The Craziness Of The 2004 AFL Draft - Port Adelaide
11 Adam Thomson
19 Ryan Willits
34 James Ezard
35 Fabian Deluca
51 Ben Eckermann
From The Age: Who your team picked
The 2004 AFL draft wasn't the most important thing that year for Port Adelaide as they had just won the Grand Final. With Josh Carr going to Fremantle, the Power were able to use some extra picks but it didn't do a lot for them.
Port Adelaide made an effort to find a future ruckman to replace Lade, Brogan and Primus and picked Willits and Deluca. Both are still at Port Adelaide, with Willits now on the rookie list, but they could be gone before Lade and Brogan are. Thomson is a useful player for Port Adelaide, but the Power could have used that pick on Cameron Wood and gone with smaller players later in the draft.
Port Adelaide decided to keep their picks and to look to the future with this draft, instead of trading for veterans that could have helped them defend their title in 2005. It was an idea that did make some sense but they just picked the wrong players.
The Craziness Of The 2004 AFL Draft - Melbourne
19 Ryan Willits
34 James Ezard
35 Fabian Deluca
51 Ben Eckermann
From The Age: Who your team picked
THE CLUB SAYS "We looked at the going-home factor, because that has really affected us over the last couple of years ... Ben (Eckermann) and Adam (Thomson) have both come from Sturt, so their mateship should work well." - Mark Williams, Port Adelaide coach
The 2004 AFL draft wasn't the most important thing that year for Port Adelaide as they had just won the Grand Final. With Josh Carr going to Fremantle, the Power were able to use some extra picks but it didn't do a lot for them.
Port Adelaide made an effort to find a future ruckman to replace Lade, Brogan and Primus and picked Willits and Deluca. Both are still at Port Adelaide, with Willits now on the rookie list, but they could be gone before Lade and Brogan are. Thomson is a useful player for Port Adelaide, but the Power could have used that pick on Cameron Wood and gone with smaller players later in the draft.
Port Adelaide decided to keep their picks and to look to the future with this draft, instead of trading for veterans that could have helped them defend their title in 2005. It was an idea that did make some sense but they just picked the wrong players.
The Craziness Of The 2004 AFL Draft - Melbourne
