PORT ADELAIDE assistant coach Nathan Bassett has been pleased with his side’s growth throughout the pre-season, and he’s looking forward to testing that against a good opposition this weekend.
Bassett says pre-season games are important in trying to gel as a team, implementing things the team has worked on and playing well, more so that the end result.
“Playing well is important and we get two good opportunities before the season starts,” Bassett told media at a press conference on Friday afternoon at Alberton Oval.
“We think we’ve had some good growth during pre-season. There haven’t been any radical changes, just some minor adjustments to what we do.
“We are getting much better and consistent actions on the training track, which we saw in last week’s internal trial.
“We would like to see that flow into an opposition who is very good who finished at the top end of the ladder last year.”
The forwards coach wouldn’t give too much away in terms of the side heading to Queensland to face Brisbane, but he did reveal a couple of youngsters would make the trip.
“It’s not my place to release the team right now, that will be done later this afternoon,” Bassett said.
“Probably the two are Mitch (Georgiades) and Tobin (Cox) who will both get a game.
“Mitch has had a very good pre-season and deserves his opportunity. And Tobin has been a terrific young person in our footy club for the last 16 months and he deserves a chance as well.
Bassett said the coaching group wouldn’t put a ceiling on the growth of Mitch Georgiades, and they just enjoying observing the way he goes about his football.
“He’s still a bit of an unknown prospect,” he said.
“The internal trial was the first game he’s played since 2018, so this week is his first game against opposition for a long time.
“We are not super sure on what he’ll do, but he’s certainly been very promising at training and we are looking forward to seeing what it looks like in a match.
“He has great movement. Very agile. He jumps at the footy. We think he can add something in the air and he’s got some great legs to get up and back.”
The 43-year-old was also excited and proud of Tobin Cox’s inclusion for Sunday afternoon’s pre-season opening, which will be his first senior game for the club.
“Tobin kicked 30 goals in 15 games (during the 2019 SANFL season), and I think it’s fair to say he’s a bit like an old-fashioned forward pocket,” Bassett said.
“He is very crafty around goals. He’s got nice hands. He’s a very good mark for his size.
“He’s still working on his running power, but hadn’t played a lot of footy. He had shoulder problems before he came to us, so he’s still learning his way.
“He’s got some really nice football talent, and now it’s trying to get his athleticism up to a place where he can compete at AFL level.”
The Power’s 30-man squad to face Brisbane in round 1 of the Marsh Community Series will be trimmed to 26 this afternoon.
