ANY game against Norwood is a significant occasion for Port Adelaide but coming up against the club’s traditional rival to open the SANFL season on a Thursday night carries extra weight for assistant coach Jarrod Cotton.

Cotton has previously had a foot in both camps, playing AFL football with Port Adelaide but playing and coaching at SANFL level with Norwood.

Having returned to Alberton in the off-season to assist Port Adelaide SANFL coach Matthew Lokan, the 44-year-old is excited about kicking off the new campaign against his old side.

“It’s been a change for me having been the senior coach of Norwood for the last four years,” he told portadelaidefc.com.au.

“I met some great people and have some amazing friendships but my job now and my main focus is doing the best I can for the Port Adelaide Football Club and that’s my new family now so I’m really excited about being part of the group.

“I just want us to do the best we can and get a win on Thursday night.

“We’ve had plenty of practice games, which is important to get yourself ready but you want to get into the real games and round 1 against Norwood at the Parade on an Easter Weekend on a Thursday night, it doesn’t get much bigger than that.”

The Redlegs under new coach Jade Rawlings have recruited well, despite the loss of plenty of experience.

While Lewis Johnstone, Sam Bulderstone and Ryan Bastinac have departed, AFL-experienced players Paul Puopolo, Michael Knoll, Jacob Kennerley and Henry Crauford are among the new faces at the Parade.

“They look really strong,” Cotton said of the Redlegs.

“I still speak with a few people at Norwood and they’ve recruited really well. Knoll is a fantastic ruckman to replace Sam Baulderstone in that area of the ground, having come back from the Sydney Swans and South Adelaide before that.

“They’ve added some key signings like Paul Puopolo and a few others so they’re a really strong team who are hard to beat at the Parade at any given time so it’s going to be a really good test for us as a group and as a club and we feel really confident with what we’ve been able to do in the pre-season and our preparation as a group so we go there excited about the challenge.”

The Magpies will have no shortage of players pulling on the black and white bars guernsey for the first time on Thursday night with a host of new SANFL contracted and AFL-listed players who have yet to feature for the club after a COVID-19 interrupted 2020.

Players have been educated around what it means to represent the club and how deep the rivalry with Norwood is.

“We want them to understand that the Port and Norwood tradition has been in effect for a long time,” Cotton explained.

“I’ve played in those games as a player and coached in them as well.

“There’s just a fantastic energy and excitement around the games. Obviously, the Parade is a fantastic place to play football.

“It’s a smaller ground in terms of the size so the crowd noise gets your energy level up.

“But we want (the players) to focus on playing the game and not get too carried away with the who the opponent is, just to know that Port Adelaide and Norwood have had a fantastic rivalry and we want to make sure we go there and do the best for the guernsey and for the club.”

Working primarily with the midfield, Cotton is excited by what he has seen.

“We’ve got a fantastic ruckman in Sam Hayes who has really developed well over the pre-season and trial game period,” he explained.

“We’ve also got some experienced players through the middle of the ground but I’ve worked a lot with the contracted players and Ethan Moore and Jake Weidemann have played some good footy in the trial games and Campbell Wildman on the wing has been really consistent.

“We’ve got some really good contracted players who will play some good footy for us and if you add them to our AFL-listed players it’s a really good mix.”

The Redlegs finished their pre-season with a narrow loss to West Adelaide last week while Port enjoyed a 15-point win over the Crows.

The game at the Parade on Thursday night gets underway at 7:40pm.

KEY INFO:

Where: Norwood Oval

When: Thursday, 1 April 2021

Time: 7:40pm

Last time: Port Adelaide 17.11 (113) def Norwood 10.8 (68) at Alberton Oval, Round 10, 2019

Overall: Port Adelaide 166, Norwood 135, Draw 4

At Norwood Oval: Norwood 61, Port 39, Draw 1

Key stat: The sides each won their games at home when they last met in 2019 but the Redlegs have won 13 of the last 24 against Port at Norwood Oval.