PORT ADELAIDE veteran Justin Westhoff revealed some open and honest conversations with senior coach Ken Hinkley gave him the confidence to play on for a 14th season in the AFL next year

Westhoff was slightly down on form in 2019, spending a week in the SANFL to recapture the spark, where he gathered 37 disposals and booted three goals in the Magpies’ win over North Adelaide.

But he was one of a host of players to sign-on for 2020 earlier this month.

“Over the year I had those honest conversations with Kenny (Hinkley) to put things in perspective,” Westhoff told SEN SA’s Breakfast program on Tuesday morning.

“You still want your head coach to have trust in you that you can still do it, so we had those conversations.

“I went back to the SANFL and was able to get back in the team. We were open and honest about it and the future.

“He still thought I had a bit left in me, which was really good for my confidence.”

The 2018 John Cahill Medallist believes his versatility will allow the coaching group to once again shift the magnets to help fill gaps throughout the season.

“I think my role will be pretty similar,” Westhoff said.

“There were a few times last year where some positions were left vacant, so for me to be that flexible guy showed trust from the coaches.

“It would be good to have one spot, but that’s just the way footy goes. I’ve found myself in a variety of spots.

“There were other guys coming in and really cemented that role and took that position from me.”

The 33-year-old said he was excited to get back to Alberton with his teammates and start another pre-season, but he didn’t expect any favours from the high-performance team.

“You definitely don’t get any chop outs the older you get unfortunately, I was hoping to come back in January but that got squashed pretty quickly,” Westhoff joked.

“I’ve been pretty lucky with injuries over my career. We were given a pretty decent program over the break.

“It’s a long road to playing games again, so you’ve just got to put your best foot forward and keep charging on.

“I like getting out to training with the boys - I’d rather do that than in the sweat box just grinding away.”

Port Adelaide’s first-to fourth-year players will return to training next week, with the rest of the group to link up with them two weeks after.