We are in rebuild mode. The club hasn’t/won’t say it, but the list is being reset and we are doing a pretty bloody sterling job of it IMHO.
As the club has managed its trade assets to acquire multiple first-round or early second round picks in recent years, a wave of talent born in the 1997-2001 range could form an almighty team, all peaking at the same time, with pieces of veteran support (but definitely cast aside anyone 28yo or older, you are no longer a walk up start).
Here is the nucleus
1997 - Burton, Houston, Bonner
1998 - Powell-Pepper, Marshall, Drew, Ladhams
1999 - Hayes, Garner, Farrell, Patmore
2000 - Rozee, Duursma, Butters
2001 - Bergman, Georgiades, Williams, Mead
Supplemented by Lycett (1992), Wines and Clurey (1994), Amon and Byrne-Jones (1995). Schofield et al to follow.
Some of those players may not make it (Bonner and Patmore at this stage are marginal), but all have shown AFL promise, and with a firm likelihood of creating the critical mass of A/B graders needed to win flag(s).
I know we’re all rightfully shitty about the coaching, but list management is quite separate to that and I am actually very much on board with the direction.
The decision was almost certainly made last year that we were rebuilding. This has not been at all well communicated to the fans, who I believe would be more accepting than the club would think to the strategy. Additionally, I suspect the apparent source significant tension in the football department would be between selection and list management, given some of the low ceiling players that were getting games. The list is almost fully aligned now to remove that excuse, with the likes of Boak, Gray, Westhoff, Dixon and Jonas providing cover while the 1st and 2nd year players get runs on the board in the SANFL.
TL;DR: how good’s Port Adelaide, if you get a get you’ll get a go, premiers 2023-2026
As the club has managed its trade assets to acquire multiple first-round or early second round picks in recent years, a wave of talent born in the 1997-2001 range could form an almighty team, all peaking at the same time, with pieces of veteran support (but definitely cast aside anyone 28yo or older, you are no longer a walk up start).
Here is the nucleus
1997 - Burton, Houston, Bonner
1998 - Powell-Pepper, Marshall, Drew, Ladhams
1999 - Hayes, Garner, Farrell, Patmore
2000 - Rozee, Duursma, Butters
2001 - Bergman, Georgiades, Williams, Mead
Supplemented by Lycett (1992), Wines and Clurey (1994), Amon and Byrne-Jones (1995). Schofield et al to follow.
Some of those players may not make it (Bonner and Patmore at this stage are marginal), but all have shown AFL promise, and with a firm likelihood of creating the critical mass of A/B graders needed to win flag(s).
I know we’re all rightfully shitty about the coaching, but list management is quite separate to that and I am actually very much on board with the direction.
The decision was almost certainly made last year that we were rebuilding. This has not been at all well communicated to the fans, who I believe would be more accepting than the club would think to the strategy. Additionally, I suspect the apparent source significant tension in the football department would be between selection and list management, given some of the low ceiling players that were getting games. The list is almost fully aligned now to remove that excuse, with the likes of Boak, Gray, Westhoff, Dixon and Jonas providing cover while the 1st and 2nd year players get runs on the board in the SANFL.
TL;DR: how good’s Port Adelaide, if you get a get you’ll get a go, premiers 2023-2026
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