Jake Neade’s role in Port Adelaide’s upset win over Sydney has earned the youngster round 13’s AFL Rising Star nomination.
The 19-year-old picked up 12 disposals and booted a goal in Saturday’s match at AAMI Stadium – his 11th top-flight appearance in his debut season.
Neade was picked up by Port in a pre-draft trade with Greater Western Sydney last year.
Port coach Ken Hinkley praised the small forward’s consistency since arriving at the club in the pre-season.
“The thing we love about Jake is that he is never intimidated by the size of the opposition and that is important given his small physical stature,” Hinkley said in a statement on Tuesday.
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“He enjoys the contested style of the game in that he loves tackling, loves chasing and loves doing all the things that we value so highly here at Port Adelaide.”
Neade is slight by AFL standards, standing at 168cm and weighing just 68kg, around the same as a jumps jockey.
When he arrived at Port he was 64kg and the club was confident he could disprove the doubters who though he was too small for the AFL.
Half way through his debut season he’s proven them wrong with the Rising Star nomination.
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“I reckon footy comes down to effort and what you bring to the table,” Neade told AFL.com.au.
“I’m very thankful to receive the nomination. but I’ll keep doing the things I’m good at and I’ll work on the things I need to improve on.”
Hinkley said the Neade story has a long way to go.
“He enjoys the contested style of the game in that he loves tackling, loves chasing and loves doing all the things that we value so highly here at Port Adelaide.
“And when he does have the ball he uses it very well.
“Being a first-year player Jake has plenty of footy ahead of him.
“He knows that he needs to work as hard as possible to continually improve his game to give himself the best opportunity to have a great career.”
Neade hails from Elliott, midway between Alice Springs and Darwin.
As a teenager he boarded at prestigious St Patrick’s College of Ballarat.
