PAFC CEO Matthew Richardson

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You assume I've read the books only once?

I'm simply addressing the totally backwards and dumb rants of "Sack Hinkley" like this approach is going to be some panacea.

"A stinking mess..." I simply don't see it.
Do you think Hinkley should be extended without a grand final appearance?

If we assume that existing to win premierships is the purpose, then a premiership must be the KPI.

We have failed to do that since 2004.

The last guy to get us to a grand final (AFL) was gone in 2.5 seasons.

our next coach was sacked after failing to make finals in 2.5 seasons, despite having no money and resources.

Hinkley has a record of making finals, but 0-3 in prelims is very poor reading, not to mention bottoming out in 2/3 seasons immediately after PF appearances.

We've turned over the playing list what? four times? several senior assistants and plenty of assistants, fitness regimes. the constants have been koch and ken. Richardson has talked a big game, right now there's not much to like (a club/facilities redevelopment withsacks of government cash like every other club isn't an achievement).

By his own standard we have this and two more seasons to win three flags, he even asterisked that saying SANFL+ AFLW flags count to collective eyeroll. 100k members? is that likely?

These guys are surrounded by historic and self proclaimed measuring sticks. By what else should they be judged?

Noone is under any illusion the AFL is not the SANFL or even the old VFL. it's a deliberately handicapped system, but at what point does the person at the top of football, admin or the board, take responsibility for failure to meet targets?
 
You assume I've read the books only once?

I'm simply addressing the totally backwards and dumb rants of "Sack Hinkley" like this approach is going to be some panacea.

"A stinking mess..." I simply don't see it.
Who gives a * if you don't see it. Go back to Facebook with the other true believers and Ken Oath.
 

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As a general comment - I hate mission statements, I hate vision statements, I hate written values. Great for internal guidance, horrible for external marketing. If you have to talk about them publicly then you're probably not living them.

It'd be interesting to understand how Fos intended the Creed to be used - for whom, and when. Anyone ever done any research into this?
For Kock and Ken, by the members, now.

On SM-G975F using BigFooty.com mobile app
 
Do you think Hinkley should be extended without a grand final appearance?

If we assume that existing to win premierships is the purpose, then a premiership must be the KPI.

We have failed to do that since 2004.

The last guy to get us to a grand final (AFL) was gone in 2.5 seasons.

our next coach was sacked after failing to make finals in 2.5 seasons, despite having no money and resources.

Hinkley has a record of making finals, but 0-3 in prelims is very poor reading, not to mention bottoming out in 2/3 seasons immediately after PF appearances.

We've turned over the playing list what? four times? several senior assistants and plenty of assistants, fitness regimes. the constants have been koch and ken. Richardson has talked a big game, right now there's not much to like (a club/facilities redevelopment withsacks of government cash like every other club isn't an achievement).

By his own standard we have this and two more seasons to win three flags, he even asterisked that saying SANFL+ AFLW flags count to collective eyeroll. 100k members? is that likely?

These guys are surrounded by historic and self proclaimed measuring sticks. By what else should they be judged?

Is it comparable though? What was won in a 8/9 team competition in a small city? DNA - sure. But expecting those results on the back of a small club smaller a smaller commercial footprint?

Noone is under any illusion the AFL is not the SANFL or even the old VFL. it's a deliberately handicapped system, but at what point does the person at the top of football, admin or the board, take responsibility for failure to meet targets?

"We exist to win premierships"

What a curse.

Genuine question - when did this become the public-facing vision statement of the football club - as in - across the entire history of the club? When did this idea begin, given we didn't always have a bag full of premierships?

"Hoist by his own petard" comes to mind.

Definitely tricky with Hinkley, I'm not sure where I sit. If we lose Carr I'll be filthy.

Some of those goals feel copycat, especially the 100K members - in a city that crawls in its numerical and economic growth.

This entire thread began - because I simply questioned overwhelming negativity and hate in many parts of this forum, despite obvious parts of our program that are in good health - including our list build.
 
Thanks for your note.

I was in Shanghai in 2017, what a highlight.

There’s no issue when I see people outline logically the reason for their gripes, fair enough - I listen and take it in.

All clubs have massive disappointment from time to time. Who’d a thought - Blues, Bombers, Eagles. Wow!

Rare clubs build successfully over the long haul. Life is hard, leadership is hard.

Maybe I’m at the age where I’m also evaluating personally, I get it. The best stuff doesn’t come easy.

It’s the throw away lines and the pure hate, like it’s a prerequisite of even being here. That’s the stuff that’s hard to read in these posts.

The essence of that hate is in fact the very opposite of what it takes to build anything substantial in life. In that sense, it’s counterintuitive and completely useless in what it contributes to our magnificent football club.

I am a total convert to the history of Port Adelaide. I wasn’t there but I have embraced the stories as best I can.
Some good points. I'm just jaded from having a coach that I haven't believed in since 2015. Its just been too long & I am guilty of some disparaging comments about Ken. I feel that the priority of some senior people at the club is to just survive rather than the club thrive.
 
Isn't history now re-writing Jack Welch now as the guy who broke capitalism? Destroyed confidence in the corporate world and been part of the creation of cynical middle class / working class?
Yeah but we’re talking football and winning, the parameters of success are somewhat less complicated.
 
Some good points. I'm just jaded from having a coach that I haven't believed in since 2015. Its just been too long & I am guilty of some disparaging comments about Ken. I feel that the priority of some senior people at the club is to just survive rather than the club thrive.
I have bled at times. Bulldogs prelim was the worst. My son was pretty young, didn't get the concept of choking or a thrashing - given what we had shown going in. Very hard being a parent that day and trying to work it through with him.

Probably one of the things that made me craziest was the consistent talk of "Dusty the guy who couldn't be tagged". That was the Hinkley narrative after the Richmond PF loss. Yet within a year or so run-with players were being used again and now they're almost the norm. Infuriating.

Right now this season feels wide open - my view is Melbourne is the front runner at the minute, Blues are the dark horse with the players they've still got coming back in. We just have to win now.

Hinkley on the bench and Carr in the box is intriguing indeed.

There was a glint in Butters' eye at the end of the Magpies loss. He was fuming. If we can wrap our arms around that as a playing/coaching group, anything could still happen. I'm not giving up hope yet.
 

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Best you got? If you're going to jump in then at least get our brains out of first gear.

You’re the one pulling out BS quoting decades old management texts and citing them in a way that would fail a high school business course. That’s not using your brain.

"A stinking mess..." I simply don't see it.

You wouldn’t

I wasn’t there but I have embraced the stories as best I can.

No you weren’t there. It shows.
 
And we don't have it. That's the point champ.
See previous comments. He was citing Jack Welch as an example of good leadership. I challenged that.

 
See previous comments. He was citing Jack Welch as an example of good leadership. I challenged that.

I cited Welch as an alternate view on leadership, as in there are different approaches that can create success. GE was undeniably successful over his 20 odd years at the top.

The approach we currently have obviously hasn’t worked, even by our own clubs stated metrics for success.

It’s time for change.
 
You’re the one pulling out BS quoting decades old management texts and citing them in a way that would fail a high school business course. That’s not using your brain.
So because they're old they're suddenly irrelevant?

I guess that makes Port's history irrelevant, according to that logic.
You wouldn’t

Glass half full that's what I try to be.

No you weren’t there. It shows.

Hey I can't help that. All I can do is embrace as much club history as I can.
 
I cited Welch as an alternate view on leadership, as in there are different approaches that can create success. GE was undeniably successful over his 20 odd years at the top.

The approach we currently have obviously hasn’t worked, even by our own clubs stated metrics for success.

It’s time for change.

Yeh I agree it's probably time for change.

What I challenged was the constant hateful negativity and "sack'em'all" approach which mostly proves to be destructive.

And have a modern read about Jack Welch, if you haven't already. There are differing views on his approach and the influence he has had.
 
So because they're old they're suddenly irrelevant?

I guess that makes Port's history irrelevant, according to that logic.


Glass half full that's what I try to be.



Hey I can't help that. All I can do is embrace as much club history as I can.

Oh my. Good luck mate 👍
 
Is it comparable though? What was won in a 8/9 team competition in a small city? DNA - sure. But expecting those results on the back of a small club smaller a smaller commercial footprint?



"We exist to win premierships"

What a curse.

Genuine question - when did this become the public-facing vision statement of the football club - as in - across the entire history of the club? When did this idea begin, given we didn't always have a bag full of premierships?

"Hoist by his own petard" comes to mind.

Definitely tricky with Hinkley, I'm not sure where I sit. If we lose Carr I'll be filthy.

Some of those goals feel copycat, especially the 100K members - in a city that crawls in its numerical and economic growth.

This entire thread began - because I simply questioned overwhelming negativity and hate in many parts of this forum, despite obvious parts of our program that are in good health - including our list build.
it's hardly a curse. it's the thinking that has had us chase best available talent and coaches historically to win a flag.

it's not as though we haven't put coaches to the hilt and demanded success either.

Ebert was sacked, choco was given a year to win a flag with a sponsor piling on the pressure...and he won a flag.

Hinkley, and his regime, have had little pressure (we employ a guy who ran choco and primus out of town for Christs sake).


as for your comments on not liking the metrics, that's not really the point. the point is, these ARE the metrics and this IS the record. I've supported the exit of Koch for a long time, appointing Richardson, whose rep and record has been spoken of here, hardly inspires. 3 flags to go.
 
Yeh I agree it's probably time for change.

What I challenged was the constant hateful negativity and "sack'em'all" approach which mostly proves to be destructive.

And have a modern read about Jack Welch, if you haven't already. There are differing views on his approach and the influence he has had.
I’ve read them. I worked in GE during his tenure so understand it well.

Would I recommend it as a great place to work - not really.

Did it build an environment that demanded high performance and individuals to push themselves to succeed at almost any cost - it sure as hell did.

Did it drive success in terms of the ultimate goal being shareholder return over a sustained period of time - absolutely.

I agree, the “sack ‘em all” is a short sighted emotional response, but for any club the ultimate measure of success is premierships.

We’re not here (at least I hope we’re not!) to be good corporate citizens and contribute to the growth of the game (ie $). We’re here to win, plain and simple.
 
it's hardly a curse. it's the thinking that has had us chase best available talent and coaches historically to win a flag.

it's not as though we haven't put coaches to the hilt and demanded success either.

Ebert was sacked, choco was given a year to win a flag with a sponsor piling on the pressure...and he won a flag.

Hinkley, and his regime, have had little pressure (we employ a guy who ran choco and primus out of town for Christs sake).


as for your comments on not liking the metrics, that's not really the point. the point is, these ARE the metrics and this IS the record. I've supported the exit of Koch for a long time, appointing Richardson, whose rep and record has been spoken of here, hardly inspires. 3 flags to go.

The 3 flag thing just felt copycat and a mistake, I agree. Koch had no strong leadership record pre Port Adelaide. KT underrated IMO.

I'm listening and considering your comments about demanding leadership. How does this approach compare say with the Cats?
 
For decades, the Club championed itself as a pillar of being a community Club in name and action. Your contribution as a member was considered invaluable. The connection between the Club and the fans was never in question - fans would have beers with the players post-game and weren't afraid to challenge players on errors made in said game. The standards were uncompromising - and the creed wasn't a punchline, it actually meant something back then.

I personally get loud and ark up about what I consider to be a poor state of affairs at the Club because the supporter base is increasingly being filtered out, pushed to the side as an afterthought. The fans expectations aren't unreasonable. That is, have the Club follow the Creed in every aspect of its endeavour. Do everything to succeed, but know that failure is ok if you have done everything possible to give yourself an opportunity to succeed in the first place.

I personally don't see how the Club can say it has been doing everything possible to win a flag under this current regime. I'm not blind to the success that the Club has had off-field under Koch. The China stuff had plenty of legs, and they have done very well attracting major sponsors over the last decade to financially secure the Club's future. The Port Club and Alberton HQ redevelopment is going to be brilliant, and the community programs including work with Indigenous communities should be fully commended as being some of if not best practice in the AFL. Whilst that stuff is all well and good, at the end of the day this Club like every other Club in the competition should first and foremost be prioritising winning a flag over all else.

I find it impossible to say that the Club under this regime is prioritising that when you consider Koch consistently for starters says finals is a pass mark every year. He then contradicts himself handing out a 2 year contract extension for Ken when he had 1 year remaining on his deal, with a trigger for a 3rd year if they had made the finals just once in those three prior seasons. Then the Club shat itself again giving Ken a 2 year extension prior to the 2021 season despite again having a year left to run on his contract. Foolishly the Club elected to not preserve itself financially and waived the 6 month payout which then meant when the Club bottomed out in 2022, Koch was too scared to sack him because it would have hit the Club hard financially at the time with the soft cap. We are then consistently told that the Club is doing everything to win - but its actions say something completely different. It is that disconnect that pisses me off more than anything because it has gone on for so many years one could justify it as gaslighting and emotional abuse.

Just a few issues of disconnect between the fans and the Club over the year:
  • The Hinkley extension explained above in 2017 and an unwillingness ever since to hold the senior coach to account for poor on-field performances.
  • 2019 co-captains. An unmitigated disaster spitting in the face of all the history before it.
  • 2021 aftermath of the preliminary final. To be told prior to the game "I said wait until the end of the year when we have everyone fit to judge us on our results in September" to post-game "Don't judge us on one game, judge us on the collective" not to mention having the entire Club go into hiding whilst refusing to take any sort of accountability for such a horrendous result.
  • Consistently on multiple occasions have members of the footy department and Koch refer to any criticism of the Club coming from rusted on fans as "white noise" that should be ignored and doesn't worth even consideration let alone a response.
  • Hearing Koch tell our Club's only AFL Premiership Captain that he needs to "learn about the Club" before he can be a Board member - even though Koch has parachuted people such as West Coast Eagles supporter Holly Ransom onto the Board back in 2016.
  • Lastly, the conflicts of interest between the players, the coaches and the head of the footy department. At all three levels are people in a dog racing syndicate. It is near impossible for accountability of results to occur professionally when everyone is off to Angle Park on a Friday night for drinks after work.

Some might think that everything is hunky dory, and there is a lot that the Club is doing right, but don't try to pull the wool over everyone else's eyes on here who disagree with the notion that the on-field results are acceptable and everything surrounding the footy department is A1. Might as well be pissing on our backs and tell us it's raining.
 
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PAFC CEO Matthew Richardson

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