Dear members and supporters,

Across the last few weeks we’ve all ridden the unpredictable wave that is COVID.

From a football perspective, our players and football staff exited Adelaide at short notice (2hrs actually!) last Wednesday on a charter flight, secured the important four points v Hawthorn on Saturday night and then returned on Sunday. All pretty normal for our group to take whatever comes in their stride, but we should all be proud of the no-fuss attitude of the football group just to do what’s required and stay focused on what’s most important. On top of that they’ve been in self-isolation after our last two home games to ensure we continue to do what is required to retain home games here in Adelaide.

We welcomed the positive news yesterday from SA Health that capacity at Adelaide Oval returns to 100% for our blockbuster against Melbourne tomorrow night.

It’s another big game, and we saw against Sydney what a difference our people make with the energy in the stadium being incredible again which no doubt helped the team get over the line after being challenged in the last quarter.

And what a game it promises to be – 2^nd vs 4^th and with so much on the line. Zak Butters returns for his first game since Round 4, which is great reward for him given it has been a challenging rehab for him.

Tomorrow night we celebrate Steven Motlop’s 200^th AFL game. Since joining us in 2018, Mots has provided us with some remarkable highlights. Who could forget that match winning goal against the Crows a few years ago? It’s fitting that Mots’ celebration coincides with NAIDOC week. He’s very proud of his heritage and we know his family and people are equally proud of him. We wish him all the best tomorrow night and I know the boys will be ensuring his milestone game is a special one.

Another feature tomorrow night is our charity partner Foodbank. We’re asking our members and supporters to bring non-perishable food items and place them in the Foodbank collection bins outside the entry gates to Adelaide Oval. There will also be Foodbank and AGL volunteers at each gate where our members and supporters can make a tap and go donation to help provide meals for vulnerable South Australians this winter.

A big thanks also to our partners Foodland and AGL. Foodland will be donating $500 for every Port Adelaide goal scored while AGL will be contributing $100 for every tackle laid by either team during the game.

Any support of Foodbank would be greatly appreciated. Remember, Foodbank first supported us in 2012 when we needed it most commercially and our partnership has grown ever since. They do amazing work in the community and we are proud to play our role in supporting their mission to end hunger in our community.

This Friday we are presenting our AFLW License submission to the AFL, with the aim of securing an AFLW license for entry into the competition in Season 7, starting in December 2022.

Our AFLW Steering Committee has been hard at work for more than 6 months in preparation for our successful entry into the AFLW competition, and for the last few months on the submission itself.

Our AFLW team will exist to win premierships, just like every other team associated with Port Adelaide. We will take 151 years of history with us into AFLW – the No. 1 guernsey for our Captain; 1870 on the back of the guernsey; and an ethos of never, ever giving up and from the outset we will be there to win, not just be part of something.

Great women have always been at the heart of this proud club. Too often, an unsung or an unseen force driving it on. There are some incredible legacies we will bring to life and celebrate through our submission, and beyond.

This week as I’ve gazed out of the window looking for inspiration over the magnificent Alberton Oval, the number of young girls out kicking the footy with their friends, sisters, brothers and fathers during their school holidays has been amazing … it’s a sign and I love it!

To provide these future AFLW players the opportunity to live their dream to represent Port Adelaide at the highest level is very exciting.

The re-development of Alberton Oval is underway, having secured the funding required to upgrade the player changerooms in the Fos Williams Family Stand at Alberton to provide state-of-the-art facilities for our female athletes as an important first step.

From a talent perspective we know there is a significant pool of talent coming through in SA, as part of the next generation of female players. Female participation in football has increased 20% YOY here in South Australia. The fact that our NGA team hasn’t lost in three years of playing the Crows NGA team gives us great confidence that our future team already knows the importance of this rivalry!

Having our whole community engaged and in behind our entry into AFLW is important, so I look forward to sharing our submission with you once we have presented it to the AFL. Thanks already to the members who have reached out and expressed how important this is to them. To pledge your support for our AFLW license, please register here.

We’ve got a big couple of months ahead on and off the field, and I can’t wait to share that with you.

Cheers

Richo