IN the last week of trial games before the SANFL season begins, a number of Power players featured in trial games for their SANFL club.

The games were watched closely by development manager Daniel Healy and development coach Matthew Nicks. Their full report is below.

Mitch Banner (for Magpies vs Panthers)
Mitch was probably the pick of the round of all SANFL players - he had another really big performance for Port in the midfield, having 28 possessions and kicked a goal. He had 7 clearances, which is a great effort, and 10 handball receives.

John Butcher (for Magpies vs Panthers)
Butch had his best game - he’s slowly improving all the time which is really encouraging to see after missing such a chunk of football to a back injury in 2010. He picked up 12 marks and booted 2 goals 3 and presented really well all day - he was a real target for Port Adelaide in a very pleasing display.

Brett Ebert (for Magpies vs Panthers)
Jacob Surjan (for Magpies vs Panthers)
Ebo and Surj both got through the game as they come back from injury, and importantly they both put a full four quarters in which is really pleasing as they step towards playing AFL in 2011.

Matt Westhoff (for Bulldogs vs Roosters)
Matt had a good day out, kicking 4 goals and taking 7 marks - he played really well up forward, and they’re really happy with his form. He’s recovered well from a post-season groin operation and he’s going really well, showing the sort of form that he’d like to keep up all season to try and force his way back onto the senior list at Port Adelaide.

Daniel Motlop (for Roosters vs Bulldogs)
Mots had a tough time of it - he started on the bench and spent a fair bit of time on the pine in the first half in particular. He came on in the second half and didn’t have a lot of impact upon the play.

Aaron Young (for Roosters vs Bulldogs)
After a couple of impressive games in trial matches, Youngie had a lot less of an impact upon the play, having a very quiet first three quarters. Pleasingly he came right back into the play in the final term, picking up 7 touches and booting a goal.

Marlon Motlop (for Roosters reserves vs Bulldogs)
It was a tough day in the reserves for the Roosters, but Marlon can be quite pleased with his game - he picked up 22 possessions and kicked 2 goals 3, and played some really good footy. If he keeps up that sort of form he can expect to be back in the league side really soon and working towards getting back into the AFL.

Callum Hay (for Roosters reserves vs Bulldogs)
Like Marlon he had his best game of the year so far, picking up an identical number of possessions to his North Adelaide teammate. He had 8 handball receives and laid 4 tackles - he’s doing really well.

Jason Davenport (for Bloods vs Redlegs)
A quiet one for Dav - he got a little bit more of a run under his belt, about 90% game time. He’s beginning to get some touch back; we just need him to keep playing and get a little bit more of the football so he can press for senior selection.

Daniel Webb (for Bloods vs Redlegs)
He started down forward as a real marking option for them - he began really well, attacking the footy really well, and that’s great to see as it’s something that we’ve been working on with him over the last month. He went into the ruck and really held his own in the ruck and played reasonably well there too, which is a positive step as he works on his development.

Hamish Hartlett (for Bloods vs Redlegs)
We really wanted Hamish to get about 60- 70% of game time under his belt so that he could push for senior selection, but he took a really solid hit at the start of the second quarter and couldn’t play out the rest of the game. He picked up 4 possessions in the first quarter and looked the real quality player that we know that he is - it’s really frustrating for him and he may need another week in the SANFL before pushing for senior selection.

Tom Jonas (for Redlegs vs Bloods)
A very solid game across half-back. Tom has really improved his defensive positioning as well as his strength in the contest - now we’re just looking for more run and more offensive football from this time on. He played a really strong game down back and played around three-quarters, coming off for the last quarter.

Chad Cornes (for Tigers vs Eagles)
Chad’s really put his hand up for selection with the Power in the last couple of weeks; he’s gone back with a fantastic attitude and played some really good footy. He kicked 3 goals in the first quarter and looked really strong in the contest. The Eagles then dropped numbers back and were playing two-on-one and getting a third man up against him. He went up and played on the ball for a short period of time and came off after three quarters - it’s a real credit to Chad that he’s gone back to SANFL level and played some really good footy and well and truly put his name up for selection with the injury to Jay Schulz.

Danny Meyer (for Tigers vs Eagles)
He’s a polished footballer when he gets the football - he just needs to work on winning more of the ball and getting his touch back which, due to a few small injuries, he’s lost over the last month or so.

Jarrad Redden (for Eagles reserves vs Tigers)
He played mainly in the ruck with the occasional spell down forward. His ruck work was fantastic around the ground, getting first hands on the ball for the most of it. We now really need him to start winning the ball around the ground and taking some strong marks up forward so that he can push for the first grade at the Eagles.

Nick Salter (for Eagles vs Tigers)
Salts played mainly down forward and there was quite a stiff breeze heading to one way so he didn’t get much of the ball in the first or third quarters. He ended up kicking 2 goals for the game and I think he’ll be keen to get back into it this week as he was a little bit disappointed with his performance.