Port Adelaide assistant Brett Montgomery has identified the player who he believes will break out in 2021.
While youngster Zak Butters may have already broken out in his two years with the Power, Montgomery is backing him to elevate himself from a good player to a very good player this season.
“It’s probably a no-brainer for me, Zak Butters,” he said on Sportsday SA.
“But it’s probably not going out on a limb either, because of the improvement he showed last year.
“The skillset that he has and the game sense that he possesses, I just don’t see him not producing and not improving at the same rate.
“I’ve got an enormous amount of faith, as the other coaches do.
“He’s a real favourite down at Alberton, no doubt.”
Butters, 20, finished fourth in Port’s best and fairest count last year and made the All-Australian squad after a solid debut season in 2019.
Another developing young player at the Power is Todd Marshall who due to injuries, form and personal reasons has not quite grabbed hold of his spot in the starting 22 over four seasons at the club.
Montgomery says the challenge is there for the 22-year-old to cement his position in a competitive forward line.
“We thought he had an incredible patch during the middle of the year where he was giving us exactly what we needed,” he said of Marshall.
“He will be challenged for his position, no doubt, with (Mitch) Georgiades and (Peter) Ladhams, who has shown that he can play as a forward. He’s not just a one-trick pony in the ruck.
“The challenge will be on for him (Marshall) and it will be tight for spots in that part of the ground, which is what we’re looking for to make sure that Charlie (Dixon) is getting the help that he needs.”
Last week, Port announced that reigning club champion Darcy Byrne-Jones has been elevated to the leadership group alongside reappointed captain Tom Jonas and his deputies Hamish Hartlett and Ollie Wines.
Montgomery explained how the addition of Byrne-Jones came about with the current group recommending him to coach Ken Hinkley.
“Not that it wasn’t a great decision, but not in traditional channels either,” he said further.
“It was a really strong push from his co-leaders with Jonas, Hartlett and Wines to elevate him and think strongly enough about that decision to put that through Ken.
“Whilst it wasn’t something we were expecting at the time, it wasn’t all that surprising either.
“We’re looking to grow that group. Whilst it was a three-man group and we thought it was really effective last year, I think Darcy will add plenty.”
The Power will meet West Coast in the revised AAMI Community Series fixture at Leederville on March 7 before taking on North Melbourne at Marvel Stadium in their season opener on March 21.