At a glance
4 wins / 13 losses – 8th on ladder
Wins
| Round 5 | Taxmanian Devils |
| Round 7 | Te Puke Pukekos |
| Round 17 | Taxmanian Devils |
| Round 18 | Love Sparkles |
Top 5 Scorers 2021
| Feelin Dusty | Tot. | Avg. |
| Cameron Guthrie GE | 2198 | 109.9 |
| Travis Boak PA | 2051 | 97.7 |
| Brandon Ellis GC | 1689 | 93.8 |
| Tom Liberatore WB | 1896 | 90.3 |
| Nic Naitanui WC | 1869 | 85 |
All-Australians
2021 Pre-Season Draft
| Pick | Player | Team | Games | Avg | Still on List? |
| 1 | W. Phillips NM – C | Feelin Dusty | 6 | 41.5 | Y |
| 11 | E. Gulden SY – C | Feelin Dusty | 13 | 73 | Y |
| 17 | A. Perkins ES – C,F | Feelin Dusty | 2 | 68 | Y |
| 21 | M. Pittonet CA – R | Feelin Dusty | 11 | 68.3 | Y |
| 31 | S. Wicks SY – F | Feelin Dusty | 12 | 63.9 | Y |
| 47 | D. Moore HW – F | Feelin Dusty | 15 | 72.9 | Y |
| 51 | B. McEvoy HW – B,R | Feelin Dusty | 17 | 78.5 | N |
| 81 | C. Ah Chee BL – B | Feelin Dusty | 13 | 39.9 | Y |
| 91 | W. Drew PA – C | Feelin Dusty | 14 | 76.7 | Y |
| 101 | T. Brockman HW – C,F | Feelin Dusty | 7 | 45.1 | Y |
| 111 | A. McPherson AD – B | Feelin Dusty | 0 | 0 | Y |
| 121 | J. Riccardi GWS – F | Feelin Dusty | 0 | 0 | Y |
| 131 | A. Nietschke ME – C | Feelin Dusty | 0 | 0 | N |
| 141 | N. Balta RI – B | Feelin Dusty | 0 | 0 | N |
| 151 | K. Coleman BL – F | Feelin Dusty | 0 | 0 | Y |
| 161 | B. Mihocek CW – F | Feelin Dusty | 16 | 64.4 | Y |
| 171 | T. Jonas PA – B | Feelin Dusty | 9 | 57.4 | Y |
| 181 | S. Edwards RI – C | Feelin Dusty | 0 | 0 | Y |
| 191 | T. Cutler ES – C | Feelin Dusty | 0 | 0 | Y |
Most inspired selection: Errol Gulden
Errol Gulden stand up and take a bow. With 4 100’s and an average of 73 across 17 games in his first season (along with finishing 2nd in the rising star award) Gulden was probably the best youngster from this draft. Gulden demonstrated a diverse range of scoring, consistently getting good tackles, marks and goals each game. And it could have been more as his scintillating early form, was slowed when injury struck in round 8. He looks like one who could hold fwd status for a much of his career as well, which is very nice. The sky’s the limit with this kid.
Rest of the Draft
This is just a solid draft all-round. Dylan Moore averaged 70 across 20 games in 2021, with a last 5 average of 85 which would make any coach stand up and take notice. Willem Drew, a 10th round draft pick looks poised to entrench himself in that Port midfield and potentially be the Trav Boak successor when he retires. Archie Perkins and Will Philips also are top end draft picks and look to be exciting talents for the future. Sam Wicks showed some signs, playing 21 games coming off an injury. Even Ben McEvoy was a great pick, showing great form and netting them Jarrod Witts (more on that to come). This draft has coach Jaye’s side positioned well for the future.
Trades
| Date | Team 1 | Received | Team 2 | Received |
| 25 March 2021 | Solomon’s Soldiers | Dustin Martin Ben McEvoy Feelin Dusty Rd 1 Pick Feelin Dusty Rd 3 Pick | Feelin Dusty | Matthew Rowell Jarrod Witts Alex Keath Solomon’s Soldiers Rd 2 Pick Solomon’s Soldiers Rd 6 Pick |
Only one trade, but it was a doozy. Shipping out their namesake and club legend Dustin Martin, alongside their first round pick – then looming as a pick 1 candidate, in an aggressive reset. The crown-jewel was Matthew Rowell, with Jarrod Witts a reasonably nice set of steak knives.
Of course the Soldier’s were also involved, but I don’t know that too many people (Jaye included) thought he would part with the generational talent that is Matt Rowell, so some might call this a steal by coach Jaye. However, Rowell has displayed troubling form since his return from injury (also, the fact he keeps getting injured…) but still, he was probably the number one prospect in the competition after the opening four games of his career. And with an impressive tankathon pushing that round 1 selection out to pick 3, the club should be feeling good about this move. But this author reserves the right to change his adjudication come the middle of season 2022.
The steak knives makes this trade particularly interesting. Jarrod Witts was in scintillating form before promptly doing a season ending injury the week after coach Jaye traded him in. He looks like one of the better ruckmen for next year, so it’ll be interesting if Feelin’ Dusty can squeeze him onto their list. Ben McEvoy on the other hand was thought to be on the decline prior to this trade, but went on to have a superb season and was a great asset for the Soldier’s on their march to the finals
List at end of season
| Feelin Dusty | Tot. | Avg. | Last 5 Avg |
| Cameron Guthrie GE | 2198 | 109.9 | 115.8 |
| Travis Boak PA | 2051 | 97.7 | 102 |
| Brandon Ellis GC | 1689 | 93.8 | 42 |
| Tom Liberatore WB | 1896 | 90.3 | 93.4 |
| Jarrod Witts GC | 259 | 86.3 | – |
| Nic Naitanui WC | 1869 | 85 | 84.8 |
| Caleb Serong FR | 1812 | 82.4 | 104 |
| Nick Vlastuin RI | 913 | 76.1 | 101 |
| Willem Drew PA | 1661 | 75.5 | 80.6 |
| Zachary Bailey BL | 1600 | 72.7 | 77.4 |
| Errol Gulden SY | 1235 | 72.6 | 74.2 |
| Xavier Duursma PA | 649 | 72.1 | 64 |
| Dylan Moore HW | 1407 | 70.4 | 85.7 |
| Nick Haynes GWS | 1335 | 70.3 | 77 |
| Marc Pittonet CA | 911 | 70.1 | – |
| Adam Saad CA | 1537 | 69.9 | 62.8 |
| Hayden Young FR | 551 | 68.9 | 79.2 |
| Shane Edwards RI | 1040 | 65 | 50.3 |
| Orazio Fantasia PA | 838 | 64.5 | 56.7 |
| Tom Doedee AD | 1347 | 64.1 | 73 |
| Brody Mihocek CW | 1340 | 63.8 | 71.5 |
| Tom Cutler ES | 621 | 62.1 | 68.6 |
| Kamdyn McIntosh RI | 1045 | 61.5 | 72 |
| Michael Walters FR | 984 | 61.5 | 50 |
| Tom Jonas PA | 1338 | 60.8 | 56 |
| Samuel Wicks SY | 1195 | 56.9 | 41.2 |
| Andrew McPherson AD | 909 | 56.8 | 68.6 |
| Matthew Rowell GC | 663 | 55.3 | 59.4 |
| Noah Balta RI | 766 | 54.7 | – |
| Alex Keath WB | 1089 | 54.5 | 19.3 |
| Mitchell Georgiades PA | 1112 | 53 | 50.2 |
| Jackson Hately AD | 157 | 52.3 | – |
| Archie Perkins ES | 954 | 50.2 | 36.8 |
| Will Phillips NM | 610 | 43.6 | 49 |
| Jake Riccardi GWS | 304 | 43.4 | 35 |
| Tyler Brockman HW | 472 | 42.9 | 39.4 |
| Callum Ah Chee BL | 828 | 41.4 | 52.6 |
| Keidean Coleman BL | 573 | 40.9 | 46.7 |
| Aaron Nietschke ME | – | – | – |
| Cameron Rayner BL | – | – | – |
Player to watch in 2022
Cam Rayner
A lot of young talent fitting the “players I’d like to watch” list, but Cam Rayner is the pick of the lot for me. With a year out of the system, and some indifferent form in early years, some had lost the faith he could ever live up to the #1 overall pick expectations. However, prior to his season ending injury, Rayner looked every bit the powerful, talented mid/fwd he was touted to be. With a full pre-season under his belt, expect this to be his breakout year. Coach Jaye may have traded out Dusty Martin, but I think we’re about to see a new Dusty in town. Might have to change their team name to Feelin’ Cam (on second thoughts, scrap that…)
2021 in Review
This was another year to forget on the field for team Dusty. For those looking on the bright side this team technically improved on their 2020 season moving up two spots. At this rate they’ll win the flag in 2025. They also had a real thing for beating up on the Taxmanian Devils, taking them out twice in the regular season, which may have been the only matchup coach Jaye cared about winning anyway.
While coach Max called round 17 to be the battle of the tanks, he in fact foreshadowed an interesting twist in league history the following round, as the round 18 matchup between Dusty and the Love Sparkles saw a league lowest combined result at that point in time, with Feelin’ Dusty coming up the loser, by winning the matchup 1179 to 926. While it may be a debate for the ethics classes, it was all legal in the pursuit of the coveted top two draft pick.
The rebuild on the other hand is in full swing and showing plenty of fruit to work with. Rayner, Philips, Perkins, Hately, Rowell, Haydn Young, Duursma, Gulden, Moore, Zach Bailey, Willem Drew, Caleb Serong, that’s almost a whole keeper list of under 24 year olds. Throw in some staples of team Dusty such as Boak, Guthrie, Liberatore et al and there is a great core here that will be making a statement on the competition soon.
A great draft, building on a core of strong youth mixed with some experienced heads to mentor them, means the fans are happy to trust the process here and ignore the on-field results. Trading out their namesake would seemingly leave any other team in no-mans land, but instead of losing an identity, coach Jaye’s team may have discovered a new one.
Season Grade: C+