Connor Rozee is expecting an increase in midfield usage this season, after an injury interrupted 2021 the 22 year old has completed a full pre-season to date.
He spoke with the media this week providing an update on his role and the flexibility in the team increasing the number of players to play through the middle of the ground in 2022.
“Plans are still to be in there, that’s all I’m planning for.”
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“I didn’t have any surgeries in the off-season which was a big bonus for me,”
“The last couple of years I’ve had a couple of surgeries that have kept me out for a fair while.”
“It’s been nice just to be a part of it for the whole pre-season and not miss any running and that sort of thing,”
“So I’m feeling really fit and strong at this stage,”
“And have been able to really push that midfield spot.”
“So hopefully I can stay fit coming into the season.”
“The plan at this stage is to play some more midfield minutes.”
“I think it will definitely be a bit of a jump from what I had last year.” Rozee said.
He also provided insight into the thinking from the Port Adelaide coaching staff.
“I think at this stage we’re going in with the mindset that we’re going to be really flexible,”
“There’s going to be a lot of boys I think roll through there,”
“And we’ve got a pretty good young brigade that are coming through there and putting their hands up.”
“I don’t think it’s going to be a case of one person dropping out and one coming in,”
“It’s probably going to be more of a case that we share the load a little bit more.”
“You’ll probably see Ollie (Wines) and Travis (Boak) and that sort of thing not necessarily drop out of the midfield but probably just more rotating through forward and using our strengths a little bit differently this year depending on who we’ve got.”
When asked specifically about Sam Powell-Pepper playing midfield that was acknowledged, Rozee saying Powell-Pepper has been “playing a fair bit of midfield minutes”.
Rozee also adding Jackson Mead, Zak Butters, Miles Bergman and himself playing through the midfield.
“It’s not just Trav and Ollie that will do the main lifting this year, hopefully we can have a lot of boys take bit of load off them and that will help us move forward as a group in the long term.” He added.
Rozee averaged 16.0 Disposals, 3.4 Marks, 2.9 Tackles and 1.0 Goal from 21 games in 2021.
Source: Port Adelaide
Image: Port Adelaide
Fantasy Impact: Connor Rozee averaged 67.7pts from 21 games in 2021, he scored a season high 105pts in Round 8 against Adelaide.
The plan last year was to get him to spend more time in the midfield, his injury interrupted pre-season impacted his ability to be used through the middle of the ground.
To date Rozee has completed a full pre-season with no off-season surgery, at full health and an increase in midfield usage should provide an increase in fantasy scoring output.
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He’s a consideration for season long fantasy at Round 1, it’s worth keeping an eye on the Charlie Dixon & Orazio Fantasia early season status.
It is possible Rozee could fill a void forward early if required, expect some form of forward usage through the year regardless.
He’s an option ahead of expected ADP in single season draft leagues, push him up on your draft boards.
