PORT Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley summed up his frustrations with Jasper Pittard perfectly after last weekend's win over the Western Bulldogs.
The defender orchestrated the Power's first goal – a brilliant coast-to-coast play that involved just three kicks, including both his from full-back and Jay Schulz's finish.
But seconds later he gifted the Bulldogs their first goal when he fumbled the ball deep in defence allowing Tom Liberatore the easiest of conversions.
After the match Hinkley was full of praise for Pittard's game and spoke of his faith that he would become a great player, but he conceded he bit down hard when the 23-year-old made such mistakes.
In his five years in the AFL, Pittard has managed just 44 games; he's still learning his craft and his game remains one of stark contrasts.
On one hand he's third at the club in turnovers (50) and the worst offender for points scored from those turnovers (eighth in the AFL).
But on the other, Pittard runs the ball more than any other Power player (36 bounces), he's fourth at the club for intercept possessions (54) and sixth for metres gained (376m a game).
Vitally, he's also involved in more scoring chains each week than any other Port Adelaide defender.
Pittard plays a high-risk brand of football that offers significant reward but it's a brand that is punished when things go astray.
He told AFL.com.au he would continue to roll the dice rebounding out of defence and as the number of games to his name increased, he'd be more likely to roll sixes than twos.
"When Kenny got to the club I had played 15 games – so he really enforced to me 'you're part of the future but we've got some areas to work on'," Pittard said.
"Initially for me it was the defensive side to my game, which I spent a lot of time on last year but I've really knuckled down on that area this year and become a lot more reliable.
"This year I've improved a lot in that area but I need to start becoming much more damaging offensively, that's my goal, that's why I take risks and try and use my legs.
"It is risky and it is dangerous and I'm sure some of the coaches have their hearts in their mouths at times but if you don't try and just be safe, that's not the way we like to play.
"What I'm learning now is the timing – when is the time to do it, when is the time not to…the teams who have guys who can really take it on and practice those hard kicks, are the ones who have the rebound inside 50s and get lots of goals that way."
Pittard has come a long way in the last few years and his coach remains adamant he'll develop into a fine player for the Power.
There's no question, either, that he has the mental resilience to fulfill Hinkley's prediction.
Pittard's battle with injury has been well documented and is highlighted by his megre total of 44 games in five years.
Upon last year's return from a 10-week quad injury, he hadn't ever managed to string together more than seven consecutive games since drafted by the Power with pick No. 16 at the 2009 NAB AFL Draft.
Pittard's now played 26 games in a row and there's no doubt he has absolutely turned the corner and is stronger than most thanks to his previous setbacks.
"There's nothing worse, particularly during the season, than running laps around the oval and then gong to watch the boys play on game day – you're just not a part of it," he said.
"You can let it get you down or you can let it drive you.
"In that sense I guess it does make you mentally tougher, it builds your desire to stay fit.
"It's all that management stuff not to get injured rather than leaving it up to luck that I think I've improved on.
"We've got some great role models around the club, particularly 'Boaky', Matt Lobbe and Kane (Cornes) who just do every little thing right."
