Justin Westhoff

Justin Westhoff
Personal information
Full name	Justin Westhoff
Date of birth	(1986-10-01) 1 October 1986
Original team	Central District (SANFL)
Draft	#71, 2006 National Draft, Port Adelaide
Height/Weight	199cm / 93kg
Position(s)	Forward
Club information
Current club	Port Adelaide
Number	39
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
2007–	Port Adelaide	115 (157)
1 Playing statistics to end of 2012 season .
Career highlights
2007 AFL Rising Star nominee Gavin Wanganeen Medal 2007 Showdown Medal Rd 4 2011

Justin Westhoff (born 1 October 1986) is a footballer currently playing for the Port Adelaide Football Club in the AFL. He also plays for Central District in the SANFL. He is the older brother of Matthew Westhoff and Leigh Westhoff. Westhoff was selected by Port Adelaide in the 2006 draft using their fifth round pick, being the 71st pick overall.

Westhoff was recruited to play as a ruckman for Port Adelaide, but has consolidated himself as a key forward.

Early life

Justin Westhoff was born in Eudunda, South Australia where he lived until the age of three. He then moved to Tanunda, South Australia. Justin's younger brother Matthew Westhoff and older brother Leigh Westhoff played for Central Districts in the SANFL league. Matthew played with the Port Adelaide Football Club alongside his brother Justin. He played just six games in his short career with Port and was delisted at the end of the 2011 season. A cousin Nick Westhoff was rookie listed by Richmond in 2010 but didn't play an AFL game.

AFL career

When drafted into the Power, Westhoff's appointed player-mentor was skipper Warren Tredrea.

On 17 April Westhoff was controversially suspended for two games for high contact on North Adelaide captain Darryl Wintle during Central District's 7 goal defeat of the Roosters in Round 1 of the SANFL. The suspension effectively prevented him from playing for three weeks, as Central District had a bye during that period.

On 3 June Westhoff's consistent goal kicking dominance at local level saw him make his AFL debut for Port Adelaide against Hawthorn. In an eventful debut he performed strongly, booting three goals (including two from his first two kicks) to become the first Power player to register a trio of majors on debut. Westhoff was also reported for charging the Hawks' Clinton Young in the last quarter, however this was later dismissed by the match review panel, as they deemed the contact unintentional and unavoidable.

Westhoff had his career best game against the West Coast Eagles in round 15 on 14 July kicking four goals, including two from contested marks on eventual All-Australian full back Darren Glass. Power coach Mark Williams praised the performance by calling his forward line work 'brilliant'. Westhoff's performance was further recognised with the AFL rising star nomination for Round 15. He has equalled his personal best 4 goal haul 6 times, but never has scored as many points in a game as Round 15, 2007.

Westhoff's strong season ended up in him finishing 4th in the 2007 AFL Rising Star competition gathering a total of 10 votes. He was also recognised with the Gavin Wanganeen Medal and the Best First Year Player award at the Power's club champion venue.

Westhoff played in Port Adelaide's losing AFL grand final side of 2007 at the MCG. His opponent on the day, Matthew Scarlett had 30 possessions while Westhoff was unable to have any impact on the game, frequently being pushed off in contests due to his slight stature. This prompted him to bulk up in following years to hopefully improve his contested marking abilities and allowing him to frequently kick bags of goals.

2008–2009

Westhoff in 2007.

The 2008 season saw Westhoff play a different role to the 2007 season in which he played more up the ground, unlike the previous season where he played a lot closer to the goals. As a result, Westhoff's goal kicking average saw a decline, only managing 22 goals in 21 games for the season, however this role increased his average of disposals up from 8.9 to 11.3; and marks up from 4.6 to 5.7 a game.

On 7 May Westhoff signed a three year contract extension to stay with the Power until the end of the 2011 season.

At one stage, Westhoff was also dropped from the Power's lineup in the round 13 game against the Richmond Tigers due to poor form. However he found his way back into the side the week after, by kicking 3 goals for the Central District.

Averaging 2.5 goals a game in the preseason, Westhoff was named in the Power's starting 18 against the Bombers for round 1, where he performed strongly kicking 3 goals, and picking up 15 disposals (including 10 marks). However, in round 2, he fractured his foot and was out for six weeks, being placed on the long-term injury list. He returned in round 11 after a late withdrawal from Robert Gray, and despite not having played any games since the injury, still managed to kick two goals, as well as 16 disposals (including 10 marks). He finished the season kicking 20 goals in 13 games.

2010–2011

The 2010 season saw Westhoff play as a ruckman, in a position made vacant by Brendon Lade who retired. He proved himself to still be a valuable part of the Power's forwardline, dominating in Showdown XXVIII, leading the Power in goalkicking with three goals in the third quarter. His scoring efforts put the game out of reach of the Adelaide Crows. After Round 10, 2010, he was dropped due to a poor performance in the previous game. In the return match of Showdown XXIX, he returned to his form of early in the season with four goals that gave the Power the win. He carried this form into the following week's game against Hawthorn, in which his strong performance earned him a spot in the AFL Team of the Week.

In round 4 of 2011, Westhoff won the Showdown Medal.

External links

• Justin Westhoff's profile on the official website of the Port Adelaide Football Club
• Justin Westhoff's statistics from AFL Tables