WE ARE on the board and happy to have the first win out of the way.

Jarryd Roughead and Lance Franklin put in some solid performances up forward but what I thought was most encouraging was seeing the emergence of blokes like Brendan Whitecross and Jarryd Morton for us in their second and third years respectively.

Brendan has grown quite a bit over the pre-season. He is attacking the ball and when he gets it he uses it well. Jarryd has been given some opportunities over the past couple of weeks and has grabbed them with both hands. He has put his hand up and has really shown a bit.

Following 2008 the challenge is for the next group of guys to push into the team and work hard. That’s where we’re going to get extra improvement. These guys are a really good example of that. That next group is going to challenge the senior guys and it is going to be a sign of how well we’re going.

Touch wood, we should have some handy inclusions this week. Simon Taylor’s has served his time after he was suspended in round one and Robbie Campbell, Brad Sewell and Jordan Lewis are also a chance to come back from injury.

Having Simon and Robbie back will be good for our structure. It adds plenty of depth to our ruck stocks and means that Roughy will be spending more time back in the forward line, which makes my life a lot easier as forwards coach.

We’re coming up against a pretty tough opposition this week in Port Adelaide.

Quite a few people at our club have crossed over from the Power. Alastair Clarkson, Damien Hardwick and Stuart Dew spring to mind and they have a reasonable feel for Port Adelaide.

That said though, structures and strategies change quickly and those guys have been out of that system for a few years now.

They’ve had two wins and a loss, their form has been excellent and I think it should be a strong contest.

Speaking of contests, I’m in one at the moment to predict our end of season club membership. At last count we were at 49,182 and I’ve predicted we’ll make it to 51,000. So come on you Hawk fans who haven’t renewed yet, and help me win those bragging rights.