POWER coach Mark Williams has called for patience in regards to the development of the club’s young ruckmen.
Port Adelaide made the conscious decision to pit 21-year-old Fabian Deluca against the might of Fremantle’s Aaron Sandilands on Sunday, as the club looks to get more game time into its next generation of players.
Dean Brogan, 29, and Brendon Lade, 32, have spearheaded the Power’s ruck division since the retirement of former skipper Matthew Primus in 2005, but with both nearing the end of their careers, the focus has shifted onto Deluca and fellow youngster Jonathan Giles.
Giles, who was hindered by injury last season, has spent the majority of 2008 playing in the Central Districts reserves and first year player Matthew Lobbe, despite stacking on 10 kilograms, has significant development ahead of him before being ready for the rigours of AFL footy.
The Power’s ruck stocks were dealt a massive blow earlier this season when Hugh Minson, brother of Bulldog Will, was forced into early retirement because of a degenerative knee injury, but Williams said Deluca, Giles and Lobbe had history on their side.
“Dean Cox is probably the number one ruckman in the league and he started as a rookie, no one liked him in the draft,” Williams said.
“If you look at Dean Brogan, it was the same thing [mature-age recruit]. There is a bit of history of that sort of stuff with ruckmen.
“Ben Hudson is a gun ruckman and no one wanted him in the early days, so there are quite a few examples of that and we’d like to think we can stick with them [our young ruckmen], go through the tough times and make sure that, in the end, you’ve made the right choices.
“Fabian didn’t play very well and he’s the first to admit that, but Aaron Sandilands is a pretty good player and certainly wins a lot of the knocks, so we’ll see how Fabian goes in the next couple of weeks.”
Williams has already committed to playing Deluca, ahead of Lade, in the coming weeks and with injured trio Warren Tredrea, Steve Salopek and Troy Chaplin joining Chad Cornes, Michael Wilson and Robbie Gray on the sidelines, he said there would be plenty more opportunities for players to stake their claim on a spot.
“For the individuals that are playing, it’s [the next five weeks] an important time. Quite a few young blokes are trying to forge their way and there are probably five or six that want to stay on the list; they’re the facts of footy and life,” Williams said.
“They’ll get something out of the next five weeks and we’ll certainly get greater knowledge of how they can handle it.
“It’s not that easy playing when you’ve got a lot of your stars out, but you have to show some glimpses of what might come next year and that’s what we look forward to.
“On the other side, the senior players that are there; it will be an important time for them to lead and show some of the stuff the other leaders have showed them in the past.”
