CHAIRMAN David Koch says the club has plenty to be proud of from its historic 2020 campaign, but he has reiterated that near enough is not good enough at the Port Adelaide Football Club.
That was the key message from his speech at the club’s annual Best and Fairest Awards event at the Adelaide Convention Centre on Thursday night.
Port rose from tenth to third in 2020, sitting top of the ladder for the entire season before losing a heartbreaking preliminary final to eventual premier Richmond by just six points.
Mr Koch warned that the club could not afford to stand still but praised coach Ken Hinkley and his team for already putting plans in place to work harder and smarter in search of further improvement in 2021.
“We entered this season very clear on who we were as a football club, what we stood for and where we were heading,” Mr Koch told the audience.
“In typical Port Adelaide fashion, Ken Hinkley bravely declared in February that we were coming and steadfastly put a flag in the ground declaring our sole focus was to win a flag for the Port Adelaide family in our 150th season.
“We fell heartbreakingly short of this goal, losing to the eventual premiers Richmond by six points in an epic Preliminary Final.
“That result hurt…a lot. It still hurts but to bring some perspective, we rose from tenth to third, spent the entire home and away season on top of the ladder, (Travis Boak) Boaky came second in the Brownlow and we had the most total votes of any team, and Ken was voted Coach of the Year.
“Plenty to be proud of this year. But near enough is not good enough at Port Adelaide.”
Mr Koch said there was no guarantee that the club would be a force again next season and it would need to begin the climb again, pointing to other clubs in recent times which had failed to kick on after coming close to premiership success.
“We know success is not linear,” he said.
“We start 2021 equal 18th with the rest of the competition. Recent history tells us that losing Preliminary and Grand Final teams can fall off the cliff quickly.
“We experienced that to a certain extent after our last Preliminary final appearance in 2014. Look at the mob up the road and some recent fairy tale Melbourne clubs over recent years.
“In the AFL, if you standstill you actually go backwards against the other clubs. We have to keep working harder and smarter to take that next step. But I know the coaches and players already know that and are making sure we continue our improvement in 2021.
“The highs and lows, getting knocked down, getting back up again, the thrilling wins and the heartbreaking losses are all part of the continuous football journey, but we end 2020 knowing we are closer than when we started to winning that next Premiership that we are all craving for.”
Mr Koch also used his speech to thank the club’s members, supporters and corporate partners who had stuck by the club in the face of so much uncertainty with the impact of COVID-19.
He made special mention of staff and volunteers for helping the club navigate the challenges faced due to the pandemic that “rocked everyone”.
He explained that the entire staff took pay cuts, many were on stand down for months and some were made redundant.
“These redundancies were particularly devastating,” he said.
“Our football team is underpinned by a very strongly aligned club and the staff made redundant always played their role for the greater good of our club. And through no fault of their own they have lost their jobs and their day-to-day connection to the club they love.
“This is the real impact of COVID. Many of them are here tonight. Can I thank them for their support and passion for the club and wish them well.
“Everyone has made a sacrifice to ensure Port Adelaide survived the uncertainty of this season.”
Mr Koch concluded by thanking and farewelling outgoing CEO Keith Thomas, listing his many achievements in his more than nine years at the helm.
And he announced Executive General Manager Matthew Richardson would be elevated to succeed Mr Thomas after a stringent selection process, dubbing him the “best person” who brought the “all-round package”.
