That was a great read.

Great article. The Crows are the real deal and will be around the mark at the end of the season. Obviously form and injury can cause fluctuations but all being equal they will be contending. With that being the case I am not sure I see a sport for Scott Thompson in the best 22. For all the issues around midfield depth at the start of the year I think Cameron and Milera have really stepped up and they still have Brad Crouch to come back in.

While it is a good foundation for Port the key will be consistency. I think they might have a bit of a let down this week against GWS but should bounce back at home to Carlton. Injuries are an easy excuse to trot out at times but it has been a major issue. Not only Ryder and Polec back but Hombsch who missed most of last year is so important. I might be in the minority but I still think Matt White and Angus Monfries will have a role to play at AFL level.

It is only 1 game. But the last time Port played Sydney was in wet conditions in round 20 last year, Port only kicked 4 goals for the game and lost by 11 goals. So they will certainly take the result on Saturday.

Still a lot of work to do and I am still on the fence about whether they will play finals. But they certainly will not finish 16th which many experts seem to have them pegged in for.

He will eventually sign a new deal once the buyout clause is agreed.

Butcher is certainly no star and the fact he was not picked up probably confirms his AFL days are done. But Port would have been better of keeping him. The strange thing is his second to last game at AFL level he kicked 4 goals. Then he kicked 1 goal against the Swans the following week and was then dropped. Kicking one goal might not sound like much but that was 25% of Port’s goals for the day. It was better output than Charlie Dixon!

If Jake Neade is being selected in the first 18 the team is in trouble. The fact he has not been included in any of the pre-season games thus far gives me confidence he will not be in the mix for selection early in the year. I think the coaches have realised until he offers something in the form of actual possessions or impacting the scoreboard there is not a place for someone as just a pressure forward. Even as a pressure forward he doesn’t do a lot apart from running around trying to look busy.

A complete lack of AFL standard skills will continue to be the major issue. A lot of work required before round 1. While the stupidity of contracts like Lobbe and Hartlett are well documented the club continue to make dumb decisions. Tom Jonas has had a dreadful two years so what do Port do….Give him a 3 year deal. They simply do not learn. Tom Clurey should get the nod in the starting 18.

Of that listed 22 I suspect Impey will spend more time forward where he finished last year off in ok form. But again like many of his teammates he burns the ball way too frequently. Along with Powell-Pepper I think Atley has done enough to warrant round 1 selection and Dan Houston may be a bit of smokey.

The ball use going forward is nothing short of disgraceful. The issue with Charlie Dixon apart from injury history is his lack of scoreboard impact. 1 goal in 2 pre-season games to follow up the zero he kicked in the last four games last year rightly has Port fans concerned.

Need a good performance this week against the Hawks to just try and generate some positivity around the club.

Hopefully this will put a final stamp on it “Port Adelaide cannot sell a home game” The jumper issue is certainly Port’s fault and making commercial assumptions when buying this game has backfired. That being said I think the issue has been completely blown out of the water and I don’t think Koch should be getting as wound up as he is.

Who knows how the game will play out and everyone will have different views on what will constitute a success with this venture. For me Port Adelaide having a relationship formed with Gui Guojie is already the biggest positive for them.

And surprise surprise Leicester perform against Liverpool. Not sure if that vindicates the decision to move Ranieri or says more about the players who have now chosen to put in a shift.

Yeah Leicester will take that result this morning. But a massive game coming up against Liverpool. A loss and they may very well slide into that bottom 3 which is not what you want at this time of year.

Very enjoyable match to watch.

I will answer this with my Port supporting hat on. 2013 and 2014 I think complicated things. I remember when we were at rock bottom in 2012, sacked Primus and people believed this was one of the worst lists in the AFL. 3 years later the same people thought Port were underachieving not winning a Premiership. Maybe they are simply just trending as they should be after winning 5 games in 2012?

Even last year was the first time Port lost more than 50% of games in a season under Hinkley so I think he will be supported to coach beyond this year. On the proviso it is not a complete crocker of a year and Port win 1 game for the year!

I look at Melbourne and St Kilda in comparison. Port have finished above Melb every year for the last four years and above St Kilda 3 out of the last 4, but those teams are regarded as being on the right track and Port falling miles off the pace. With a lot of those mid -tier teams I don’t think there is much in it between playing finals and not.

I think Port like many sides that are not in the upper echelon need a bit of luck on the injury front. Ryder back drastically helps, a lot of people don’t rate Angus Monfries but he will give you more than Jake Neade. Outside run was an issue last year with Polec not really getting back to his best after missing most of 2015 and Matt White again while not highly rated does give some much needed experience and outside dash. Defensively I think Jack Hombsch is the most important key defender Port have and he obviously missed the last 12 odd games last year so they need to get him back and firing. Depending on what Port supporters you speak to some will either rate or dislike someone like Tom Jonas who hardly played a game last year.

Losing the close games did not help either, both in 2015 and last year. 5 losses by fewer than 3 goals, a couple of those especially were on a plate and should have been converted to wins. But I guess all teams will have similar tales of woe.

I am not sure I completely buy into the Port were fooled into thinking they were about to win a premiership and traded accordingly. I think we traded like any other club by getting in players we thought were needed. I certainly think we paid over the odds for Dixon but the club was very light on for Key Forwards and knew some on the list were coming towards the end. Schulz and Butcher now gone.

Even during the 2014 Port fairy tale the finals matches for me made it obvious Port needed another ruckman. Lobbe had a poor finals series. His re-signing will go down as one of the worst bits of business the club has done. Port looked so much better in 2015 with Ryder and no Lobbe.

The season has not started yet so I am still in the positive camp. Every player is as fit as they have been and we are burning on the track. I might re-visit if we get pumped by 20 goals by Sydney round 1!

As for David Koch everyone at the club owes him massive gratitude. What he walked into compared to the position the club is in now is chalk and cheese. I went to the last AGM and I have 100% faith in his role at the club. He is not everyone’s cup of tea but he is holding up his end of the bargain.

Yeah you could be right. I really like Smedts but his injury history is a concern as well. 11 AFL games in 3 years. I guess with the coin he is on Dale Thomas is rightfully going to be copping his fair share of criticism. But that period 2010-12 he was a very consistent player for the Pies. Played over 20 games each year and averaging over 20 touches and always handy to pop up with a few goals. His career wont probably finish as he would like but he has been a good player.

I didn’t think Thomas was terrible last year. Obviously nowhere near as explosive as he was when playing his best footy at Collingwood but still played 18 games last year. I agree he is not worth the coin he is on but I still think he is in the best 22 for now.

He is a fraud a lot of clubs would like as there Manager!

For the first time in a long time there is proper direction at Everton. Koeman is slowly but surely turning over the squad and putting his stamp on things. Steve Walsh will hopefully work his magic like he did with Leicester in the transfer window.Not a bad start with Lookman.

Moshiri though is the best thing to happen to this club in a long time.The debt free loan he provided was massive, new sponsorship deals already in place and Everton can actually start spending significantly. The pipe dream of a new stadium is very much a real possibility.

The notion of Everton being a powerhouse will be scoffed at by many as evidenced by the early comments on this article. As a Toffee fan I am feeling very confident for the future. Having an Iranian Billionaire as a stakeholder will do that.

I can always rely on Everton to let me down against Liverpool.

As an Everton fan I do not have a lot of confidence for this game. I hope I am proved wrong. The club is certainly on the right track, Moshiri has cleared our debts and for the first time in a long time a proper vision for the club exists. But the last transfer window showed it is going to take time to bring in the players Koeman wants and Liverpool will present a significant challenge. A draw would probably be a good result from an Everton perspective.

I think this sums it up perfectly Pete and why Buckley is rightfully under pressure.

I enjoy having the Phoenix in the league provided they are financially viable. I am not sure non-performance is a reason to kick them out of the league, they are 1 point out of the top 6 with a game in hand currently.

As an Evertonian it can be difficult to give praise to Liverpool but they are playing brilliantly well. If the inevitable happens with a title win then I will be in hiding!

I have no idea how Sunderland managed to win that game Saturday night but a win is a win!
Massive game against Hull.

It might be simplistic, but like many clubs they need some luck. It seemed to be that every little thing that could go wrong did and that would snowball the situation. You have Ryder suspended, then Lobbe playing like rubbish and injured, then Dougal Howard does an ACL. Someone like Angus Monfries returning is not the saviour, but you are going to get more output from him despite his age and missing a year than someone like Jake Neade.

Polec struggled to recover from injury and outside run was a major issue with Matt White missing the entire year. I am sitting on the fence as to how they will go next year. Part of me thinks two years without finals and losses last year against teams like Fremantle and Carlton this year do not bode well but my internal optimism hopes for a revival. Sydney away in round 1 next year could destroy that optimism straight away!

A major concern is still winning the tight games. 5 odd games this year lost by less than 3 goals. They just don’t close games out and too much reliance on Dixon as the key forward. With Schulz missing most the year and the refusal to play Butcher the team looked very disjointed. The home record at Adelaide oval was poor.

There were still a few positives to take of out of this year. DBJ was great, Austin I think can comfortably fill the void left by Carlile retiring and I reckon Jesse Palmer could be a surprise packet next year. The club is under pressure, but I think Hinkley will be safe still if Port miss finals.

Port Adelaide have lost the plot. There has to be more to this deal because on face value it makes no sense from them.

Yeah I don’t think Oviedo is up to it. Funes Mori concerns me, I think he gets caught in the wrong position a lot of the time. I thought Lennon finished last season off pretty well so would like him to get a bit more game time.

I thought this would be the real breakout season for Barkley but not to be at this stage.

Called that one pretty well!