2009 season:
Andy Otten capped off a remarkable 2009 season by winning Adelaide’s Emerging Talent award. After playing just two AFL games in 2008, Otten played every game this season and gained a Rising Star nomination for his 23 possessions and seven marks against Carlton in round nine. He quickly became one of the favourites for the award with a number of standout performances playing in defence and eventually finished runner-up to Brisbane’s Daniel Rich. Otten set himself for a big pre-season in 2009 after getting his first taste of AFL football and he quickly found his place in Adelaide’s defensive unit. “Fitness was one of the things I worked on over summer and learning the pace of the game. I had to train at the same pace as the game,” Otten said. “The training intensity and skills, I had to work on that as well. I’ve been pretty happy with my season. I’ve settled nicely in defence and I’m still getting used to the defensive work, but I’ve been pretty happy with my consistency and happy with the way I’ve been performing down back and I’ve been enjoying it as well. All the boys make you feel welcome and I know all the structures so it’s been easy to slot into there.” Otten finished fourth at the club in handballs with 293 and had 160 kicks. He finished second for marks with 139. 

Otten will unfortunately miss the entire 2010 season after tearing his ACL in an innocuous incident at training in early December. He underwent a knee-reconstruction and will spend 12 months on the sidelines in rehabilitation. It was a cruel blow to both Otten and the football club as he was earmarked for a greater role in the midfield in 2010.

David Noble’s 2009 review:
“Andy looked like he’d been playing for 10 years. He showed maturity beyond his years. He lost a little bit of form for a couple of weeks, but nothing like what we’ve come to expect from the young guys. They tend to have a fairly big form lull sometimes and you’re almost waiting for it to unfold. Andy had a little one, but he was able to address it. He just added to that backline. He generally makes good decisions and just needs to work on his disposal.”

Career:
Otten was a second round pick in the 2007 draft at no.27. He averaged over 26 possessions and six marks per game with the Oakleigh Chargers in 2007 and capped off an outstanding season by taking out the best and fairest award and TAC Cup Team of the Year honours. Otten had a promising first year at the club in 2008 that included his AFL debut against Hawthorn in Round 12 and a standout season in the SANFL for South Adelaide. Otten made the difficult transition from TAC Cup to SANFL comfortably and was easily Adelaide’s best performed draftee in the competition.