If there is one man who doesn’t need to “learn about the Port Adelaide Football Club” it is Warren Tredrea. He didn’t just grow up in the general vicinity of the club and attend the odd game. He grew up on the ground, in the changerooms and immersed in the culture of the most successful Australian Rules football club in Australia.
Warren’s father Gary played 65 games for the club in 2 stints between 1973 and 1979, whilst I am sure none need reminding of Warren’s on field achievements. 255 games, 549 goals, 4 John Cahilll medals, 8 times leading goal kicker, and most importantly for a club that “exists to win premierships” he held the cup aloft for the first time in the AFL on that famous day in 2004. It’s no surprise that Warren knows what makes Port Adelaide tick and he knows what winning means to the Port Adelaide faithful. That is why when Warren speaks, real Port people listen, and more often than not, those who know just how great the club can be, wholeheartedly agree with him.
Next year will be 2 decades since the last Port Adelaide Football Club premiership at any level. The longest drought by far in the club’s 150 plus year history. And whilst some clubs would make excuses about the difficulty of the league or the disadvantages faced by non-Victorian teams in a Vic centric league, that is not the Port Adelaide way. Warren knows better than most the challenges that have been put in front of the club (and overcome) over the journey. So whilst he, like the great Fos Williams in the famous club Creed, acknowledges that the club cannot be successful every year, he knows better than most what it means to be “active, aggressive and devoted to this cause” and to “suffer personal sacrifices for the common end”.
It is this understanding of what makes Port Adelaide great that shines through when Tredrea speaks, and reminds the die hard members of better times. Times when they felt at one with the club, times when they felt that the leadership of the Port Adelaide Football Club (both on the board and on the field) were on their side. Standing side by side with them, fighting for that “great merit and noble achievement in winning a premiership”.
So when Warren criticises Port for saying that “finals are scary”, or for defining a coach who has never even made a grand final as “the most successful in the AFL era”, die hard Port members nod their heads.
When Warren asks “who takes responsibility for this?” when Port are once again bundled out of finals having renewed Hinkley’s contract to a record length (for a coach who has never made a grand final) before he had faced that final test, die hard Port fans say “hear hear”.
When Warren suggests that the club “stuffed this up” when they “didn’t listen to our fans” and called the fans “white noise’” he shows that he knows what it means to be a custodian for the Port Adelaide Football club. He knows that the players, the staff and the administration are there to serve the club, not the other way around.
When Warren says “ruthlessness needs to be put back into the Port Adelaide Football Club” members are reminded of different times. When they could talk to their players, they could talk to their coaches and they could talk to their administrators. They felt a part of something bigger. All three groups knew that they were there to represent the club, and that they were there to represent their members. They also knew that if they did not do it to the standards that the very club demanded, then there would be consequences! They couldn’t hide behind in-house media departments and paid off media plants, throwing stones at the members and disrespecting the club traditions. They faced the members in person and at election time.
I have heard people say “Warren Tredrea IS Port Adelaide” but he is better than that. He is not another ego driven board member seeking to change Port Adelaide’s ethos and traditions for his own glory. Warren Tredrea GETS Port Adelaide, he GETS the expectations it places on its custodians and he GETS “that success is well within our reach” if we embrace those expectations rather than hiding from them.
So as Warren Tredrea formally applies for a member elected position on the board of the Port Adelaide Football Club I say simply.
You’ve got my vote Warren!
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