‘We are Port Adelaide’. Last year, this was a statement to invite ridicule and pity or, even worse, apathy.
This year, it stands for something meaningful; heart, courage and commitment.
12 months ago, the Power were the target of much invective. Disgraceful, disgusting, deplorable. Putrid, pathetic, inept.
Basically half of what the current Melbourne Football Club are rightfully receiving. All of it applied to them then as it does to the Dees now.
Today, Port is being showered with torrents of praise, and the superlatives can’t come fast enough. Twitter went into meltdown on Saturday night in the haste to admire their efforts.
They’re now a team everybody wants to watch including, most pertinently, their own supporters. What an atmosphere they created against West Coast. Even when the team was the best part of seven goals down, AAMI Stadium was a cauldron.
They are now a fan base filled with equal parts hope and belief.
1-7 in 2012 has turned into 5-0 in 2013. But how has it happened?
Admittedly, they’ve had what has turned out to be the friendliest draw in the league. Melbourne is a laughing stock, the expansion clubs put up a fight but are still learning, while the Crows and Eagles are mere shadows of their successful 2012 outfits.
The five teams they’ve defeated have combined for only six wins, and none against are higher than 12th on the ladder.
Plenty of people, when looking at the cancerous Melbourne, are saying you need to get the off-field right before you can fix the on-field. Clean the place out. It’s a hard contention to argue with.
Love him or hate him, David Koch hasn’t put a foot wrong since accepting the presidency, despite the early negative murmurings about him not living in the same state as the club.
His penchant for boldly getting on the front foot makes Viv Richards looks a quivering wimp. ‘Kochie’ has brought back the swagger.
More clubs spurned Ken Hinkley than Taylor Swift has had ex-boyfriends. While to the best of my knowledge he didn’t write song after song about his heartache, his no-nonsense approach speaks to his many years in the Geelong premiership machine.
The epitome of ‘firm but fair’, the whispers about Hinkley from Alberton were as strong as they were immediate. He has stated many times he wants a team-first attitude from each and every one of his players, and they’re certainly delivering. Hinkley has brought strength, discipline and leadership.
And what of the playing list?
Thought to be a ragtag collection of off-cuts, supposedly waning veterans and injury-riddled crocks, we are instead seeing a team of blossoming guns being led by senior teammates rejuvenated by the new regime. All are fit, hard and committed.
Hamish Hartlett has the potential to be in the Scott Pendlebury class, and I don’t know many who rate the Collingwood champion higher than I do. No need to elaborate further.
Oliver Wines is the hardest teenager to move from over the ball since Dustin Martin, and before him Joel Selwood. The kid has a strong, thick, bull of a body, and his surety of hands isn’t dissimilar to Jobe Watson.
With those two, Port have the potential to possess the premier inside and outside-mid of the competition in the not-too-distant future. Which isn’t to say Hartlett doesn’t get his hands dirty either, laying a team-high six tackles on Saturday night.
Kane Cornes is back to his ball-magnet best, racking up possessions like Stephen Dank does media mentions.
Justin Westhoff is performing something of a late career ‘Richo role’, doing as he likes up forward, down back and through the middle, marking everything and finishing his work on the scoreboard.
Rejects from other clubs include Campbell Heath, Lewis Stevenson, and the impressive Angus Monfries. The former two have provided honesty and resilience, even if disposal is an issue from time to time, while the latter has always shown class, but has a tougher edge under Hinkley. His first tackle of Saturday night knocked Matt Priddis out of the match.
Forget the soccer mums, you should always tackle to hurt in this game. Make a statement. Take no prisoners.
Chad Wingard, Cam O’Shea and Jake Neade came to the club in a variety of ways, but all find themselves integral to the new found improvement. Wingard looks to have all the tricks, and plenty of polish to boot, O’Shea is one of many to have elevated himself under Hinkley, and Neade is the Cyril-lite, a jolt of electricity every time he’s near the ball.
Alipate Carlisle is making Richmond people wonder if they went after the wrong key defender, Jay Schulz has become a much more rounded AFL player in recent years, and we’re yet to see the best of Robbie Gray’s supreme talent over long periods.
Geelong chased Travis Boak’s signature like greyhounds after an electronic rabbit, and with about as much success. If there were any doubters, they can now see why. After a herculean performance to get Port back into the Round 3 showdown, his leadership skills and will were back to the fore against West Coast as he kicked two goals in as many minutes to take his team from 8 points down to 4 points in front.
Some players thrive upon the appointment to a leadership position, and the new skipper has proven himself to be one. It’s scary to think of what the Cats would look like if they’d been able to land him.
New president. New coach. New captain. New team.
As The Roar’s own Vince Rugari, a passionate Power man, tweeted on Saturday night, “They’re playing Port Adelaide footy again. That’s the best bit.”
Tough, uncompromising, unwavering.
You might beat them for skill while they’re a building team, but you won’t beat them for spirit, as the Eagles found out to their cost on Saturday night, their season now possibly derailed beyond salvation.
I suspect they won’t be the last.
They are Port Adelaide. And they’re not done yet.
Floyd Calhoun
Guest
Let's face it, everyone loves Port. Maybe we should have a contest. In 5,000 words or less, 'what is it about Port that makes you love them so?' Remember, this has to be your own work.
Brendon
Guest
Stereotyping supporters is ridiculous, and the feral comment was a problem because it came from an official AFL source. I've been member at Port since 2005 and go to about 10 games a year, not once have I seen any physical violence (I sit in the outer, supposedly the feral bit of the supporter group). I'll go further, I have never even seen a police officer or security staff member have to approach a member of the crowd, I have always felt safe and comfortable at Port games. Have I seen people get a little out of hand, yep, but unfortunately, that's a human being thing and anywhere you go with a large number of people, it happens, you get dills and I'll tell you, the color of their kit means nothing, it's the dope that wears it, saying this, it's never been an issue where I've said I don't want to be at the footy. The worst supporter I've ever seen was actually a Hawthorne fella, stirring the whole crowd around him up, even with all the goading in the world the crowd was still well behaved. Does that mean all Hawks supporters are dodgy...no. For the record the funniest supporters I've ever heard we're Carlton supporters.
Brendon
Guest
He kicked 5 against someone in the seniors before that though, last week was pretty poor, but the kid has massive amounts of skill, he'll be back.
Brendon
Guest
Just to add to that, by all accounts last year, training was scrappy at port, drills were done with half heartedness, balls were dropped without punishment and they didn't train at a game like intensity (thanks Matty) This year, apparently in the very first training session, the players did a 3km time trial and a 15 min skills session, which was by all accounts terrible, and Kenny told them that coming from as far back as they were, they couldn't afford to waste even a 15 minute session, then he sent them back out and made them do another 3kms as punishment. I've also heard they've installed a sand pit at Alberton where they practice staying on their feet in contests, I am assuming that when you go down it's harder to get back up in sand, it's been a real strength for Port this year, players keeping their feet. One more little thing, players now have to run from the field in training to get water bottles and are expected to sprint whilst doing so, so even a drink becomes a gut running exercise. Hinkley, Burgess and Richardson seem to be very smart, add Budha Hocking, Josh Carr, Shaun Rehn and Tyson Edwards to that coaching panel and it's one of the best and toughest in the league. The pain might come, but at least we'll continue to put up a fight, I'm not ruling finals out, every game is winnable from here on in.
Norm
Guest
Cameron...have you seen the fuss about the AFL tweet which described Port fans as feral? The AFL has issued an apology after Kochie complained. Alongside the news.com article there was a poll asking which were the worst supporters. It was Collingwood, of course, with 573 votes. Then followed the Crows, with 167, & behind them, Port, with just 153 ;-)
Cameron Rose
Expert
That was certainly true Terry, but to me it was as much decision-making and skill error. I couldn't believe my eyes how often they fell into the same trap. If it was system related, it's will be an easy fix because it was so glaring.
Cameron Rose
Expert
All very good points I'd have thought The Oudsman. Kock seems to have had the odd headline, but in between times, they are extremely low key. No-one cared about Port outside the SA borders because they were seen to be an irrelevance, but Hinkley appears the type to speak softly but carry an armoured tank.
The Oudsman
Guest
Amazing turnaround at Port, given the exodus that was apparently imminent over the last 12 months. You have to wonder about the stability and leadership provided by the much scorned David Koch. His appointment was largely dismissed at the time, but he seems to have been fairly low key (admittedly, I steer well clear of Sunrise), as have much of the Port hierarchy. Again, this is viewed through the prism of the Melbourne media, where we don't hear a lot about Port, but Hinkley seems to be all about actions over words, a fine philosophy indeed.
Terry
Guest
The Port bandwagon is a great ride at the moment. Vocal supporters, exciting play-on style. But yesterday's win could easily have been a loss to an Eagles outfit which, with Priddis gone early, had one of the most feeble midfields going around. Port could have been 10 goals down at half time if the lowly Eagles had kicked straight. Port's 1st half showed a complete inability to adapt when the Eagles's strategy of 1-2 extras in defence rendered Port's attack impotent. Rebounding from half-back, Port would continuously just kick the ball to Glass. In essence, Port played only a half of football yesterday. If they do that against a top 10 team, their bubble will burst very quickly.
Franko
Guest
4 marks and 1 goal against the Eagles. A few more weeks in the SANFL I think,
Franko
Guest
His comeback for the Maggies was very unimpressive though. Looked to me like he largely needs an attitude change. Would be a great addition to the side when he is up and about.
Mighty Mitch
Roar Rookie
He's been injured Seano, made his come back in the SANFL recentley. Shouldnt be too far away, having said that, tough to crack into that team at the moment.
MoshingChris
Guest
Butcher is very prone to injury. He's had numerous soft tissue problems, back problems and just came of hip surgery during the pre-season. I don't know where you'd fit him without a long term injury happening. I mean look at Ports Forwards this year. Schulz, Westhoff, Neade, Monfries, Stewart, Gray, Broadbent, Wingard? Even though ports 'Power' Forwards didn't have huge impacts on the game against the Eagles they still played a role. Especially Westhoff and Schulz who ran every player on them off their feet which showed through in the last quarter if you watched Mitchell Brown, Darren Glass, and Shannon Hurn almost out on their feet midway through the third quarter. That is traditional unselfish Port Adelaide football that won us a premiership in 2004 without having a side that was bursting at the seams with high profile stars.
Seano
Guest
What happened to that big key forward from a few years ago everyone in Vic was chasing, was his name Butcher? Jon Butcher? Anyone know? -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download it now [http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/the-roar/id327174726?mt=8].
Steven
Guest
Essendon chased Darren Burgess a couple of years ago, as did Richmond last year; however, he was always going to go back to an Adelaide club because of his wife's family. Adelaide stated they would not pay a fitness advisor 350k, which is more that they pay their assistant coaches. I wonder how Adelaide feels now with that decision and how different would Essendon's perilous plight be now if they could have secured his services.
D.Large
Guest
"Forget the soccer mums, you should always tackle to hurt in this game. Make a statement. Take no prisoners." Loved that comment! Yes, what an amazing turnaround due to all parties being on the same page. This actually should offer genuine hope for the Demons and once again prove that the best way to build culture is by looking to compete and win at all costs. In my opinion the best way to build for the future is in playing and training for the now, instil the right processes and the results take care of themselves.
Cameron Rose
Expert
No doubt the pain will come at some stage for Port, but at least we know against the better sides they won't shirk the issue. They played awfully in the first half against WC, skill error on top of skill error. But they continued to play with intensity when they could easily have thrown in the towel – something that wouldn’t have happened under Primus. It’s clear that Hinkley demands 100% effort 100% of the time, and the consequences of not delivering must be severe. It’s a saying that gets thrown around a lot, but supporters are very forgiving of losing performances as long as they can see commitment and improvement – Port are delivering both in their wins, and I’m sure it will continue when they lose a few games as well.
Cameron Rose
Expert
It’s a great point about the fitness Steve. The confidence and belief a side gets from running over the top of teams, and knowing they can do it, can’t be quantified. The last quarter was just run, run, run from every player on the ground.
Cameron Rose
Expert
Yep, doubled that crowd on Saturday night, and it felt like double that again watching the game. Fantastic atmosphere.
TomC
Roar Guru
I quite like the tone of this article, because it's focussed on the present rather than the future. And I think at the moment Port Adelaide just need to enjoy the ride. It would be sillly to set medium term goals like making the finals when they're at their highest point for years. This week they play the Kangaroos in Hobart. Now that would be quite a win, but to be honest it's most likely to be a heavy defeat. The Kangaroos will certainly be motivated after yesterday. If they do cop a beating, then the trick will be how they can come back the following week.