PORT ADELAIDE coach Mark Williams says his side will not “give up” or “roll over” in the remaining nine rounds despite having been ruled out of finals contention.
Williams vowed to take a “long-term” approach to selection for the rest of the season following the narrow loss to Richmond on Saturday, an approach that stirred talk of the dreaded ‘T’ word - tanking.
On Monday, Williams emphatically declared his side would be “out there to win” in each and every game this year.
“People who know me certainly know I go out there to win. That’s the truth, and anyone who gets a game in this team is out there to win,” he said.
“The other day my kids asked me what tanking was, and I’d actually never heard of it [until a few years ago]. I think the term comes from tennis, but I’m not sure what the background is or why they even call it ‘tanking’, but the idea that Port Adelaide does anything else but go out to try and win is not even thought of.
“In 2000, after round 12, I think we’d had only two-and-a-half wins and we looked at who might be available in the draft. It was Nick Riewoldt and Justin Koschitzke, and we could’ve got both of them, but we won seven out of the last 10 games, and that’s the Port Adelaide way.
“If you consider that we had two-and-a-half wins after round 12 and then look at what we did from that point on, where we were absolute bottom. You’d think gee, how could they possibly get there [to a premiership in 2004] from that low depth?
“Maybe it was a lot to do with the determination of the club not to give up or just roll over. That’s probably why [we wouldn’t tank].
In 2006, the Power implemented a plan to get back to the top of the ladder and embarked on a similar process of putting senior players in for surgery and blooding youth.
Williams said, despite sitting 12th less than 12 months after contesting the Grand Final, the Power were still on track and expected fans to be supportive of the club’s long-term view of its playing list.
“Our supporters were so supportive of us [in 2006] when we decided to put some people in cotton wool, as far as getting them surgery, and picked younger players, so that they could see there was a future at the club,” he said.
“They’ve watched the other clubs get the real benefits of draft picks and they’ve seen how, now, we talk of those as being outstanding clubs in terms of their lists and the quality of their young players.
“While our supporters are disappointed that we’re not winning at the minute, they understand that we’re building for the future. When we get back there [to the top] we want to be there for a fair time.
Williams was also content with the structure of the current draft system and the rewards available to lower ranked clubs.
“If you have to do your time at the bottom, you’d like to be able to get the same benefits that the other clubs that are now rolling up at the top have got.”
