PIGEONHOLED as a small forward at Essendon, Angus Monfries admits his career began to "stagnate" after eight seasons and 150 games at Windy Hill.
Monfries was handed a license to roam over the summer by Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley, having crossed to Alberton during last October's trade period.
The former Bomber's newfound freedom has translated into two superb performances to start the season, backing up his three-goal, 18-possession effort in round one with another 18-disposal game against GWS that also included four score assists and a game-high eight tackles.
"I'm still up forward, but I'm getting up the ground now, through the wing, through the midfield and getting a little bit more involved in games," Monfries said.
"I guess playing as a small forward you can sort of stagnate a little bit during games and it's good to get up there and be more involved in a game."
But Monfries insisted he wasn't the only one who had felt the refreshing influence of the Power's rookie coach.
The 26-year-old said Hinkley's arrival at the club, as well as the influx of new playing talent, had renewed the Power's confidence after horror seasons in 2011 and 2012.
As well as playing with confidence, he said the side's ability to implement Hinkley's game plan was key to the Power's fast start.
"With Kenny I think there's a new freshness about the place and I think we had something like six debutants last week, which is a third of your side – that's a lot of turnover," he said.
"Guys playing at other clubs like myself and the three guys that got their first taste of it last week, it's only going to be great for the footy club and the more games they get into them the better as well.
"I think the freshness coming into the club probably offers a new confidence, but the game style that Kenny's brought and the way we've executed it is a positive."
While consecutive wins is all anyone could ask of the Power from their opening two games, the hard reality is the club has beaten a side on the rocks in Melbourne and one still finding its identity in GWS.
The wins are nice, but the real tests are yet to come.
No dummy, Monfries insisted Port would stay grounded despite its early success, but added the way it won its first two games was encouraging.
"The way we won last week and the way we won this week are two different ways of going about it; last week we won all four quarters and then this week we played really well in the last half when things were a bit of an arm wrestle early," he said.
"To win like we did last week and when the game was fairly close in the first half against the Giants and to run away with it like we did is credit to the side.
"We're definitely not getting ahead of ourselves, but we're rocking up each week with the confidence that we've put the work in and we've got belief in how we're playing and what we can do.
"It's a little bit of a reward for us to have to good wins to start the year."
Harry Thring for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_Harry.
