Jason Horne-Francis was running and so was Orazio Fantasia as Port Adelaide resumed training for the 2023 season, with coach Ken Hinkley expecting a “bounce” after last year’s disappointment.
The sight of retired Port great Robbie Gray on day one may have produced a cheeky thought in Hinkley’s mind about what could be, but the reality of what he had was enough to get him excited.
Hinkley said Horne-Francis, traded in from North Melbourne under acrimonious circumstances following the No.1 pick’s single season at the Kangaroos, had made some “really solid steps” after surgery on both legs to decompress the arteries behind his knees.
Watch every match of every round of the 2023 Toyota AFL Premiership Season LIVE on Kayo Sports. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
“Really promising, so far he’s had a really good building this pre-season which we know is important to him,” Hinkley said.
“His first year he had a really strong pre-season and played well and unfortunately last year he didn’t get anything go his way.
“It’s like having a new player and a really talented player come to your list, you get really excited, and I’m excited about Willie (Rioli) coming to the club and Jason (Horne-Francis) coming to the club, but we’ve got Orazio, basically for us as coaches, almost like another new player for 2023.”
Gray, who retired last season after a stellar career that included three John Cahill medals, was on hand for training and Hinkley said he “looked good enough to play”.
But the 34-year-old quashed any thoughts Hinkley had of coaxing him back onto the field.
“Rob said he’s very comfortable in retirement,” Hinkley said.
Fantasy easily gave way to reality too for Hinkley who said the number 39 was the main thing on his mind.
That’s how many days until the first internal practice game, by which time he wants his players to be ready to hit the ground running in the hope Port can avoid the 0-5 start that cruelled the 2022 campaign.
“We’ve got 39 days until our first internal game, we have to maximise those 39 days and put ourselves in a really healthy position to start the season,” Hinkley said.
“We weren’t in that position last year. Hopefully, we can have a few more things go our way to start the year.
“Last year we put ourselves behind the eight ball early and we chased hard and we stuck at it, but we didn’t get where expected to go and we expect to be better than that.
“We need to maximise our period of time now to make sure we get our chance to have a great season, and if we can do that, we expect a real bounce.”
