Last year, Isaiah Dudley’s family only got a glimpse of their young star on the Gather Round stage, having been deployed as Fremantle’s substitute player in sweltering Barossa Valley conditions.
Twelve months later in AFL game number 21, the Port Lincoln product proved one of the Dockers’ most valuable sparks in a one-goal win over Collingwood that was the epitome of a Friday night heist on the big stage.
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In a match that for the second night straight played host to horrid conditions at the Adelaide Oval, Dudley found flight in the blink of an eye with two critical goals that undid the Magpies’ first-half dominance.
Speaking to foxfooty.com.au in the changerooms post-game, the 22-year-old was well aware that while it was a tough night for forwards at both ends, his opportunity to flip the game on its head was always going to come — he just had to take it.
“I didn’t have the first half I wanted, but that’s just footy. In games you have moments, and I just capitalised on mine. I took my moment, and took my chance,” Dudley said.
“The small forwards don’t get much opportunity, but when they come, I tried taking it with both hands. I was lucky enough to get on the end of a few moments that can change the game, and I think I did.
“We’ve built a good connection with ‘Switta’ (Sam Switkowski), ‘Bolts’ (Shai Bolton) and a few others. We all have good balance, and the thing about us is we can all play multiple roles.
“We’re all happy to let each other shine.”
Only key forward Jye Amiss finished the night alongside Dudley with multiple goals to his name, with the Dockers struggling further up the field to record 16 less inside 50s and a whopping 29 less tackles.
But, in a side that is very quickly proving themselves as more mature by the week, their last-gasp win over Adelaide a week prior at the same venue couldn’t have been a much better simulation for Friday night’s antics.
“We know Collingwood are a very fast and attacking team. They were going to have momentum at times; that’s just footy,” Dudley continued.
“We knew if we stayed calm and connected with each other, we knew that we were going to pull the momentum back. We’ve been in these situations the last two weeks now, and also experienced it last year. We can handle it, and we did it pretty well tonight.
“They lost last week, and we knew that was going to bring a dog fight. We’re pretty good at contested footy, and we had to match it or even be better.
“We just had to go back to getting the roles right and setting the field. Once we brought the heat in the second half, we showed our best.”
Having kicked 10 goals from his first five games of 2026, the Prince Alfred College product has well and truly earned himself consistent selection in Justin Longmuir’s side that’s already got a number of gun small forwards options at their disposal.
And while the 168cm livewire played 16 matches at the top level last year, in six of them he was either subbed out or began the match as the 23rd man. It leaves him grateful to have been able to showcase his talents across a full game in front of family and friends in consecutive weeks.
“It’s definitely a privilege (playing in South Australia), and I don’t take it for granted. Obviously I’m on the other side of the country, so to have two weeks here back-to-back here is pretty special.
“To see all my family here — about 30-odd — it was great to see them happy. With the win, I think they all had a heart attack!
“Some live in Adelaide, some drove six hours from Port Lincoln for the match.”
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