PAFC – Weak and Lacking

​’What have we become?’ laments an irritated, irked and frustrated Tim Ginever, on the airwaves of 5AA. Port Adelaide have just left the field after an embarrasing 98 point loss, contextually, the second worst loss in their AFL history. The anger in his voice is painfully noticeable.

So, what have Port become?

I argue that Port are a club with a lost identity, a club with weak culture underpinned by a lack of accountability.

Lacking Accountability

…is precisely the issue with the infamous Hinkley extension. Though the supporter reaction was entrenched with qualms of not winning finals, it was the way in which the extension was carried out.

David Koch remained steadfast in his promise to Ken: we will review your contract in August. The shortfall is this never tested Hinkley. At the time, Hinkley had made 5 finals series – but his preliminary finals record spoke for itself. Bad losses in the preceding 3 finals were his achilles heel, and the premature contract extension allowed Hinkley safety. The messaging about the timing suggested that making finals was enough. This is not the Port Adelaide way, a club that prides itself (at least tells itself it does) on toughness and grit.

Part of this author’s frustration with the Hinkley extension wasn’t due to belief in Hinkley’s ability, it was just that change for change’s sake may have produced a better result for the club as a whole. 12 years at a club is an incredible tenure, particularly for an AFL head coach.

Though the focus has been on one man, responsibility rests on the entire club. The supporters have been somewhat forgiving on its players, though a number of them should be sweating come post-season review. The net of introspection should be cast far and wide. Every person in the football department should be sweating: Chris Davies, Jason Cripps, and most notably the CEO, Matthew Richardson.

Richardson has been at the club for 20 years, working his way up through the Marketing division of the Port Adelaide Magpies, and ultimately being endorsed by Andrew Demetriou’s management company as the preferred CEO following the resignation of Keith Thomas. Richardson will ultimately be remembered, and should be judged, against his 5 year strategic vision titled Chasing Greatness. Echoing the sentiments of Brendan Gale’s 3 premierships in 5 years, and a membership count of 100,000, the Club, and Richardson, have fallen incredibly short.

In no way am I suggesting tearing the place apart and starting fresh. Simplicity goes a long way. Remember the messaging in Hinkley’s early day: we will never give up and you get what you deserve. This is a team that made a prelim final only two seasons ago. The list is markedly similar with some improvements (Butters, JHF, to name a few) and some gaps – it is the fourth mini-rebuild Hinkley has commenced at the club.

A strategic review suggested by Tim Ginever is a welcome approach, and should some of the names posed be engaged (if a review was to occur) it will be amazing. Greg Boulton, Darren Cahill,

Part of this author’s frustration with the Hinkley extension wasn’t due to belief in Hinkley’s ability, it was just that change for change’s sake may have produced a better result for the club as a whole. 12 years at a club is an incredible tenure, and as the recent struggles of Hinkley’s side has shown, the feats of SAF show how rare these things are. The flipside to this of course is where Port’s list is at.

Weakness from the top down

Words have a tremendous effect on the human mind. Hinkley’s choice of words, particularly the last few years have raised a lot of eyebrows.

One of the aspirational values posed as part of the Chasing Greatness vision was ’embracing expectation’, inviting the heat. In a pressure-less team in Hinkley’s early days, these behaviours were as clear as day. Since Richardson’s appointment however, there has been a drastic shift.

“Finals are scary”. “I hate (coaching) Showdown’s”. These are words that would make the fabled Fos Wililams grumble in his grave. How can the club be united if we (apparently) exist to win premierships, but are scared of the games leading up to, and including, the Grand Final. Embracing expectation and characterising finals as ‘scary’ could not be more polarising. Should this be reflective of the messaging relayed in Port’s inner sanctum, then it is no wonder of the poor performances in past few years. There is no doubt that a lot of Port’s shortcomings have been mental. This messaging is undoubtedly a large reason why.

To Hinkley’s credit, he has protected his players unbelievably well, amidst the intense media scrutiny in the past three years, with most notable reference to the large prelim final losses, and the fabled succession plan. 

Returning to the players, how do the 44 rank up in terms of strong characters? Aside from Butters, Horne Francis, Powell-Pepper, and arguably Lachie Jones, the lack of ‘mongrel’ and imposing more grunt will be something to keep an eye on under Josh Carr. Earlier this year, Port created a record 21 missed tackles against GWS, a season long record. 

The Final Word

The saddening thing is that we are almost where we were back when he first joined. We have gone full circle (even though the trough isn’t as low as it was in the past). We have broken Hinkley, despite his public outcries.

The next six months are critical for the Port Adelaide Football Club. With a weakened draft hand, and a requirement to improve the depth of the its overall list, there will be particular pressure on list management. Fringe players have three high quality matches to showcase their ability and put their hand up to fill gaps next season.

The Club, as all sporting organisations do, will undertake an end of season review. It is my hope that the back office review into football operations and organisational culture is intensely scrutinised. Should a form of external review be undertaken – fantastic. Should the Club wish to review things internally, then let us hope they are partial and professional enough to own up to their mistakes and identify the need to get the basics right.

Josh Carr will bring change. There will be losses but there won’t be displays of effort like there were at the Showdown. Acting in the self interest and non-commitment will not be tolerated under a Carr Port. Josh will hold his players to account. And should Josh not deliver October silverware to this Club, he will at least bring a toughness to the side that hasn’t been seen for several years. Let us hope that he has the charisma of early days Ken Hinkley, and impart his strong and determined attitude to the rest of the staff.