Former Demon Liam Jurrah is currently training with Port Adelaide. Picture: Alex Coppel. Source: Herald Sun
PORT Adelaide has put strict conditions on drafting Liam Jurrah.
The former Demon must report to training in reasonable shape today and attend every session in the lead-up to the pre-season and rookie drafts to be considered for one of the three remaining spots on its remodelled list.
Port says talent alone will not win the indigenous ace a position at the club.
"We know Liam is talented and that's why we are looking at him," national recruiting manager Geoff Parker said.
"But that's only part of the package now. On Thursday night (at the national draft) we saw a couple of very talented players miss out for various reasons.
"Talent might get you looked at but other things get you picked."
All eyes will be on the 24-year-old forward when he trains with Port for the first time at Alberton Oval this morning.
It will be Jurrah's first training session since walking out on Melbourne in August after what he described as the "worst year" of his life.
He moved to Adelaide to live with family members but faces a court hearing in March to answer three counts of aggravated assault and intent to cause serious harm relating to a February incident in Alice Springs.
But his talent is undeniable. He has kicked 81 goals in 36 games and was Melbourne's leading goalkicker in 2011 with 40. He played only one AFL game this year because of off-field problems and injury.
Jurrah has fallen behind former Bomber Brent Prismall in Port's pre-season pecking order but is in contention for one of two rookie-list spots.
The pair are among nine players the Power has invited to training alongside Central District's Sam Colquhoun, Norwood's Jaryd Cachia and the Port Magpies' Kory Beard, Aseri Raikiwasa, Justin Hoskin, Sam Gray and Sean Lemmens.
Jurrah has 14 days to prove he is worthy of the Power rolling the dice on him.
"The coaches want to see what condition he's in, how he fits in with the group, how he trains and where his mindset is at," Parker said.
"We expect him to be at every session we have in the next two weeks and then we'll make an assessment."
Jurrah is reportedly overweight but Parker said he hadn't seen him.
"So we'll see how he turns up," he said.
"Like the other players we've invited out we'll give him the chance to show his talent in front of the coaching group and see how hard they attack training mentally when it gets hard," he said.
Essendon coach James Hird has virtually conceded Prismall will end up with Port after previously guaranteeing he would re-draft him when he was delisted at the end of the year. The 26-year-old midfielder started training with the Power on Monday.
"Brent's now on the open market and Port sound like they're pretty keen on Brent and that's good for him," Hird said.
"As a professional footballer, we would have offered him a one-year deal and they look like they'll offer him a bit longer than that, and good on him to secure his future.
"In the time of professional football, that's a sound business decision by Brent."
Prismall - who has played under new Power coach Ken Hinkley and assistant coach Alan Richardson at Geelong and Essendon respectively - ticked "a few boxes" for Port.
"He's a very smart player, he kicks the ball really well, he makes good decisions and at 26 he brings some leadership and experience to a pretty young side too," Parker said.
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