PORT Adelaide rookie Danny Meyer is confident a return home to South Australia will finally help him deliver on the promise he showed as a first-round draft pick five years ago.

Meyer, 22, spent four years at Richmond after being snapped up with selection No.12 in the 2004 NAB AFL Draft.

He played 14 games in his first two seasons at Punt Road, before injuries derailed his budding career.

The former state junior developed a serious hip injury, more common in 60-year-old ex-footballers, and required two, separate surgeries and 12 months out of the game.

“I didn’t have any injury troubles at all growing up. The worst I’d had was a broken wrist, but basically, as soon as I got drafted I started on a pretty bad run. Now, I’ll probably need a hip replacement by the time I’m 40,” Meyer said with a laugh.

“The hip injury came about just through wear and tear and a bit of overtraining on hard surfaces during the pre-season. I had a sore groin for about six months and it was getting pretty bad, so I had some scans done, which showed I had a lot of cartilage damage in my hip.

“It was pretty tough at the time, but I feel pretty confident now. Sometimes in the mornings the hip can ache a bit, but once I get up and going I’m fine.”

The talented athlete pulled on the Power guernsey for the first time during the pre-season competition and took an unofficial mark of the year contender in the summer hit-out against SANFL sides Sturt and Port Adelaide.

He had his sights set on an early promotion to the senior list, but missed one NAB Cup game with strained ligaments in his hand and fellow rookie Wade Thompson edged ahead.

Meyer went back to SANFL club Glenelg, where he started as a 15-year-old, and put together several consistent performances to earn a call-up to the state league squad.

“Being invited to train with the state squad is a good thing for me at the moment. It’s a bit of a short-term reward and shows I’m in the top group in the SANFL.”

But Meyer’s ultimate aim is to make it back onto an AFL list and he feels his time with the Tigers has helped him mature both on and off the field.

“Moving away from home, you grow up pretty quick and you see football from a different perspective playing in the VFL,” Meyer said.

“Coming back here, I’m 22 now and I’ve grown up a little bit more. I know footy pretty well and I’ve got that experience behind me.”

The former half-forward, who was recast as a defender while playing for Coburg in the VFL, has been welcomed back to the Meyer family home, which boasts an impressive sporting pedigree.

His father, who played league football for Woodville, worked as a scout for Richmond for 12 months and is currently a development coach at South Adelaide.

Meyer’s younger brother is playing underage footy with the Panthers and his sister has followed in his mother’s footsteps as a division-one netballer.

But genetics and the standing as a ‘former’ first-round draft-pick will only take you so far.

And Meyer feels he’s ready to prove to the football world he still has something to offer.

“Having to take a step back and go onto the rookie list (from the Richmond senior list)... sometimes you have to take that step back to go forward,” Meyer said.

“I’m on top of my injuries now and have been playing pretty good footy in the SANFL, so hopefully if I can continue that form the opportunities will come.”