A host of players who have been through the AFL system were able to give Port Adelaide mid-season recruit Harrison Ramm the "extra edge" he needed to take his game to new heights in 2025.
The Glenelg key defender was taken with Pick 3 in Wednesday's Mid-Season Draft, remaining in South Australia by landing at Alberton.
Eligible for last year's draft, Ramm believed he "wasn't ready" for the top flight after a history of injuries had hampered past preparations.
Returning to Glenelg over the summer as a member of the Bays' senior side, Ramm got to work alongside Tigers veteran Max Proud and ex-Saint Oscar Adams at training, with the latter also taken in the Mid-Season Draft by Gold Coast.
Speaking on Thursday, Ramm said the knowledge and mentorship of Proud and Adams has helped take his game to new levels this year.
"I probably wasn't ready last year. I had a bit going on and faced a bit of injury before that season," the 18-year-old said.
"It just took a good pre-season and good people around me to level up my game and put myself in contention to get picked up.
"Oscar Adams has been unreal in the backline, just giving me guidance. The whole backline is great at Glenelg, definitely helped me level up my game.
"Oscar and 'Proudy', those boys know the game so well and have been a part of it for so long."
The Glenelg backline wasn't the only group that helped Ramm build his craft, with the teenager having to go head-to-head with two of the SANFL's best forwards in premiership pair Liam McBean and Lachlan Hosie.
McBean has been a spearhead for the Tigers since leaving Richmond in 2026, while Hosie spent two seasons with North Melbourne.
The duo, as well as Adams, have helped mould Ramm into a ready-made name for the AFL, with their professional experience giving the backman the needed "extra one or two per cent".
"Yeah definitely," Ramm said of learning the needed skills by training against McBean and Hosie over the summer.
"Liam McBean and Hosie in pre-season were unreal to train (against) , two of the best forwards in the SANFL. That definitely prepared me for the season.
"I felt like I had that little extra edge over everybody. It gave me that little extra one or two per cent. I haven't really been able to train on forwards of that quality in the past few years."
While already stopping the tape at 202cm, Ramm has revealed he's still growing.
His height has given him the advantage of being able to be deployed across all three lines, with Ramm able to pinch-hit in the ruck or swing forward.
"I've been thrown around in quite a few positions this year. A bit up forward and a bit in the ruck," he said.
day one ๐ฅน pic.twitter.com/gNQpRcNozX
— Port Adelaide FC (@PAFC) May 29, 2025
"There's definitely opportunities [in defence]. Going from learning off 'Proudy' to learning off the best in the AFL is so exciting.
"I've always played a bit of ruck in juniors. So there's definitely a possibility to get thrown in there now and again."
Ramm is one of three new recruits for the Power, with fellow SANFL stars Ewan Mackinley and Mani Liddy also signing with Port Adelaide.
