Justin Westhoff continues to keep his name front of mind at the Port Adelaide selection table with another stellar SANFL performance on Saturday.
In his last three outings for Central Districts he has booted 12 goals including a bag of five at the weekend. He also pulled down 11 marks among his 18 possessions against West Adelaide.
In his weekly contribution to PortAdelaideFC.com.au, Power development coach, Darren Trevena, said: “Justin is becoming the number one key forward at Centrals and is pushing for AFL selection.
“The players at the club (Port Adelaide) are starting to believe in him and he is starting to believe in himself.
“At 199cm, he’s an agile player that’s hard to stand, so we’re looking for him to keep putting his hand up.”
Also involved for Central against West was young ruckman Jonathan Giles who once again crashed in well at the centre bounces. This is the second consecutive week he has made a physical impact and he’s definitely on track to cement a league spot at the Ponderosa.
Brad Symes would have much preferred to have been in Power colours on Saturday but the unlucky small defender put in a performance that will once again have him figure in the selection committee’s meeting. Symes was great as a ruck rover and also off the half back flank.
Ryan Williams, who had a solid performance for the Dogs last week, had limited game time this week against West.
On the other side, Robbie Gray, for West Adelaide, was clean in congested situations with his hands, taking a number of good, hard marks and crumbing a number of loose balls off the packs. He amassed 26 touches including eight marks and laid eight tackles.
“Along with Justin Westhoff, Robbie Gray was a stand out at SANFL level on the weekend,” Trevena told us.
The way that Darren saw the other Power players in the SANFL across the weekend was as follows
Nick Lower (Norwood) - “He was very tight in defence and I was really happy with the way he played”
Matt Thomas (Norwood) - “Played a solid, hard and tough game with plenty of touches”
Hugh Minson (Norwood) - “Rucked well in the centre square and he is still pushing for a regular league spot”
Fabian Deluca (Sturt) - “He was excellent. He tackled and hunted the ball and then went up forward and kicked a goal. He played a good four quarters of footy in a consistent effort”
Peter Hardy (Sturt) - “There was more pressure in this match than the one he played last week. He seemed to cope well but didn’t play up to the standard he’s previously set”
Alex Lee (Sturt) - “He had a clash of heads early. He returned from this and then got a corky and didn’t see out the four quarters”
Adam Thomson (Sturt) - “He was good with 24 touches. He played through the centre and provided plenty of run. He did a mixture of clearance work and work around the ground and also kicked well”
Ryan Willits (Glenelg reserves) - “He kicked five goals four and had 25 touches. He was a good focal point at full forward. It’s what you’d expect of him playing at that level”
Alipate Carlile (South) - “He was good at centre half back. He provided good run and drive and had plenty of touches and was among the best players in the game”
Gavin Grose (North) - “He moved from defence to attack and kicked 3 goals. He showed good versatility”
Paul Stewart (Eagles) - “He showed respect to his opponents and shut them down and they were moved off him. It was a solid performance”
Nathan Batsanis (Eagles reserves) - “He had 27 touches and used the ball well. It was definitely an improved performance”