PREMIERSHIP player and John Cahill Medallist Brendon Lade will return to Port Adelaide as an assistant coach in 2017.
Lade joins the Power after working as a ruck and midfield stoppage coach at Richmond since 2010 and will have a role working with Port’s ruckmen.
Aaron Greaves will move from his joint ruck/development role into a full-time position as Port Adelaide’s head of football development.
During his decorated 234-game playing career, Lade played in the Power’s 2004 premiership, was a two-time All-Australian in 2006 and 2007 and won the 2006 John Cahill Medal.
He joins the Power’s current assistant coaching division, which consists of midfield manager Michael Voss, forwards coach Matthew Nicks and backs coach Nathan Bassett.
Working with the Power's key rucks Paddy Ryder and Matthew Lobbe, as well as emerging talls like Dougal Howard and Billy Frampton, is something Lade looking forward to.
“It’s a pretty exciting mix of big men,” Lade said.
“Paddy Ryder is so athletic and versatile, Matt Lobbe is your traditional workhorse, we all saw what Jackson Trengove was able to do when called on last season and then there’s Billy Frampton who’s really progressing well despite a few injury setbacks.
“The chance to work with Ken and his coaching team was... a big factor in me deciding to make the move. During the interview process I was really impressed with his footy philosophy and the plans he has for the playing group.”
Port Adelaide's head of football Chris Davies says Lade will inject fresh ideas into the Power's footy department for 2017, as it finalises his role for the coming season.
“The great thing with Brendon is he has pretty broad coaching experience so we have a number of options in terms of making the most of his skill set.”
