PORT ADELAIDE already has two Westhoffs on its playing list, but on Tuesday coach Mark Williams had his eye on another member of the talented footballing family.
Matt Holmes, a relative of Power players Justin and Matthew, was one of five members of the Whyalla development squad invited to train with the Power at Bennett Oval.
It was also the first time Holmes, an avid Power fan, had met the Westhoff boys in the flesh.
“Justin and Matt had heard of me and, obviously, I had heard about them, but we’d never actually met before today,” Holmes said.
“The training session was all right. I was a bit nervous, but I got a few fair kicks in and had fun in the end.”
Justin, the elder of the two Westhoffs at Alberton, also enjoyed the opportunity to train alongside another relative.
“I think I signed a guernsey or something for Matt last year, but I had never met him,” Westhoff said.
“So it was good to get to know him a bit at training and he looked all right out there from what I saw.”
Mark Williams also has family ties with the Whyalla community and at a civic reception on Tuesday he said the club was committed to supporting the region.
Whyalla falls under the Port Adelaide Magpies recruiting jurisdiction in the SANFL, but the town is yet to produce a Power player.
The Crows have picked up two local lads in Brett Burton and Rob Shirley and more recently Isaac Weetra (Melbourne) and Levi Greenwood (Kangaroos) were drafted interstate.
“The last time I came up here was in 1981 with Tom Hafey and we did a guest appearance here during my first year in the AFL,” Williams said.
“At the time it was a struggling sort of city, but it's good to hear that things are really on the move.”
“To me, in a few years time, if you want to get your oval right we’ll come down here and play a NAB Cup game and that will be fantastic for you and for us.”