PORT ADELAIDE has welcomed a host of new faces through the trade period and drafts. One of those is Josh Sinn, who was claimed with pick 12 of the NAB AFL National Draft last Wednesday.

In the first post detailing his first week at the club, Sinn gives an insight into his arrival into Adelaide and his living arrangements for the start of pre-season training.

I packed all my bags and left Melbourne around 12 o’clock and went straight to the airport where I met Visa (Dante Visentini) and Parks (Geoff Parker). We got to Adelaide around 3pm. (Head of Player Welfare and Development) Paul Stewart picked us up in the MG and the first thing we did was go to get a COVID test.

There was a bit of driving around to find somewhere that was open to do the test. Then we went to the AirBnB where we are staying. Within about half an hour of arriving, Jase (Burgoyne) rocked up and Hugh (Jackson) so it was good to introduce myself to Hugh and get reacquainted with Jase who I’d met previously.

There are three bedrooms upstairs so I’m sharing a room upstairs with Hugh and it’s a pretty nice place. Sam Skinner stayed last night as well but I think he’ll go home now because he has a rental already with his partner so it’s just the four of us with Parks downstairs. I’ve heard Parks is a loud sleeper and snores a bit but we’ve kept him downstairs and he’s got his own space so I haven’t heard him yet.

01:31

I think Jase will go home after this week, I’m not sure what Hugh’s plans are but Visa will find a player to stay with and I’m staying with Ollie Wines until Christmas. We’ve been texting each other but haven’t met each other yet. It’s a bit weird having a Brownlow Medallist messaging you, but I’m excited to get to learn from Ollie.

Once we’d settled in, we went to a burger joint for dinner and a bunch of the boys came along as well as some of the staff. Shaun Burgoyne and Justin Westhoff were there, the sport psychologist Amanda Le Couteur came as well so it was a good crew.

As soon as we got home, Jase was pretty quick to set up his PlayStation downstairs. We had a bit of fun playing FIFA for a bit. As soon as we started playing NBA2K, that’s when Jase started getting seriously competitive and quite fiery so I think we’ll be bringing that out again. Jase is the best on the PlayStation by far. I think he doesn’t do anything other than train or play PlayStation.

We all made it an early night because we knew it was going to be a big day going into the club for the first time and meeting our teammates and coaches. I was up pretty early and I have to admit I did start feeling the nerves a bit when I was driving to Alberton for the first time.

I met Ken, the other coaches and the rest of the 1-4 year boys who are starting pre-season as well. We’ve got a pretty fun group and it was cool to have some of the older guys like Travis Boak and Robbie Gray back early to learn from too. I got paired with Robbie during one of the early skill drills, which was kind of surreal but I think I held my own.

It was a whirlwind day. I was so focussed on the footy side of things and making a good first impression but there was heaps of stuff I hadn’t even thought about that we needed to do – getting set up with emails, getting everyone’s contact details, photos with the club’s media team. There was a lot going on. Once the footies came out though it all felt pretty natural and was good fun.

We did some basic skill work and warm ups before we got stuck into some full contact stuff. Ken pulled me aside during one of the breaks and told me he doesn’t care if us young boys make mistakes, he just wants to see us crack in and back ourselves. I’ll be trying my best to do so!

Another thing that was pretty cool – a little daunting too! – was Visa and I were put in charge of drafting the teams for our match simulation. Dante had the first pick and took Robbie. I went second and took Zak Butters. The coaches were joking Visa drafted the ‘Old Goat’ and I took the “New Goat’. I also had Connor Rozee, Sam Powell-Pepper and another Sandy Dragons boy in Ollie Lord on my team so it was a nice little crew we put together.

We knew it was coming at some point, but finally we finished with some running. I think I got through pretty well, but it’s clear to see there’s plenty of hard work ahead for everyone. We hit the gym right after for good measure.  I’ll definitely sleep well tonight.

Overall it was a cracking day and I can’t wait to get back to the club tomorrow!