Karl Amon on the difficulty of deciding his future:

“To be honest it was a tough decision.

“Once interest comes from back home, I think probably everyone in the AFL would look at going back home, but it was a decision based around my football.

“I know Port Adelaide has put a lot of faith in me the last few years. I’ve had a good year personally, and the best football for me going forward is at Port Adelaide.

Amon on the excitement of the playing list:

“We showed our potential this year.

“As a group, we need to be more consistent. What the club did last year in the off-season, bringing quality people in.

“Our three top 20 draftees played all year - they were really quality. We’ve also got a good young group of players aged from 21-26.

“We certainly believe we have a good group going forward - it’s just about being consistent - and the more football we play together, the better we’ll be.

Amon on playing six games in 2018 and looking for opportunities elsewhere:

“It was a pretty tough year.

“I wasn’t selected for round one, which I was pretty disappointed about, and then from there, I had a few injuries.

“I had a really good stint in the SANFL for about 6-8 weeks in the back half of the year. I played inside mid the whole time, and I really developed my footy.

“Ken (Hinkley) and I had some pretty honest conversations with about four weeks to go in the season.

“We thought if there was an opportunity to come home, we would look at that, but certainly I was more than happy fulfilling the final year of my contract.

Amon on his exit meeting this year compared to last:

“I think the exit meeting only took three or four minutes last year.

“It was a lot more positive this year, which was really good. The turnaround I’ve had this year has been good. The coaches have believed in me.

“Hopefully we can go one better next year, and just keep improving on the form.

Amon on building the belief in his own game:

“I played my 50^th game this year, and when you get to that level you do feel like you belong.

“Once you start to have a few solid games, you do start to get that self-confidence, and believe you can play at the AFL level.

“That’s been the massive thing for me this year, is knowing that I belong in the AFL and I can have a real impact on games.

“I can actually feel that as a player.

Amon on pre-season:

“I’m one of the older boys now, so I’m back November 18.

“I had a little knee scope last week, so I’ll have 3-4 weeks off running. After that I will be running 3-4 times a week, and also hitting the gym.

“It is something I pride myself on - my work-rate and training ethics. I love running in the off-season.

Amon on the disappointment of missing finals:

“It was really disappointing to miss finals.

“The most disappointing thing was we beat the top sides, but still missed finals. I would love to be playing in September.

“My first final was against West Coast two years ago and going through that whole experience was amazing.

“It’s something you can’t take for granted. It’s such a special experience, and not to be there the past few years has been really disappointing.

Amon on the Magpies finals campaign:

“I was there last week when they played really well against the Crows.

“They’ve had a really good second half of the season. Everyone is invested - the club is invested in what they are about to do, and hopefully they can win a premiership.

“It will be such a good sight. It’s been too long for the club between premierships. We know how well supported the Maggies are.

“It would be massive to get the job done.