Jasper Pittard Biography

Following a disastrous 2020 campaign where the Kangaroos finished second-last on the ladder, North Melbourne begins a savage cull of its list with eleven players delisted.

Leadership group members Jamie Macmillan and Jasper Pittard are among them, while Majak Daw's incredible comeback from serious injuries sustained two years ago looks over.

Ben Jacobs, Paul Ahern, Mason Wood, Sam Durdin, Marley Williams, Joel Crocker, Lachie Hosie, and Tom Murphy round out the Kangaroos' delistings.

Jack Ziebell will lead North Melbourne as captain again in 2020, with a leadership group that has doubled in size.

Ben Cunnington, Trent Dumont, Jasper Pittard and youngster Jy Simpkin have been promoted to the eight-man contingent ahead of Rhyce Shaw's first full season in charge.

Jamie Macmillan has retained his place, while Shaun Higgins has been elevated to vice-captain alongside 2019 deputy Robbie Tarrant.

"I reckon it's a really really good group in terms of its diversity," Roos coach Rhyce Shaw said.

"We've got guys that have been there for a period of time and a great crop of first-timers in Trent, Jy, Ben and Jasper who have all put in some real work to better themselves as players, teammates and people."

Port Adelaide forward Brad Ebert says the club holds no grudges against former teammates Jared Polec and Jasper Pittard who will return to Adelaide this week as players for North Melbourne.

"Jasper went for more opportunity and Polly went for other reasons, so it depends on how they take that as players," Ebert said.

"We understand there's that business side to football so we're not holding any grudges against Polly. When you're getting offered those sort of deals, it's hard to say no.

"We're not sitting here going, 'Polly should be still here', or anything like that. We've moved on as a group and they've moved on as players."

North Melbourne recruit Jasper Pittard says a limited pre-season hampered his output in 2018.

"I had a bit of an interrupted pre-season and for me, really, my best footy's always come when I've had a full pre-season," Pittard said.

"My last two seasons I've come off interrupted pre-seasons.

"I thought this year, physically, I actually got back to good shape, but it was about translating the form as well, which was a bit more of a challenge.

"I'm probably in the best shape I've been at this time of year for two or three years, so I'm really excited about that and I'm glad I'm coming to North at a time I physically feel well."

North Melbourne secures both Jared Polec and Jasper Pittard in a trade with Port Adelaide.

The Kangaroos sent pick No.11 and a future fourth-round selection to the Power in exchange for the duo, while acquiring this year's pick No.48 from Port.

"Jared is coming off a career-best year. He will no doubt add a tremendous amount of run and class to our list, playing in the midfield and on a wing," North footy boss Cameron Joyce said.

"We're probably thinking that Jasper is that high defender, that running, kicking defender, that we've been looking for."

Jasper Pittard will have a delayed start to the 2018 season, with his latest hamstring injury set to keep him sidelined for up to five weeks.

Jasper Pittard suffers a hamstring strain during Port Adelaide's 26-point win against the Crows in the pre-season at Alberton Oval.

Pittard will miss about three weeks, ruling him out of the Power's season opener for 2018.

Jasper Pittard commits to a new three-year deal with Port Adelaide that will keep him at the club until the end of 2020.

Power coach Ken Hinkley says he believes Jasper Pittard will remain at the club after the out of contract defender was dropped from the round 13 senior side to face Brisbane.

"I know one thing – Jasper wants to play for Port Adelaide," Hinkley said.

"When he's playing really good football, he's winning one-on-one battles, he's competing hard in the air and on the ground and then he's running and setting us up.

"I know he'll do everything he can to be in the form he wants to be."

Jasper Pittard is putting contract talks on hold with the Power due to the pending collective bargaining agreement between the AFL and the AFL Players' Association.

Pittard, however, says he has no intention of leaving.

"It's not a matter of me weighing up options or anything, I'm really happy at the club," Pittard said.

"I'm really positive about the way we're going and the direction we're moving after a tough couple of years.

"I just want to play footy here and it's as simple as that. I've been here for eight years and haven't wanted to leave."

Jasper Pittard faces a delayed start to the season after scans confirmed he suffered a grade one hamstring strain in Port Adelaide's pre-season loss to Richmond.

"It's a grade one strain so I'd say he's unlikely to play in round one," Power head of high performance Darren Burgess said.

"Jasper has a history with hamstring problems from the early part of his career, so that's something we’ll be mindful of as we put him through rehab."

Jasper Pittard is in doubt for the club's season opener against Sydney after injuring his left hamstring against Richmond in the JLT Community Series.

In-form Port Adelaide defender Jasper Pittard says it's the cohesion of the Power's back six and the faith instilled in him by coach Ken Hinkley that has led to his career-best form.

''The boys in the back six, we've played a lot of good footy together now,'' Pittard said.

''We've got that synergy with each other and I think we've started to work out how to play with each other."

Pittard said he had also enjoyed the extra responsibility Hinkley has put on him this year.

''I've been around the traps a while now and it hasn't really been a conscious decision to play a certain way, but I feel like my game has been building over a number of years,'' Pittard said.

''I'm starting to make better decisions consistently.

''That's been the big part of my improvement, being a bit more consistent with those decisions, a bit more calmer with the ball and continually trying to defend aggressively.''

Jasper Pittard says his aim in 2016 is to be more composed when running the lines with the ball in hand.

"I always like to run hard and take the game on, but I'm just trying to cut those mistakes out of my game and be really composed with the ball," Pittard said.

"That's something I've really worked hard on and as a back six in general over the pre-season; I think I'm making some in-roads there.

"[The aim is to get] us guys down back more composed and being able to really set up the game, take the pressure off our midfielders at times and then launch when we get the opportunity."

Jasper Pittard says Power coach Ken Hinkley has showed enormous faith in him but that he still needs to iron out some flaws in his game.

"When Kenny got to the club I had played 15 games – so he really enforced to me 'you're part of the future but we've got some areas to work on'," Pittard said.

"I need to start becoming much more damaging offensively, that's my goal, that's why I take risks and try and use my legs.

"What I'm learning now is the timing – when is the time to do it, when is the time not to…the teams who have guys who can really take it on and practice those hard kicks, are the ones who have the rebound inside 50s and get lots of goals that way."

Ollie Wines and Justin Westhoff sign new deals with the Power that will keep them at the club until the end of 2016 and 2017 respectively.

The duo were joined by young defenders Jasper Pittard who signed until the end of 2017 and Cam O'Shea who committed until the end of 2016.

"It's very positive, it shows that they believe in what we're doing, how we're going about it and that they want to be a part of it," Power coach Ken Hinkley said.

"The best compliment you can get for a football program when you have people wanting to stay in it."

Jasper Pittard is sidelined with a hip flexor injury.

"We've just got to be mindful that we know his history and I'm not going to rush him back to put him in jeopardy to miss a long period of time," Power coach Ken Hinkley said.

Jasper Pittard sustains an injury after an on-field collision with teammate Chad Wingard but earns praise from Power coach Matthew Primus.

"I think he's got a little fracture of his rib and a little bit of bleeding in the lungs at the moment so they'll just keep him under observation and make sure it doesn't bleed too much," Primus said.

"We'll probably miss him for a couple of weeks but the courage to keep his eye on the ball was terrific for his first game back in."

Power defender Jasper Pittard will be in hospital for a few days after suffering a fractured rib and partially collapsed lung from a collision with teammate Chad Wingard.

Three hamstring injuries have not discouraged Port youngster Jasper Pittard, who is jumping at the chance to play in the NAB Cup.

"Injuries are a part of the game and that's why the best players and the most consistent players manage their bodies so well," he said.

"It's about finding a way, finding a balance. I'm in my third year now, so hopefully with the help of the fitness guys I'll find that balance."

Jasper Pittard has overcome a frustrating 2010 where he suffered a hamstring and a year with Sturt to be the round four NAB Rising Star nominee.

"Every player in the AFL gets injured at some stage and it's really important how they deal with the injury. Hopefully they try to come back stronger. I probably didn't deal with it that well and got frustrated," Pittard said.

"It's all a learning experience and part of my development. Probably the fact I was an emergency spurred me on throughout the pre-season to want to get a game this year. At the moment I'm holding up all right but it's a long season."

Jasper Pittard makes his AFL debut for Port Adelaide at Docklands Stadium with 12 disposals (10 kicks and 2 handballs), 3 marks and 2 tackles in a 75-point loss to Collingwood.

To the surprise of many, Port Adelaide lightweight Jasper Pittard was sent to the 'fat club' after returning from holidays overweight.

"It wasn't the weight that was the issue, it was the skinfolds. I just snuck over the skinfold barrier in the testing and ended up in the fat club," Pittard said.

"The boys were saying I was the skinniest fat bloke they'd ever seen, so they had a few jokes at my expense. It was a bit of an eye-opener. I thought I was doing well putting the weight on, but I hadn't taken into account the skinfolds."

Port Adelaide recruit Jasper McMillan-Pittard says his size, or lack thereof, is no big deal.

"Knowing how slight I was, I didn't want to focus on my weight. I wanted to focus on my speed and my endurance and that's how I was able to play at senior level," he said.

"It's going to be different at SANFL and AFL level because the bodies are far bigger than in the senior competition I've played in, but I feel I can take the body contact and it's not too much of a big deal for me."