Dear members and supporters,

It’s been a bruising, uncomfortable off season.

Self- inflicted, and rightly so.

A comprehensive assessment of every aspect of the club’s operation was undertaken, on and off field, as you would expect after the season we’ve just endured.

We all understand that the status quo is unacceptable.

Despite all the chatter to the contrary, significant change to the playing list is occurring.

Carlile, Schulz, Butcher, Mitchell, and Colquhoun depart.
Ryder, Monfries, and 4 new draft picks will come in.

Add White, Hombsch and Jonas who played little footy last year, together with the emergence of Byrne Jones, Young, Clurey, Austin, Impey as competitive AFL players and we believe the list has been strengthened. I know many of you have been reflecting on the club’s approach to the trade period. It was pretty simple really.

Our list strategy was to secure as many picks in the first and second round of the national draft as possible. Having strategically ‘traded in’ Ryder, Monfries, Polec, Dixon and White over the past few years, the need to go to the draft and find more top end young talent was clear. We achieved four picks which is a good result.

We went into the trade period with an open mind. Much has been written about Hamish, but the reality is that several players on our list, after strong, honest discussions with the coach, were informed that if a situation arose in the trade period that advantaged the club, then we would consider it. Uncomfortable…yes, but important.

This is a high performance industry. It is supposed to be uncomfortable!

As it turned out, we were able to achieve our draft goal through trading a future first round pick. With significantly more contractual flexibility next year, we are very comfortable with the decision and we’re confident that the discomfort we’ve all felt post season will help us turn the tables next season. Much work has also gone into the coaching structure for 2017.

Whilst Garry Hocking has departed and Shaun Hart has been re-deployed to drive our Academy programs, the focus has been on creating a structure that ensures that we are maximizing all of the resources at our disposal.

We will invest in the development of our leadership, skills and approach to the game. We welcome Brendon Lade back, and will announce more structural change soon.

But our philosophy has not been centered on tossing the baby out with the bath water. It is about creating an environment that encourages the very best out of every member of the team, fully utilizing all of the substantial resource we have at our disposal.

We acknowledge, despite all of our hard work and best endeavours, we did not achieve that in 2016. Our structure and approach in 2017 will be based on the learnings of this difficult period of reflection and fueled by the sting of successive failed seasons.

We will remind ourselves again about the standards and responsibilities that come with representing Port Adelaide. As always, we will judge ourselves on our ability to uphold these standards and win games of footy.

There is a lot to look forward to and we have much to share with you in the lead up to the national draft in November.

Please stay tuned.

KT