- Oct 8, 2004
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WILLEM Drew is the forgotten man of Port Adelaide's feted midfield - and he wouldn't have it any other way. There's the brilliant young crop of Zak Butters, Connor Rozee and Jason Horne-Francis, Brownlow medallist Ollie Wines and Port's games record-holder and dual club champion Travis Boak. Then, there's Drew.
The unsung 70-gamer is often deployed in tagging roles on the opposition's most dangerous midfielder while rarely attracting attention. "It doesn't bother me too much at all," Drew told reporters on Tuesday. "Happy just to go about my business and do whatever is needed for the team. "Obviously we have got some really special players in our team who are playing really good footy so I am happy just to do my bit. "I'm a pretty low-key sort of bloke."
The 24-year-old was recruited from North Ballarat with pick 33 at the 2016 national draft. And since his AFL debut in 2019, Drew has become a mainstay of the Power line-up, playing every game since 2021, largely as a tagger. "Mostly it happens on game day," Drew said of his shutdown role.
https://www.afl.com.au/news/957439/coaches-votes-r15-pies-gun-closes-gap-at-top-four-perfect-10s
"If another mid gets on top of the game and (coach Ken Hinkley) Kenny thinks it's probably worth going to them. "During the week you always know who you're coming up against and know the players that are probably going to have the biggest impact. "So it's always a great challenge and one I am happy to do.
The unheralded Drew has been among Port's most consistent players in the South Australian club's longest AFL winning streak - 11 consecutive victories heading into Saturday night's clash against Essendon. Seven of those wins have been by 22 points or less in a streak which has lifted the Power to second spot on the ladder, behind leader Collingwood only by percentage. "You take away the wins and it has probably just been the way that we've been able to play and the way they've been able to win," Drew said. "Playing in different conditions, we have been up some weeks, we've been down some weeks and been able to fight back. "We have taken a lot of confidence out of that and we're going to keep building on that. "We still want to improve, we've definitely got a lot of things to work on and we're going to do that in the back half of the year."
www.afl.com.au
The unsung 70-gamer is often deployed in tagging roles on the opposition's most dangerous midfielder while rarely attracting attention. "It doesn't bother me too much at all," Drew told reporters on Tuesday. "Happy just to go about my business and do whatever is needed for the team. "Obviously we have got some really special players in our team who are playing really good footy so I am happy just to do my bit. "I'm a pretty low-key sort of bloke."
The 24-year-old was recruited from North Ballarat with pick 33 at the 2016 national draft. And since his AFL debut in 2019, Drew has become a mainstay of the Power line-up, playing every game since 2021, largely as a tagger. "Mostly it happens on game day," Drew said of his shutdown role.
https://www.afl.com.au/news/957439/coaches-votes-r15-pies-gun-closes-gap-at-top-four-perfect-10s
"If another mid gets on top of the game and (coach Ken Hinkley) Kenny thinks it's probably worth going to them. "During the week you always know who you're coming up against and know the players that are probably going to have the biggest impact. "So it's always a great challenge and one I am happy to do.
The unheralded Drew has been among Port's most consistent players in the South Australian club's longest AFL winning streak - 11 consecutive victories heading into Saturday night's clash against Essendon. Seven of those wins have been by 22 points or less in a streak which has lifted the Power to second spot on the ladder, behind leader Collingwood only by percentage. "You take away the wins and it has probably just been the way that we've been able to play and the way they've been able to win," Drew said. "Playing in different conditions, we have been up some weeks, we've been down some weeks and been able to fight back. "We have taken a lot of confidence out of that and we're going to keep building on that. "We still want to improve, we've definitely got a lot of things to work on and we're going to do that in the back half of the year."
Port's unsung hero happy to fly under radar in star-studded midfield
Willem Drew says he's the unsung member of Port Adelaide's midfield, and he wouldn't have it any other way
www.afl.com.au
