PORT ADELAIDE Chief Executive Matthew Richardson has outlined the club’s agenda for 2022 promising the club will do all it can to win the premiership.
Mr Richardson used the 2021 Annual General Meeting to provide an update on how the club is tracking against its ambitious Chasing Greatness strategic agenda and list its goals for the year ahead.
He said while the club missed its ultimate goal, there was much to celebrate in the past 12 months.
“Clearly we didn’t achieve greatness in 2021,” the CEO explained.
“We were challenged all year, when you think about the challenges our team had all year, and to finish second at the end of the minor round and have a fantastic final – I know our club and our people and I said to the players when we finished up, ‘thank you’ because the momentum they built and we rode the whole year was incredible until obviously we got to that preliminary final.
“We made history with our first Brownlow Medallist in Ollie Wines and we couldn’t be prouder of Ollie. We also were successful in winning and AFLW licence and we’re really excited about what that’s going to do for our footy club.
“And we have a fantastic foundation for on-field success with a really exciting group. But we know success at Port Adelaide is measured in premierships. We understand that. We don’t hide from it. We embrace it and we attack it and that’s what we’ll do in 2022.”
Mr Richardson said off the field the club had record membership, audience, and engagement metrics and retail was expanding.
He said the club’s industry-leading community programs had narrowed their focus but gone from strength to strength and commercially the club had its best year on record.
“Our partners are as invested and connected to our journey as they’ve ever been,” he said.
“Three joint major partners are growing with us into AFLW and our precinct. They believe in our vision.”
That vision, Mr Richardson said, included recruiting the best people and players to carry it into the AFLW competition.
As for 2022, the CEO set a busy agenda, saying the club was in as strong a position as it had ever been with plenty to be excited about.
“We’re going to continue to grow – our members, fans and partnerships, and double down on engagement and connection with our most important people, which I know we’ve missed,” he said.
“We will continue to protect our heritage and icons – that includes the fantastic new Port Adelaide Museum, which will be interactive and tell Port Adelaide’s stories and we’ll continue to fight to wear the prison bars because we know how important they are to our people and our club.
“Our community programs will continue to change lives and make a difference.
“We will launch and open our brand-new social club facility and welcome our community back to their club in just a couple of months.
“And then we’ll start the $30m transformation of our precinct at Alberton Oval.
But Mr Richardson said the most important focus was on the club’s core business – winning football games.
He echoed earlier sentiments from coach Ken Hinkley that the club’s goal was to win the 2022 AFL premiership.
“To do that,” he said “we need to earn that opportunity again. We’ve got everything we need. We’ve got great confidence in our people and our players.
“For us it’s about mindset and attitude.
“We’ll remain sharply focussed on what we can control and stay in the moment. We can’t afford to get ahead of ourselves despite the narrative that will build around us.”
The AGM saw the announcement of Rob Snowdon’s addition to the club’s board as a member-elected director for a three-year term.
Mr Snowdon was one of three candidates for the board position vacated by the outgoing Gavin Wanganeen, who stepped aside to focus on his family and growing business interests.
