Player Watch Aliir Aliir

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Interesting story as to why the talk about Port's interest in AA gragged out ...


Port Adelaide recruit Aliir Aliir says the prospect of cementing a spot as a key defender in a premiership contender convinced him to join the Power on a four-year deal. After coming to Adelaide to tour Alberton on Monday, and having dinner with new teammates Tom Jonas and Ryan Burton, Aliir agreed to a four-year deal to move to the Power from Sydney in exchange for a future second-round pick.

He told The Advertiser the move to the Power only really heated up last week, after he could actually physically talk following end-of-season surgery on his jaw.
“Chris Davies (Port Adelaide general manager of football) had been trying to get in contact with my management and Paul (Connors) and Robbie (D’Orazio) kept saying, ‘Mate, he can’t talk, he’s just had jaw surgery, so he can’t talk properly’,” Aliir said.

“So, from last week when I could actually talk properly I was able to get on a zoom call with them and the plan was to get me to Adelaide and see everything and from there it all moved pretty quick.”

 
RussellEbertHandball said:
From August 2019, tells some of his life story to Neroli Meadows.





Some stuff from his early footy days.

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Great interview, he seems to be a real quality young man. I think he's going to be an asset to our club both on and off-field. Credit to Neroli too for the way she interviewed him.
 
Janey said:
Great interview, he seems to be a real quality young man. I think he's going to be an asset to our club both on and off-field. Credit to Neroli too for the way she interviewed him.
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Yep. Thats one of the best AFL interviews I have seen in ages. A few tears shed.

It makes me want us to pick up Majak as a DFA. He'd be a back up ruck/forward and defender. Pretty handy on a smaller list.

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I hate how people call him the Westhoff Replacement. We also need a tall defender while Ladhams is the player that can go forward and play Ruck. He has the height but is also mobile. Something tells me that in a good system he can be an even better defender. Not that the Swans don't have a good system, just that our back is really settled...
 
Power freak 2008 said:
I hate how people call him the Westhoff Replacement. We also need a tall defender while Ladhams is the player that can go forward and play Ruck. He has the height but is also mobile. Something tells me that in a good system he can be an even better defender. Not that the Swans don't have a good system, just that our back is really settled...
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Yes I agree, Westhoff was never a regular key defender. He often slipped back into defence to play as an extra tall but was never a key defender. Most of this 'Westhoff replacement' rubbish is coming from sections of the media who rarely take an interest in anything Port Adelaide. Aliir Aliir has the game to play a key role in our defence and if anything he is more a replacement in the defensive role earmarked for Jack Watts before he was injured.
 
Power freak 2008 said:
I hate how people call him the Westhoff Replacement. We also need a tall defender while Ladhams is the player that can go forward and play Ruck. He has the height but is also mobile. Something tells me that in a good system he can be an even better defender. Not that the Swans don't have a good system, just that our back is really settled...
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I'm happy for him to do some ruck hit-outs in the defensive 50, but certainly not pushed up the ground to contest centre bounces.

Next year I'd be stoked as our ruck situation being:
Main ruck : Lycett/ Hayes
Second ruck / Ruck-forward : Ladhams
Takes some hitouts in defense : Alliir

Him taking a few hitouts in defense is a plus, it means we don't have to have Lycett / Hayes / Ladhams pushing back or playing an undersized KPD at ruck contests down back. Leaving Lycett / Hayes / Ladhams fresher should help us run over teams late, especially teams with only one ruck, but that's a far cry from Westhoff Mk. 2.

We finally played KPP's/Rucks in their right position in 2020, going to Hoff 2.0 as counted as a KPP, but not playing as one would undo one of the key things that helped us up the ladder this year.
 

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From ESPN

Aliir Aliir is a perfect fit for the Power and is a key piece who can take Port Adelaide's defence up another level. To get the most value out of Aliir, Port must use him at centre half-back and allow him the freedom to intercept and utilise his ball-reading gifts. When Sydney did this with Aliir in 2018, he was the only key defender in the competition to rate elite for marks, intercept marks and intercepts per game, while also having an elite win rate of 12 percent in defensive one-on-ones.
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https://www.espn.com.au/afl/story/_...ade-period-free-agency-every-club-moves-rated
 
Ford Fairlane said:
From ESPN



https://www.espn.com.au/afl/story/_...ade-period-free-agency-every-club-moves-rated
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Yep. He can also push forward and kick goals which is great for our forward press. "What I really like," said Hinkley to Carlile in 2014 before the game against Hawthorn, "is when you join in." This is exactly what Aliir will be able to do. He's going to absolutely thrive in our system.

RussellEbertHandball said:
So when we play Geelong next year, does Aliir take Cameron or Hawkins?
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With Aliir and possibly Jones and Bergman in the side, I wouldn't worry about individual matchups. If we're at a stage where Cameron or Hawkins are one on one in defence, something has broken down.
 
Very excited about AA.

His fit for us onfield goes without saying, exactly what we need and should release McKenzie to be able to run off more and play to his strengths.

Off field he'll be a huge asset and a great role model for a lot of the East African communities within Adelaide. Great head on his shoulders.

Fantastic identification and credit to our team for having the reputation and good relationships to facilitate what could have been a tricky trade with relative ease.
 
TheFVK said:
Very excited about AA.

His fit for us onfield goes without saying, exactly what we need and should release McKenzie to be able to run off more and play to his strengths.

Off field he'll be a huge asset and a great role model for a lot of the East African communities within Adelaide. Great head on his shoulders.

Fantastic identification and credit to our team for having the reputation and good relationships to facilitate what could have been a tricky trade with relative ease.
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Yes ... "And thats how you do it Dodoro you dill!"
 
His latest post on Instagram is all class. Someone here with a bit more tech clue than me might post it for those that don’t have Instagram.
 
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