Willem Drew ranks elite across the competition for tackles to start the 2021 season.

A lot has been made of some of Port Adelaide’s young players who have been able to step in and have an immediate impact.

The names Rozee, Butters and Duursma seem to roll off the tongue in most conversations. But it is often forgotten that midfielder Willem Drew debuted in the same game as that trio in Round 1 2019.

Drew is a year older than the 2018 draftees and is now into his fifth season on the list with a games tally of just 12 compared with Rozee’s 38, Butters’ 38 and Duursma’s 37.

At 22, the Koroit product has had his share of foot injuries that have limited his ability to get a run of games on.

But injury free and back in the team, Drew has been a strong contributor in the first two rounds of 2021.

He is ranked elite against other midfielders for tackles (6 per game on average), clearances (5.5 per game) and handballs (13 per game) and just had a career-high 25 disposals against the Bombers.

But he still doesn’t feel he owns a spot in the Port Adelaide midfield just yet.

“No, not really,” Drew said on Adelaide radio station FIVEaa on Monday night.

“Looking in the SANFL and seeing the guys who are playing at the moment, there’s a lot of people who are pushing for selection at the moment.

“I think it’s just up to me to keep playing well and for the boys in the team to keep playing well as well.”

04:37

It was a frustrating 2020 campaign for Drew who had himself primed for a big year before a pre-season foot injury put that on pause.

Yet, such was its faith in his abilities that the club saw fit to sign him to a two-year contract extension, keeping him at Alberton until the end of 2022.

“Last year I had two stress fractures and two operations as well so that didn’t make things easy for me,” Drew said of watching the club reach a Preliminary Final in 2020.

“It was definitely frustrating personally with injury but the team did play well and it made me want to get back to play quicker.

“It’s now my fifth year and there’s definitely been challenges along the way but I’m happy with where I am at the moment.

“I was really grateful to the club for giving me a contract extension last year and it’s a really great place to be.

“I’ve got some really close mates over here and everything is going well at the moment.”

One of Drew’s strengths has been his ability to play both inside and outside roles in the middle of the ground, as well as his work rate and capacity to get from contest to contest.

He’s part of a fresh Port Adelaide midfield that is leading the competition for contested possessions and ranks fifth for clearances after two games.

It is sometimes lost that Willem Drew also made his debut against Melbourne alongside Connor Rozee, Xavier Duursma and Zak Butters in Round 1, 2019.

“(Zak) Butters coming in, (Karl) Amon, it’s a really diverse midfield with everyone able to play different positions on the inside and on the outside and I think that’s really working well for us at the moment and we’re really gelling.

“It’s just a whole midfield group focus and we’re all just happy to switch positions and do what’s best for the team.

“My (other role) is probably on the wing, swapping with Amon a bit or floating forward as well.

“There’s different places we can go and it all helps the team out.”

After strong wins over North Melbourne and the Bombers in the opening two rounds of the campaign, Port’s next test is a trip to Perth to tackle West Coast on Saturday night.

Drew is expecting the intensity to go up a level but he said his side still had plenty of improvement to come.

“We’re happy with how we went in the first two rounds but we’re definitely not satisfied and we’ve got another level to go to,” he declared.

“Going over to Perth this weekend will be another challenge and we’re looking forward to it.”

Port Adelaide’s game against the Eagles at Optus Stadium gets underway at 5:10pm AWST / 7:40pm ACST on Saturday night.