The pains of being a Port Adelaide supporter

[elbarton]

Fairfax futbol journalist, author of the recently released Postecoglou biography ‘Angeball’, and famously not-a-doctor, Vince Rugari, just dropped this article. Thought it should be shared, on account of it being rare, relatable content from a genuine Port fan in the mainstream media

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl...-port-adelaide-supporter-20240918-p5kbj4.html

I like current coach Ken Hinkley. I like the way he wears his heart on his sleeve. That’s us. I do think he’s been in the job for longer than his finals record deserves, but I am extremely open and indeed eager to be proved wrong.

I thought Port fans were within their rights to boo him earlier this year when we lost to the Brisbane Lions in a game dedicated to the 20-year anniversary of the 2004 flag. We lose too many important games to be taken seriously, and our semi-final win over Hawthorn the other night doesn’t change anything. Hinkley is, unfortunately, the common denominator.

12ft

 

[Alberton Proud]

Good read

Sank Hinkley

 

[tribey]

I like Vince and the article is fine by and large, but the bit about being a small fish and expecting too much made me wince.

 

[tribey]

Top-3 league table/minor round finishes since 2001:

• Arsenal: 11
• Port Adelaide: 9

And that doesn’t include 2014, which supplied Hinkley’s golden ticket for a decade.

 

[El_Scorcho]

Great article, genuinely one of us. I suspect you probably read this board from time to time Vince, so hello and thanks for articulating so well what we all go through.

People love to give us the old "well at least you're not North/StKilda/Essendon", but it's worse. It's been worse to be a Port supporter over the last decade, because you can see we've just been one or two obvious tweaks away from a flag the entire time. We've been around the mark in terms of ladder position with a gameplan that even average coaches can easily unlock, relying on individual brilliance that only works until we face the best teams in the cauldron of finals footy.

 

[Enviable Tradition]

Great article, genuinely one of us. I suspect you probably read this board from time to time Vince, so hello and thanks for articulating so well what we all go through.

People love to give us the old "well at least you're not North/StKilda/Essendon", but it's worse. It's been worse to be a Port supporter over the last decade, because you can see we've just been one or two obvious tweaks away from a flag the entire time. We've been around the mark in terms of ladder position with a gameplan that even average coaches can easily unlock, relying on individual brilliance that only works until we face the best teams in the cauldron of finals footy.

Yeah if your a Saints fam you knew what you were getting into.

If your a Port fan you had to deal with the bait and switch.

On SM-G975F using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[240volt]

Oh the pain!
Dr Zachary Smith.

 

[GremioPower]

I like Vince and the article is fine by and large, but the bit about being a small fish and expecting too much made me wince.

Yep. It’s the worst part of the article, by far. He skips the 70’s entirely —which should have felt close to what we feel today.

Imagine if we had spent those 12 years with the same coach, simply waiting for a flag to happen.

Port, simply by Minor Round ladder finishes, should have had 3 FLAGS already. Instead, we have played in only TWO Grand Finals.

Measuring all clubs equally, it turns out that we have UNDERACHIEVED. The narrative that we have struggled to adapt to the AFL is FALSE.

We have struggled turning our good teams into actual flag contenders. We have pretty much punched at our real weight. Our issue is with Finals football.

This “little suburban South Australian club” mentality is wrong. It must be purged from the club forever.

Instead, we help it grow. It’s mental.

The article is good, though.

 

[sobrave]

Strong disagree with "I like ken Hinkley"

There's nothing likeable about him

 

[philreich]

I can imagine Kane Cornes reading the article and telling himself, "Yet another pretend Port fan who applauded the booing of Ken."