better and that he can stay injury-free.
Wade Thompson (delisted)
Wade wasn't able to find the form that we would like and was inconsistent. He showed brilliance equal to that of any small forward in the competition, but wasn’t able to string that together often enough.
Warren Tredrea (retired)
Tredders is a champion of the club and a champion of the competition. It was disappointing for Warren with the way it all finished, but he left the game feeling comfortable, knowing that he’d given it everything and had no regrets
Jackson Trengove
Jackson had a breakout year, after being restricted by injury last season. He played ruck and up forward, but in the last month of the season we settled him down back. With Jackson, Chaplin and Carlile we’ve got the nucleus of a really strong defence.
Daniel Webb*
Webb is still developing. He’s physically and mentally immature and is still coming to terms with what it takes to be an AFL player. He has some freakish ability and had games where he kicked seven or eight goals in the SANFL twos. He does some pretty special things for a big guy, so he just needs to develop other parts of his game.
Justin Westhoff
During the year, Westy admitted publicly that he’d been cutting corners and that he hadn’t given himself every opportunity to be a consistent performer, but once he did that and started working hard on his game he was probably our best player. It’s no coincidence that we started winning games when he started playing well. He’s developed from being just a forward to being able to play on the wing and as second ruck. He causes the opposition a lot of headaches, as a result.
Matthew Westhoff
Matty had pretty significant groin and hip injuries early in the year and really struggled to get back from that. Hopefully, he has a better run with injury next year.
* Rookie-listed player
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
