Respectable rates of 23 disposals, five marks and five tackles weren't enough to earn Sam Mayes a promotion from the SANFL to his first senior game with Port after six years at the Lions. He was moved from half back to wing at his new club, though he added four clearances per game to show a good spread of inside and outside work. There are two positions in which Port Adelaide has depth charts longer than your arm: outside midfielder and half back flank. Mayes is unfortunate to qualify for both of those, well towards the bottom in both. Unless he can reinvent himself in a new position in which the club has a greater need, like small forward, his fate may be to moulder at the lower level.
Sam may stew in seconds
Respectable rates of 23 disposals, five marks and five tackles weren't enough to earn Sam Mayes a promotion from the SANFL to his first senior game with Port after six years at the Lions. He was moved from half back to wing at his new club, though he added four clearances per game to show a good spread of inside and outside work. There are two positions in which Port Adelaide has depth charts longer than your arm: outside midfielder and half back flank. Mayes is unfortunate to qualify for both of those, well towards the bottom in both. Unless he can reinvent himself in a new position in which the club has a greater need, like small forward, his fate may be to moulder at the lower level.
Mayes is Mr February
If Sam Mayes wants to be the replacement for Jared Polec on a wing for Port Adelaide, he will have to overcome the overwhelming impression from his 2018 stat sheet, where he was literally half the player that Polec was: about half his rates of kicks, tackles, contested touches, inside 50s, rebound 50s, score involvements and metres gained. He delivered startable fantasy averages in three of his six years at Brisbane, and only one in the last four. The only thing going for Mayes is that if he snags a starting job in the seniors, he will most likely play midfield rather than in defence while being classified in fantasy competitions as a back. To be fair, he doesn't have to beat Polec, just the blokes who remained. He is the sort of player who can get on a hot streak, and Port won the clearance averages last season so there's plenty of supply if he can get to the right areas. Worth a late speculator if he has a decent preseason.
Maybe not on Mayes
After deservedly going undrafted in many leagues last year with a history of sub-replacement scoring off a HBF, Sam Mayes might have been picked up for some spot starts as he posted five fantasy tons. He also didn't reach 70 on ten occasions. Mayes' senior spot is probably reliant on him moving up the ground as Luke Hodge and Alex Witherden should squeeze him out of the backline. He's the best of a poor group of outside receivers at the Lions, but that's not saying much. Only play him as a last resort.
