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Being a Port fan at the moment is a lot like being Schrodinger’s cat. I’m happy and at the same time filled with a sense of dread.
There is plenty to be happy about at the moment. Port are a top-four side and we are playing an exciting brand of football that attracted enough people back to Footy Park.
Kochie didn’t have to get the chequebook out. We have a new major sponsor and we are moving towards the target 40,000 members, with just over 37,000 at the time of writing.
We are entering a new era of the team from Alberton, a third age if you will.
I am still relatively new to this country but I fell in love with AFL very quickly. I read about the genesis of Port Adelaide, the history, the trophies and the legends.
After the move into the AFL Port Adelaide underwent somewhat of an identity crisis.
Not really sure how to fit in at the new school. Split between SANFL greatness and AFL novelty.
But true Port Adelaide fans went on to watch the dream of seeing their team grace the national stage become reality.
I own the DVD of the 2004 grand final, a final where 143 years of history finally blossomed, into the flower of Williams holding aloft the premiership cup and the flag taking pride of place at Alberton.
However it was a slightly watered down version of Port, stripped of their prison bars, nickname and song.
A decision that caused a rift in the supporter base, and still to this day allows opposition fans to glibly remove the history of one of the most successful sporting organisations in the world.
Over the last couple of years the club has reunited under one banner, we are Port Adelaide, the Magpies and the Power.
There is new life in the club.
The slogan for Renault, who came on board as the major sponsor this year, is ‘drive the change’ a more than apt message for the new era at Alberton.
Change is difficult, we had grown into the mediocrity of the last couple of years and worn it like a pair of old jeans.
They had holes in them and everyone could see our underpants, but they were ours and they were comfortable.
They looked great in the early 2000s and if we just keep wearing them, maybe they will come back into fashion.
This year we have bought a new pair, they are tight, it’s a struggle to get your hands in your pockets, and you just feel slightly uncomfortable.
All of a sudden though people are looking at our new threads and nodding their approval.
Port Adelaide has started the season unblemished.
Every question asked has been answered confidently. Unlike last year when we jagged the odd win with acts of desperation and grit.
This year there is a sense that we are winning games because we deserve to.
Forwards and midfielders kicking goals, defenders drying off forwards after giving them a four quarter bathing, and Kane Cornes following key playmakers everywhere.
I’m pretty sure Paddy Dangerfield can still see the possession machine every time he closes his eyes.
This is all fantastic, but here I am, unable to sleep and worrying about the game at the weekend.
The men from Alberton travel up to the Gold Coast to take on a team that has beaten St Kilda and narrowly missed out to the Lions.
If Port Adelaide is going to take the chocolates at Metricon Stadium then they must continue in the same vein as the last three weeks.
However, there is still something nagging at me. It is the shaven-headed spectre that is Gary Ablett Jr.
I watched the final quarter of the opening round in the humid conditions of Queensland. Every player on the park looked like they were running up a muddy hill, in gumboots, while having a warm shower.
Gazza on the other hand was riding his bike in the opposite direction, wind in his hair (well, if he had any), smiling, as he floated across the oval dragging his young side to a well-deserved victory.
Experts on both the TV and the couch will be confidently tipping Port Adelaide to take the points this weekend, and 95 percent of me thinks they will too.
But there is 5 percent that expects we will bend over and tear the backside out of our new jeans.
I really hope we don’t, I hate the feeling, but just like Kane Cornes on Paddy last weekend, it just won’t go away.
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