As crazy as this may sound, Port Adelaide have had the best fortnight of any AFL club this year. After a horrendous year, many believed that the predicted mass exodus of players to other clubs, built up heavily by the Victorian media, would prove true.
However, every single one of the players tipped to leave Alberton has put ink to paper in a massive boost for the struggling club.
I was admittedly one of the people to think a couple may walk. I mean, who could blame them?
After consecutive record losses of 138 and 165 points to Collingwood and Hawthorn respectively, the club was seen as the laughing stock of the competition, and the proud and successful history of the Port Adelaide Football Club was being tarnished every time the players took to the field.
Now, as a South Australian, you either love Port or you hate them. But I find myself wanting the club to survive this period of bottom-of-the-ladder season and their dire economic and financial situation.
You see, the AFL needs Port Adelaide. It needs two teams in the traditional heartland of South Australia. And simply because they’re going through a tough period, many people believe that Port Adelaide should be cut from the AFL competition.
Really? Is Port Adelaide the only club who has ever faced such a situation?
Before a massive demolition of debt, the Melbourne Football Club was roughly $6 million in the red. Other clubs in a similar situation were Richmond and the Western Bulldogs.
As for the win-loss column, let’s not forget Port Adelaide had a four-year dominance of the competition. Although finals weren’t their forte, they won at least 16 matches in each of the seasons from 2001 to 2004, including their breakthrough premiership in the last of those years.
During that period, Victorian football was suffering in a huge way. For three straight years, no Victorian team played in the grand final and for six straight seasons they were without a flag. For ten teams to be completely dominated by a six-team interstate presence is a true credit to those expansion clubs.
Were there any serious talks of those poor performing clubs in serious amounts of debt to be kicked out of the competition? No way in hell.
People constantly make fun of Power supporters for not going to home games. But the crowd of 29,340 at the Adelaide Oval showed that there are plenty of supporters out there; especially since the Royal Adelaide Show and Fathers’ Day were held on the same day.
We all need to understand- particularly the Victorians- that Port aren’t going anywhere.
Come 2014, the club will see average home attendances in the vicinity of 30-35,000 people. Their annual match day revenue will skyrocket due to a better percentage of revenue at the Adelaide Oval. And their tens of thousands of members and supporters will flock to see the likes of Travis Boak, Hamish Hartlett and Jackson Trengove propel the club back to the top half of the ladder.
Port Adelaide’s 37 premierships (36 SANFL, 1 AFL) in a long 141-year history, is proof that one of Australia’s biggest and proudest clubs deserves its place in the national competition.
Port fans, never fear. Your club is safe and it always will be.
brendan
Guest
JasonA if your going to go to 1870 with Port youm then have to include the vfa flags won by Vic clubs and whilst i agree that Ports 37 flags is fantastic Essendon and Carlton have won about twenty flags each in competitions with more teams.I hope both Adelaide sides pick up as the sanfl is a vibrant comp and the people of SA deserve to have competitive teams to follow.North should have taken a hint from there name and gone to the Gold Coast but will wither on the vine for a decade or so before they move somewhere Melbourne will never leave the Mcg.
brendan
Guest
Glad for Port they resigned some of there young guns.Wish them all the best and hope Matty Primus gets them into the finals in years ahead.
JasonA
Guest
Firstly I am an Adelaide supporter, but I think it would be a great shame if Port was culled. 141 years of tradition and 37 premierships (20 more than any Vic club) is too much tradition to let go, I mean the Demons should be culled but luckily they are the Melbourne Football Club. Has anyone see a recent Roy Morgan survey results on AFL supporters, Melbourne Demons only had 180 000, Collingwood had 900 000 and Gold Coast Suns had 90 000. Move Melbourne Demons to Tassie and North Melbourne to Canberra.
Walt
Guest
A fair-handed assessment. So refreshing to see after a sensationalist smashing of the club in the media this year. Port will be back in the winners circle in good time but next year will be very bad again. AFL football in Adelaide has to be in the city, no doubt whatsoever. We saw a good day last week but lets see how things go when it is pouring rain on a cold July night. Ports crowds havent been what they would have liked this year, but honestly, games between Melbourne teams in Melbourne rarely attract more than 45000, which is about 22500 fans for each team. If Port only attracts that many, the knives come out. The re-signings were a great show of faith by the players and for us Power supporters, it was the best thing to happen all year - a sign of how bad things were on the field.
Alfred Chan
Expert
Port Adelaide will be back in a year or two. Signing Butcher, Trengove and Carlisle are a major coup for the club and with those three signed on, Port are capable of winning 6-10 matches next year. They appear to be committed to the rebuilding process which shows the amount of faith the players have in Matthew Primus, Things should turn around next year with most of the veterans who played with Primus out of the club. There will no longer be any form of power struggle and Primus will get his first 'real' year of coaching. They will also have a full time senior assistant and the move back to Adelaide oval seems to be applauded by all. They will be fine and they have Jackson Trengove and John Butcher to thank for that.
Tony
Guest
Thanks for an unbiased & sensible comment about PAFC......something rare in Adelaide. Of course, if the SANFL had hand a fairer lease arrangement with both Port & Crows, AFL could have stated at Westlakes.
Timmuh
Roar Guru
"Were there any serious talks of those poor performing clubs in serious amounts of debt to be kicked out of the competition? No way in hell." Have you missed the 25 year campaign to kill the Bulldogs, Melbourne and North along with intermittent attacks on Richmond and St Kilda's place in the league? In that particular period you are talking about, it wasn't just the poorly performing clubs that had the media salivating over imminent deaths, and in North's case the league actively trying bring it about.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Port will be fine, and yes, definitely deserves its spot in the national competition.
mds1970
Roar Guru
The Manly final was at the SFS. Not sure why that crowd was so bad; especially considering the NRL got a fantastic crowd of over 45,000 for the Friday night final at ANZ. But back to the main issue, the Adelaide Oval crowd was a beauty. Part of that may be novelty value at being at a different stadium, but it does give a ray of positivity at the end of a poor season. There's always going to be winners and losers - that's sport. And at the moment Port are going through a bad patch. But they're a strong club with a proud history, and I've got no doubt they'll bounce back.
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
More importantly than the player resignings was that they got 29 000 people to Adelaide oval. This is roughly double what Manly got to Brookvale .. for a final. Crowds mean dollars through the gate, which at the end of the day is the foundation of the dollars that support the club.