PORT ADELAIDE great Gavin Wanganeen has outlined his vision for his stint in the boardroom after his appointment to the club’s board of directors.
Wanganeen was announced as a member-elected director on Friday after an independently run vote.
He becomes the first Indigenous past player to be on the board of any AFL club, and the first Aboriginal person to join the Port Adelaide board.
Wanganeen says he is aiming for a two-pronged approach to his time on the board, focussing firstly on football.
“The first (prong) will be the understanding of our brand of football and the way we play our football – what we stand for,” he said during an interview on Adelaide radio station SEN SA on Monday afternoon.
“I love the attacking, the creative, aggressive brand of football and playing through the corridor.
“That’s something that has always been a Port Adelaide style of play and if you look at it, it’s been a style of play that wins premierships.
“So that style of football we play will be something I’ll be working closely with the football committee on.”
The former Port Adelaide captain and 2004 premiership player has long been an advocate for the club’s community arm Power Community Limited, taking part in many programs and camps.
He said he will continue to push for those programs to go from strength to strength to maintain Port Adelaide’s connection with its people.
“We are a community club, we’re a club for the people, we like to give back and I’ve been involved with the Indigenous programs with Paul Vandenbergh for eight or nine years now,” Wanganeen said.
“Our programs are some of the best in the AFL so I look forward to keeping them strong, enhancing them and growing them and keeping our footprint out in the wider community.”
And while Wanganeen is new to the board, his passion for the club has never waned since arriving at Alberton in the under 13s.
He said he expected the Power to return to finals in 2019 and make a push for the premiership.
“I’m very confident that we’re going to play a really exciting brand of footy that’s going to bring us in touch with the top sides,” he said.
“You only have to look at what Collingwood did coming from 13th – there’s almost a template there for all the other clubs to say they came from 13th so let’s believe in our system, let’s make some tweaks, let’s have a crack, let’s be bold, be brave, let’s do well with our structures and the belief – you just don’t know how far that can take you.
“I’m really confident that the players are good enough that’s for sure and the coaching staff are the right ones so we look forward to this year.”