late in the final quarter keeping him out until Round 13. Upon his return to the side Tredrea struggled for consistency but won his first South Australian guernsey with his selection to the State of Origin side to face Western Australia. More impressive performances against Essendon (Round 15, four goals), Melbourne (Round 20, 11 marks, three goals) and Fremantle (Round 21, six goals) followed. He ended the season as leading goalkicker with 33 goals, beating leading goalkicker of 1997, Scott Cummings by a goal. He finished the following season in 1999, on 40 goals as leading goalkicker again. Where Port Adelaide made the finals for the first time in their AFL history. Premier competition player: 2000–2003 After finishing 14th at the end of the 2000 season, he led the goalkicking for the third year in a row, with 32 goals. In 2001, Tredrea imposed himself on the AFL competition, booting 51 goals and taking 169 marks with his contributions as a major factor in his side's rise from 14th to third on the AFL ladder. Tredrea was rewarded for his season winning his maiden John Cahill Medal as Port Adelaide's best and fairest player and the first of four selections as All-Australian centre half forward. Tredrea backed up his breakthrough 2001 efforts with further outstanding seasons in 2002, by kicking 49 goals (just missing out on being the leading goal kicking by three goals behind Stuart Dew) with an All-Australian selection and in 2003, he booted 58 goals, being the leading goal kicker for the club a fifth time and getting another All-Australian. Career high: 2004–2005 The 2004 season is considered Tredrea's best year as he led Port Adelaide to its first AFL premiership in the absence of the injured captain Matthew Primus. He started the year in fine fashion, kicking six goals alongside Stuart Dew in the club's 96-point victory over Essendon. He then kicked five goals against West Coast the following week and booted four goals against Hawthorn in Round 3. He gained captaincy for the entire year after Primus re-injured his knee in Round 3. He had a season-high seven goals in Round 7 in the showdown against Adelaide. He went on to kick six goals against Carlton in Round 15 and against West Coast in Round 17. He then captained the team into the finals and eventually captained them to the premiership win over the Brisbane