PORT Adelaide fans once again have a father-son prospect to keep tabs on in 2021, with Jase Burgoyne (son of Peter) currently on trial at SANFL League level. The 17-year-old is essentially on a month-long loan with Port’s reserves side given his ties to the club, but will soon return to his home club in Woodville-West Torrens. He ran out for his third top flight outing in the classic prison bar strip on Saturday afternoon, collecting 17 disposals and eight marks across half-back. Much like his father was during the early days of his career with the Magpies and Power, the younger Burgoyne is quite lightly built but shows plenty of class on the ball. He has no trouble finding it, often utilised as an accumulating midfielder at Under 18s level. The step up in competition has seen him revert back to a role in the back six, where he was able to wax with the likes of Tyson Goldsack and Hamish Hartlett, who have 346 AFL games between them. Burgoyne is the prospect under our SANFL League Player Focus microscope this week; we run you through his game quarter-by-quarter, and bring you the key stats out of his Round 8 showing.

Jase Burgoyne WWT Eagles/Port Adelaide

DOB: 15/07/2003 Height/Weight: 185cm/64kg Position: Half-Back/Midfielder

2021 Averages:

Under 18s: 2 games | 25.5 disposals | 17.5 kicks | 8.0 handballs | 5.0 marks | 2.5 tackles | 1.5 clearances | 3.0 inside 50s League: 3 games | 15.7 disposals | 9.0 kicks | 6.7 handballs | 4.3 marks | 1.0 tackles | 0.3 clearances | 1.7 rebound 50s

2021 SANFL League, Round 8 | Port Adelaide 12.9 (81) def. West Adelaide 8.4 (52)

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#18 Jase Burgoyne (Port Adelaide)

Stats: 17 disposals | 12 kicks | 5 handballs | 8 marks | 2 tackles | 2 rebound 50s

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Quarter-by-quarter:

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Q1:

Starting on the bench before rotating straight into the defence, Burgoyne took some time to warm to the contest. He was a little lenient in his defensive marking, but worked hard when the opportunity rose to spread offensively. The youngster’s first touch was a quick handball after calling to receive inside defensive 50, dishing off under some tackling pressure. He then began to get into what would become his usual method for the day, setting up well behind the play and offering a safe outlet option in space. He took two uncontested marks in Port’s kick-mark chains out of the back half and used the ball cleanly with short kicks over the top. Burgoyne also showed his smarts with a dinky snap under pressure at half-back, finding a teammate with quick thinking and good skill execution. That brought him to a total of five disposals (four kicks, one handball) and two marks for the quarter, making for a steady start to proceedings.

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Q2:

Once again coming into the game off the bench after six minutes or so, Burgoyne again favoured the outer and tended to hang off the contest in the early stages – even when his direct opponent entered. Whether a product of instruction or otherwise, it mattered little as the 17-year-old managed to get his hands on the ball in the latter half of the term. He crept around the back on the wing for a handball receive but made a couple of rare skill errors by hand, twice inviting ground ball pressure before working to keep his side in possession. Burgoyne continued to lurk uncontested around the marker to get the easy dish and kick forward, fixing up his next handball and even attempting to get more involved defensively. He ended the half with another five disposals (two kicks, three handballs), one tackle, and a spoil.

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Q3:

The third was easily Burgoyne’s least productive quarter, with the father-son prospect still stationed in the back half where there was, admittedly, not much work to be done. Port eventually broke West Adelaide down, inflicting a five-minute flurry of late goals to tear the game open. Burgoyne’s lone touch for the quarter came from an uncontested mark on half-back at the 16-minute mark, which he used to chip a typically clean kick over to the wing. There was an earlier contest where he fresh-aired an attempt to kick off the ground, but could perhaps have run through the line of it and copped contact on the defensive 50 arc. No harm done, as he finished with one disposal (one kick) and one mark.

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Q4:

Burgoyne recaptured a bit of ball winning form to cap off the game, again looking assured on the ball and using it efficiently. He came into the quarter off the bench once more, drifting forward through the corridor to mark, but rushing his first kick a touch and seeing it turned over. He fixed that area up quickly, taking more time with his next disposal by stepping back on the mark and delivering in a much neater fashion by foot. Burgoyne rounded out the day with three more uncontested marks, two of which came inside defensive 50 as a safe chip option. He kicked well with each of those opportunities, finding teammates over the top to continue Port’s chain forward. It proved a pretty handy end to the contest for Port and Burgoyne, as he notched six disposals (five kicks, one handball) and five marks – his best quarter on numbers alone.

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Closing thoughts…

While Burgoyne has plenty of filling out to do and contested aspects to work on, he played his role well at the senior level as an effective option and user of the ball on the outside. He reads the play well and knows when to set off, or where to move in order to contribute to his side’s transitional play. His teammates also trusted him when dishing off as he ran by, making for a solid overall contribution to the win. Again, those contested and defensive acts will be areas of improvement, but Burgoyne played to his strengths by working into space and disposing of the ball quickly with clean execution.

Image Credit: Port Adelaide FC