Dear Members and Supporters,
This really has been the longest pre-season of all time!
Despite the interminable wait, instinct tells me that we are ready to go.
Our coaching and high performance teams have undergone quite considerable change over the summer, and are combining well.
Change always brings a new energy, which I believe was needed following the disappointment of last season. But change also creates challenges, as new ideas and influences blend with the old to create a playing template that we hope will ignite us all again this year.
Kenny and his coaching group have harnessed this energy, embraced the idea of positive change and delivered an excellent pre-season preparation.
For the players, I suspect there is no getting away from the fact that summer is just hard work.
As usual, they have thrown themselves into it and hope to reap the rewards as the brutality of the AFL season kicks in over the next few months.
There are no guarantees in this business, and there is certainly no easy way of achieving success. I have no doubt the boys understand this and have prepared accordingly.
Our standards
Across the summer, we have also spent time as a whole club, defining what it means to represent the Port Adelaide Football Club.
Every member of the on and off field team have spent time together discussing the privilege we feel to be the current custodians of this mighty club - protecting and honouring its glorious past, but even more importantly accepting the responsibility of building its future.
We have spoken of ‘winning the right way’, where winning with humility and integrity - all the while upholding the highest standards of personal behaviour - would be honoured in this era of heightened social responsibility and accountability.
It is a standard every leader of the club is determined and committed to drive into the culture of Port Adelaide.
It is with these standards in mind that we dealt with Nathan Krakouer’s recent indiscretion in Perth.
Nathan’s circumstances are difficult and complex and he is highly remorseful for his actions. He has accepted the club’s strong yet appropriate sanction, and I have no doubt will return a better young man as a result of this unfortunate experience.
His personal comeback story is inspirational to many, but as yet incomplete. Nathan owes it to himself to continue his AFL journey and to find a way to succeed. We are confident that he will.
Our members
Our momentum off-field continues. We are approaching the 60,000-member mark again and our remarkable membership team are quietly confident that a new record may be a possibility this year.
How incredible is that!
I have noticed that Matthew Richardson and his team have quickly adopted this lofty mark as the new norm, but a moment of quiet reflection will be in order if in fact the record is broken again in 2016.
It will be an amazing achievement, driven by the most passionate and engaged community of members in the AFL – and we will be out in force at 2.50pm Easter Sunday!
I’ve got to say, the sight of Charlie Dixon rumbling towards his first contest fifteen seconds after his first ‘Never Tear Us Apart’ experience will be worth the price of the ticket on its own!
Game day
Game day will feature all the favourites again this year, with a few new surprises thrown in for good measure.
For those of you with young children, make sure you head over to the Victor Richardson Gates and check out our new internal ‘Footy Island’, we think you will like it. Designed to give the kids a chance to blow off some steam during the game, we will also make sure that parents can still watch the game and have a coffee while the kids are doing their thing.
We are hoping that the Pirateers might just make coming to the footy even more enjoyable for young families. Adelaide Oval is going to be a lot of fun this year and we don’t want anyone to miss out!
Women’s footy
There has also been a lot of talk about women’s footy over the past couple of months.
We thought long and hard about this opportunity, and in the end decided not to pursue a licence to play in the proposed national league in 2017.
Right now, we believe the most valuable role we can play is to help to encourage young girls and women to participate in our game.
To this end, we have joined forces with the Port Adelaide Women’s Football Club and will support them through the use of our facilities and access to our development coaches.
Through this positive grassroots involvement, we are hoping to inspire more young female players to choose football as their preferred sport.
We will also manage a training academy for the state under-18’s female squad, providing an elite development environment for these talented juniors.
The growth of women’s footy is a major opportunity for our game, and I must say, congratulations to Gillon McLachlan and the AFL for driving this agenda so passionately.
Port Adelaide will do its part to help grow the women’s game and we look forward to watching the progress of the Port Adelaide Women’s Football Club over the next few years. We will keep you posted.
China
The other major focus for the club is our engagement with China, and as Kochie has been hinting over the past few days, it is absolutely taking off!
You may have seen the Today Tonight story of Chen Shaoliang, the young captain of Team China who discovered Australian football in a small town on mainland China and fell in love with it.
As part of our overall plan to build relationships with the Chinese community, both here in Australia and in China, we decided to offer Chen the opportunity to pursue his dream of playing Australian Rules football in Australia.
Although he injured his knee at training earlier this week which will sideline him for up to 12 months, Chen will be immersed in our club for the next two years, living with a host family, rehabilitating and training with the Magpies Academy squad, studying at UNISA and helping us to promote our game to the large Chinese community here in Adelaide and around Australia
Chen’s employment is just part of a broader plan, which now includes the sponsorship of the South China AFL, sponsorship of the Guangdong AFL, support for Auskick in South China, sponsorship of Team China and we are currently working on a plan to provide support for the Shanghai Tigers and their Auskick program.
If you’re wondering, what’s in it for us, well, all I will say at this stage is that our philosophy of ‘Give Before You Take’ is well understood and appreciated by the Chinese people.
We believe in building trust through relationships, and patience is paramount.
Our General Manager for China and Government Relations, Andrew Hunter and his very able assistant Promise Xu, are doing an incredible job in this space, and their efforts are being fully supported by everyone at the club.
Every initiative (whether they understand its relevance or not) is being embraced.
We hope to be in a position to bring some exciting news from our Chinese adventure in the very near future.
…But first things first!
It’s time for the real stuff
Chad Cornes and the Magpies are in the barriers and kicking the door down to get at Norwood in the season opener at the Parade on Thursday night.
To Chad, Summo and the rest of the team… good luck boys, we’ll all be there to see you to kick the season off in style.
And then it’s an Easter egg or two and off to see Kenny, Boaky and the Power lads pick up where they left off last year.
It’s been a long summer. I think we’re all glad it’s over!
Now it’s time to buckle up and get stuck into the real stuff!
Enjoy the footy!
KT
Port Adelaide hosts St Kilda in AFL Opening Round at the Adelaide Oval on Easter Sunday, March 27 at 2:50pm (ACDT).
Port Adelaide plays Norwood in the opening SANFL game at the Parade on Easter Thursday, March 24 at 7.40pm
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