HAVING carried the title of Port Adelaide’s lightest player last season, defender Jasper Pittard wasn’t expecting to wind up in the ‘fat club’ when the players returned for the start of pre-season training in October.

2011 Preseason Training Photos: 10.02.11

Pittard weighed just 70kg when he was drafted by the Power with pick No.16 in the 2009 NAB AFL Draft and thought he was doing the right thing when he stacked on several kilograms during the post-season break.

2011 Preseason Full Coverage

Unfortunately, fitness coach Cam Falloon and the skinfold calipers didn’t agree and the 20-year-old and a few of his rounder teammates, many of whom were recovering from surgery, were committed to the aptly-named club to trim down.

"It wasn’t the weight that was the issue, it was the skinfolds. I just snuck over the skinfold barrier in the testing and ended up in the fat club," Pittard told afl.com.au.

"The boys were saying I was the skinniest fat bloke they’d ever seen, so they had a few jokes at my expense.

"It was a bit of an eye-opener. I thought I was doing well putting the weight on, but I hadn’t taken into account the skinfolds."

Pittard endured two weeks of early-morning swim sessions as a member of the not-so illustrious club before he reached his target in the skinfold test and was dismissed.

The skilful half-back flanker modified his diet to include more protein and carbohydrates and less fat and also hit the gym to try and gain muscle mass.

Falloon said he'd been impressed with the way Pittard had responded after a sub-par start to the pre-season.

"We were a bit disappointed with the way Jasper presented himself after the break," Falloon said.

"He'd put on some weight, but he probably just got a little bit mixed up with the fine line between putting on the right and wrong type of weight. He just needed to tidy up a few things in his diet, which to his credit, he's done.

"He's hit the gym hard to put on the right kind of weight. He's being very diligent in the way he's preparing himself and with his approach to training and he's seeing the rewards now.

"After a slow and not so impressive start he's really training the house down."

Pittard has been rewarded for a solid pre-season with a place in Port Adelaide's 29-man squad to take on Adelaide and Melbourne in the NAB Cup clash at AAMI Stadium on Friday night.

The former Geelong Falcons junior made his debut as a substitute for the Power in last year's NAB Cup competition, but should see more game time this pre-season.

Power veteran Dean Brogan said Pittard, who now weighs a more respectable 81kg, would audition alongside Marlon Motlop for a spot in defence in the club's season opener against Colllingwood.

"Jasper's one of those good kicks that we need playing for us and coming out of our backline. He’s good on either side of his body and we’d be looking for him to play the whole NAB Cup to give him a go," Brogan said.

"Those second and third-year players are starting to mature. They’ve been in the system a year or two now, so we’re expecting a lot out of them.

"These young guys are going to find that they could be playing round one because that’s the sort of team we’ve got at the moment.”