Dear members and supporters,

The official start to the 2025 season is now only a few short weeks away, and as usual at this time of year, there is plenty happening.

Coach transition plan

We recently announced AFL senior coach Ken Hinkley advised the club he will step aside from the role at the end of the 2025 season. Ken and the club had open dialogue over the pre-season which ultimately resolved that this would be the best time to finish.

Ken has always put the best interests of the club first, and reaching this decision ahead of the season provides the club with a great lead in to transition the football program for the future.

Ken is as energised as ever and will be doing everything he can with the team to deliver premiership success in 2025.

Once this was agreed, we were then able to finalise the details and confirm that Josh Carr will take over as senior coach from 2026 on an initial three-year contract.

Josh has been in our program as an assistant coach since 2022 and has been widely regarded as one of the most sought-after new generation AFL coaches.

In 2023 when the club extended Ken Hinkley’s contract for a further two years, we were eager to also retain Josh Carr in the program in the hope that in the future he’d be in the position to take over when the time was right.

We strongly believe that Josh Carr is the best coach for Port Adelaide from 2026.

He is an AFL premiership player, knows our club and people intimately, has coached successfully in his own right, including an SANFL premiership at North Adelaide in 2018, and had significant positive influence in Fremantle’s AFL program in his time there.

He’ll have done an extensive apprenticeship by the time he starts, and he’ll be taking over a program in a very strong position.

From the day after it was announced, the focus of the football program has shifted back sharply to 2025 and the task at hand in building a successful season.

Ken and Josh have a strong relationship, and I have great confidence that they will manage this season well.

We have a very clear focus for 2025, and the future is well planned, and in the best hands moving forward. It’s an excellent position for our club to be in.

Pre-season preparation

The final phase of our AFL season preparation started last Friday night against Adelaide at Mount Barker across six periods of play for our AFL and SANFL squads.

New draftees Joe Berry, Jack Whitlock, Christian Moraes, Tom Cochrane and Benny Barrett have all settled well into our program and continue to impress.

On Friday, we got to test and learn some elements of our game and we saw some of our new players in action for the first time against opposition.

Our two Joes – Joe Berry and Joe Richards – had some nice moments and it was great to see “new recruit” Sam Powell-Pepper return to the team. Pep had four scoring shots and was up and about providing energy and forward line pressure. It’s so good to have him back.

Jason Horne-Francis continued his Indigenous All-Stars form and Miles Bergman was outstanding in defence. At 21 and 23 respectively, they are representative of the emerging core of our playing list.

Our next pre-season game is an AAMI Community Series match this Saturday 1 March against St Kilda at RSEA Park in Moorabbin, followed by an internal trial at Alberton on March 7.

We’d love to see a big crowd at Alberton Oval next Friday to close out our 2025 preparation.

Hall of Fame

One of the great nights on our calendar is the Season Launch and Hall of Fame event.

It’s a unique night when the past, present, and future of the Port Adelaide Football Club come together with great optimism for the season ahead, as well as to celebrate the great champions of our club, on and off the field.

Our new players receive their first Port Adelaide guernsey from Hall of Famers as we learn more about the people who’ve built our club into what it is today.

This year’s inductees were AFL champion Robbie Gray, legendary ‘boot-studder’ Alf Trebilcock who has served the club since 1968, and the 1977 Premiership team entered the ‘teams’ category’, for ultimately paving the way for an era of unrivalled success across the following two decades ahead of our AFL entry.

Great people make great clubs and this year’s inductees are absolute proof of that.

Commercial update

Last week the club proudly announced that MG Motor Australia extended their major partnership for a further three years.

It was a significant moment for the club, and we are very grateful to CEO Peter Ciao, his team, and the entire MG dealer network around the country for their support and ongoing commitment to our club.

MG are on an extraordinary growth trajectory in Australia, elevating to a top ten selling car brand in just five years. And what’s coming in terms of their vehicle range over the next few years is even more exciting. We are thrilled to be on this journey with MG.

Importantly, our members will continue to have access to exclusive benefits and discounts on the growing range of new MG vehicles coming to the market.

Conversely, the news last week that co-major partner GFG’s operations in Whyalla went into administration following a series of ongoing business and financial challenges is disappointing.

Whilst this does provide some short-term issues for us to resolve, the club’s financial position is very strong, and I am confident we will emerge in an even better position for the longer term.

Membership

Thank you to our members who continue to support the club with great passion and loyalty.

We are currently tracking 6,000 members up on the same time last year, and this support is another key reason that the challenges of the GFG situation are lessened for the club. Thank you!

Our first home game at Adelaide Oval is Round 2 against Richmond on Saturday 22 March and we look forward to seeing you there.

Alberton Oval Redevelopment

The Alberton Oval transformation continues, with the next stage to commence later this year thanks to funding support of the South Australian Government.

This will see renovations to the northern end of the MG High-Performance Centre to integrate the AFLW player changerooms and coaching facilities into the main building and installing terraced grandstand seating on the eastern boundary to enhance our game day experience at Alberton Oval.

We are working with the City of Port Adelaide Enfield Council on planning and approvals and hope to start construction by mid-year.  

Beyond this, a heritage inspired grandstand is planned for the current Bowling Club site.

This will include new facilities for the Port Adelaide Bowling Club, additional player facilities, and a future-focused STEM learning and education facility, with the council planning process to commence in 2026.  

We are also starting to plan for a complete re-build of the Alberton Oval playing surface to elevate it to Adelaide Oval standard all year. The timing of that to minimize disruption to our football programs will be important.

Finally, the CEO Dinners recommence this month so please connect with our membership team if you’d like to join us at the club across the year. They are always great nights of open discussion and conversation about all aspects of the club.

It’s been a busy start to the year, and like you, we can’t wait for the football season to start in a few short weeks.

Thanks for your support,

Cheers