AHEAD of the 2018 Port Adelaide Football Club Best and Fairest event on October 5, we thought we would profile some of the players who could be in contention to win the coveted John Cahill Medal.

Justin Westhoff has become one of the most reliable and consistent performers in the Power side.

The 31-year-old is renowned for his versatility with his uncanny knack of playing anywhere across the park, taking key marks in defence, appearing in ruck or on the wing and then bobbing up to boot a bag of goals.

Westhoff had a number of impressive performances across 2018 and he was very unlucky to miss out on All-Australian selection with his versatility probably working against him.

Among the favourites to claim his first club Best and Fairest, even fellow contender Tom Jonas thinks Westhoff will win.

Key stats

Justin Westhoff played every game in 2018, one of just six Port Adelaide players to do so.

He averaged 12.5 kicks and 7.4 handballs as well as 4.9 tackles.

Each of those figures is up on his career average with the veteran averaging 16.1 disposals and 2.8 tackles.

Westhoff took on average 5.3 marks per game, down on his career average of 5.7 and he booted 24 goals at an average of 1.1, down slightly on his career average of 1.2.

The 200-centimetre utility’s increased time in the ruck also saw him average 8.3 hit-outs per game, up from 2.5 throughout his career.

Key games

Westhoff started his season strongly with 25 touches, nine marks, five hit-outs and nine tackles against Fremantle in Round 1 and he never looked back.

Against the Swans in Round 2 he racked up another 27 touches, 11 hit-outs and six tackles, and he backed it up with 23 disposals, six marks and a career-high 26 hit-outs against Geelong in Round 5.

In the middle of the season he hit another purple patch with 23 disposals, 10 hit-outs and three goals against Richmond in Round 12 followed by 19 disposals, seven marks, 11 hit-outs and two goals against the Western Bulldogs a week later.

The softly spoken beanpole booted at least two goals per game in rounds 12 to 16 and finished the season strongly with 22 disposals, four marks, 9 hit-outs, 10 tackles and a goal against Collingwood in Round 22 followed by a five-goal haul against Essendon in Round 23 in which he also had 20 disposals and eight marks.

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