Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley is buoyed by the growing depth of his Power side, as teenage talent continues to come to the fore.
2024 draftees Joe Berry and Christian Moraes have been two of the AFL's quickest rookies to adapt to the top flight, with both immediately becoming solid contributors to the team. Berry is averaging 11.3 disposals and 2.7 inside 50s per game, while Moraes is averaging 22 touches and also 2.7 inside 50s per game.
Moraes' best outing came just last Thursday in the Power's tight loss with 27 disposals and seven marks, and was praised by Hinkley on Tuesday for his seamless start to an AFL career.
"It's a nice look that we're getting with a young player that's come through and played a couple of games," Hinkley said.
"I think even last week we had three 18-year-olds and a 19-year-old out in our team. It's bloody exciting.
"I love seeing the young blokes play, I always get great belief out of that they're going to be better players and they're going to get better quickly by playing them in the AFL.
"Christian's a great example of that."
As Moraes bursts onto the scene, it has allowed Hinkley to move the magnets and experiment with the other emerging talent on his list.
21-year-old Jase Burgoyne is one of those players, who played a predominant role off half-back on Thursday night, despite acing his role on the wing against Richmond the week before.
Hinkley suggested that Burgoyne and Moraes' roles are yet to be solidified and that more experimentation across the ground is soon to come.
"I think he's a really talented player who's got great growth in him (Burgoyne) still," Hinkley said.
"What I'm lucky with is that I know I can play him on the wing and have success, play him on half-back and have success.
"I'm interested in the challenge if I played him forward or inside, that's what I'm interested in because I think his game is still coming.
"I wouldn't like to pigeonhole him right now, is this his best position? I think he's just growing as a player which is exciting.
"..Jase has turned into a really handy player wherever we need him, it's great credit to himself.
"Flexibility's a great thing, and Christian Moraes can also play inside mid, he can play half-forward, he can play wing, he can play half-back if we need to.
"Every time you find some new talent you create some better depth on your list, and that's ultimately what we know - in the footy season, you've got to have depth to get to the end of the season."
Despite a 1-2 start to the year, Hinkley isn't fazed by the external noise. In his final year at the helm, the Power coach will look to make amends on their loss to Essendon with a win over St Kilda this weekend, squaring the ledger before a fiery semi-final rematch takes place in Gather Round.
