Author: admin

  • The Benchmark of AFL Success

    As Ken Hinkley’s time winds down at Alberton Oval there will be a lot of discussion about what constitutes success in the AFL. Journalists who only think as far west as the Western Bulldogs will suggest that Port should be happy to be in their “national” competition and that just making finals around 50% of…

  • We Don’t Hate You Because You’re Victorian

    There is a message that keeps seeping out from across the border every time Port members dare to critique the longest serving coach in AFL/VFL history without a grand final appearance. The implication is that the only reason Ken has not been more successful, and the only reason even the most rusted on Port members…

  • The “Worst” Form Of Governance

    Winston Churchill said that “democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.…’ And until 1997 when Port entered the AFL this “worst form of governance” had been the way the club had been run. Members were entrusted to vote for the board…

  • The Port Adelaide Type

    There is no question that Port members have a type. Think Tim Ginever, Darryl Poole, Michael Wilson, Josh Carr, Russell Ebert, Geoff Motley. All very different players, with differing skills levels and physical capabilities, but they all have 3 things in common. In our AFL history we look to that 2004 premiership team to find…

  • The Big Games

    Fos Williams famously said “the other 17 (minor round games), unless we can make this one (the grand final) a certainty, don’t mean a thing!”  He and John (Jack) Cahill built a legacy at Port Adelaide built around turning up in the big games, against the big opponents. They built their list and their game…

  • A Creed Worthy Coach

    As news reports once again circulate about the future of Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley and a possible succession plan to his senior assistant Josh Carr, I thought it a good time to look back at successful Port Adelaide coaches. John Cahill and Fos Williams are undoubtedly the most significant and the ethos they created…

  • Too Hard?

    When I was a kid Port was always confident, so much so that others would often mistakenly label it as arrogance. As supporters we would laugh at the self-defeating remarks coming out of the opposition camp about how hard it was to win games and more importantly to win flags against the dominant Port Adelaide.…

  • The Propaganda from Port

    George Orwell said that “It is the same in all wars; the soldiers do the fighting, the journalists do the shouting, and no true patriot ever gets near a front-line trench, except on the briefest of propaganda tours”. And lately it seems the shouts coming out from the Port Adelaide Football Club employees are becoming…

  • #1 In Our Hearts

    With Tom Jonas moving on as Port Adelaide Football Club skipper, the easy decision would have been to make former co-captain, 2023 vice-captain and Brownlow medallist Ollie Wines captain and fellow 2023 vice-captain Darcy Byrne-Jones his deputy. Perhaps with one or two of the younger stars added to an expanded leadership group. This would have…

  • Taking Port Adelaide to the World

    A couple of announcements in the last week have reflected well on the Club as it endeavours to “Live the Creed”.  The push to move beyond the SANFL into the VFL (and create the best available model for premiership success in the highest league possible) and the signing of a new partner in UnionPay were…