A Power forward booted three four-goal hauls in the opening four rounds of the season, but coach Mitch Troy shifted him to the back line. Find out why.
The Power’s vice-captain booted 14 goals in the opening four rounds, including three games with four majors, but was moved to the half back line ahead of round 5.
Troy said the move was made to help with team balance, with Steele open to the new opportunity.
“It’s better for our team balance, we feel we can use him as a threat in the air defensively and then also we feel he’s got some great speed and he can use the ball really well,” he said.
“We thought we’d give him a freshen up rather than have him be our main focal point down forward, it changes our look down forward a little bit, and it also gives him another opportunity to mentally focus on something else and improve other parts of his game.
Andrew Steele has booted 15 goals this year. Picture Mark Wilson
“He loves it, his attitude towards the change has been second to none, I know the back men love having him down there, he’s done a great job in a couple of games.
“He might not be kicking as many goals from back there, but if he can snag one or two playing down back that’d be awesome for us.
“We knew the challenge we had against Torquay a few weeks ago, they’re obviously a great side and they’ll be hard to beat, but he fit in really well back there and he got along with the guys down there, they worked really well together.”
Newcomb averaged 67.3 points per game when Steele was being used as a forward, securing its only win of the season so far in round 1 against Portarlington, but the average has dropped to just 40 points per game since the move, with big losses to Geelong Amateur, Torquay and Barwon Heads.
Troy said the move was also helping his younger forwards develop and take on more responsibility in key attacking roles.
“When we get it down there we’ve got a couple of different looks, whether it’s a smaller option or a taller look,” he said.
“We’ve got a young fella in Jack Drought that’s coming along really nicely with his development, we’re just going to keep playing him in games and get him to learn from the older guys.
“Andrew is a very good leader, he’s still got some flaws in his game that he’s working on, which I love, so to have him want to move for the team’s sake is great.”