Port Adelaide key forward Jack Whitlock has been developing before fans’ very eyes in 2026, with the 19-year-old harnessing self-belief to keep improving his game. 

Nominated as the Round 8 Telstra AFL Rising Star, Whitlock has quickly become an important part of the Power’s forward line, honing his craft under the mentorship of spearhead Mitch Georgiades. 

Speaking with the media on Tuesday, Whitlock spoke about finding out he was nominated, how he’s fast tracking his growth, and his training battles with fellow teenage tall Harry Ramm. 

Whitlock on finding out he was the Round 8 Rising Star 
“Yeah, it was pretty exciting. Reeva did a good job at announcing it, with having a few of us young boys playing some good footy over the last few weeks, so that’s pretty cool. To get the rising star nom, it’s a pretty good achievement. I’m super stoked with it. It's good when all the boys get around you, you feel pretty welcomed. And it just shows how tight our group is.” 

Whitlock on his AFL journey so far 
“Definitely a lot of learnings. I think playing some games late last year really set me up for the off-season and the pre-season, knowing what I need to work on, and then coming into this year, just having the confidence to show my strengths in game. And I think when I can get that run and jump, it can be pretty dangerous, and that's probably my strength. So if I can keep doing that and then learning off Mitch Georgiades and keep working close with Darren Reeves and Mitch Clisby, that will help me.” 

Whitlock on his development 
“I think every game I’m taking a lot of learnings out of it, and I feel like each game, I'm getting better, so if I can keep doing that I’ll be pretty happy. I’m learning a lot off Mitch. Today we did a lot of stuff together as well, which is good. A lot of setting up his leads. I think his footwork is one of the best in the league, so if I can learn a lot of that footwork and how he does his work really early and translate that to my game, that can really help me too.” 

Whitlock on his quick growth at AFL level 
“Yeah, a little bit (I’ve surprised myself). I've sort of always had some self belief that I could do it at the top level and just play to my strengths and use my smarts and my footwork and my ability to get on the move and work over my opponent to my strength. So I think being able to learn that at a young age has really helped me as well, to be less physical, in a way, because I still am pretty light.  

Whitlock on staying patient  
“I talk to (head of development) Matt Lobbe about this a lot, actually, just fast tracking. It probably is a thing to say that tall forwards do take a lot of time, but if we can do all the work now and get all my technique, my body work, all that stuff right at the beginning and not waiting a few years down the track, I think that can really fast track my career. And that has definitely helped through the start of this year.  

“I definitely do need to add a bit more size just to be a bit more imposing to the opposition, and probably a bit stronger in the contest. But I think one of my strengths is my athleticism, so without (giving up) that.” 

Whitlock on his battles at training with Harrison Ramm 
“Yeah, it's always good. Today he was out in the track, and he comes back (from injury) this week, which is very exciting for the team. He's such a great player, and matching up on each other, we're both pretty athletic. He's a terrific athlete. And when he goes on the footy field, some of the stuff he does is pretty amazing, and he's also very competitive. So it's good having someone like that in the team that will push everyone and ultimately make the team better.” 

Whitlock on the young players in the side 
“Over the last few weeks, even Joshy Lai coming into the site, he's been playing some really good footy. And then we all know what Joe Berry is capable of, and that goal on the weekend probably showed a bit of that. And he's starting to have some good form. And even Logan Evans, all us young boys building some continuity and starting to play more games together, I think that's really good for the future. (Dante Visentini) has been also very good to just have another bigger body in the forward line, and some of his rough stuff and his competitiveness is second to none.” 

Whitlock on the Western Bulldogs 
“We’ll do our oppo stuff this arvo so we'll look at ways that we can beat them, and then play to our strengths. But yeah, it's a really good opportunity, and off the back of a couple weeks of some good form just not quite getting there, I think we've learned a lot. And yeah, hopefully we can get there this weekend.” 

Whitlock on reviewing close losses 
“It is funny how footy can work like that sometimes. Today we did a lot more scenario stuff, looking at ways we can improve. And I think no matter what the result is, we're always looking at ways we can improve, in particular contest and team defence, we've had a really big importance on that. I think just getting in those finer little details to prepare us for games like those, but it's really good that we're putting up a fight and a challenge against some top teams.”