Warren Tredrea: Why fans of Crows and Power deserve more from their clubs
After the worst round for both SA teams he can remember, Warren Tredrea says fans have a right to be fed up. Now the Crows and Power have their work cut out to win back their trust.
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The leaders at Adelaide and Port Adelaide should be trembling in their boots because the fans have had enough.
It takes a lot for loyal supporters to be turned off their beloved club but right now that’s the case.
What started out as a season of great promise has quickly turned into a year in which both clubs are stumbling to the line, hoping to fall into the finals.
To say we expect a lot from both the Crows and the Power is an understatement but it’s also fair to say the fans of both clubs are well within their rights to be up in arms and asking questions.
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Adelaide is now a team regularly being outhunted and pressured on the field, while rumours of disengagement and disconnection within the playing and coaching groups won’t go away — not to mention numerous big-name players out of form and playing in the SANFL.
And at Alberton, Power fans have become accustomed to watching their team dominate their opposition one week then serve up an uncompetitive performance the next, with exactly the same group of players.
I feel sorry for the fans — after all, they’re the economy of an AFL club and they must be treated with respect.
South Australian footy is on the verge of not having a team playing finals for the second straight year, unless one can do a Houdini act in the final round and sneak in.
Last weekend was the worst round of football for both local teams I can remember.
Adelaide was belted by 10 goals at home by an undermanned Collingwood missing 12 of its best players. Port Adelaide was embarrassed by 86 points by the 12th-placed Kangaroos.
It’s little wonder the fans are fed up and calling for coaches Don Pyke and Ken Hinkley to get the axe.
The lifeblood of any club is its members. They buy memberships, season tickets and merchandise as a badge of honour but they feel they’ve been taken for granted and not being listened to for far too long.
It’s not hard to see in 2019. Supporters have been voting with their feet, with attendances at Adelaide Oval well down and club memberships on the slide, not to mention regularly voicing their displeasure on talkback radio.
No sooner had Adelaide lost to Carlton by 27 points in Round 19 than it went into damage control. The chairman and CEO did the media rounds but all the fans got were clichéd club answers with no guarantee of a much-needed external club review — the one thing Crows’ fans are crying out for.
Supporters want finals series’ appearances and premierships; they couldn’t care less about making financial budgets and hitting KPIs. In their eyes, if you have a top-class football program, the rest takes care of itself.
Unfortunately for Adelaide, that’s a thing of the past.
The same goes for Port supporters. When the Crows’ public relation tsunami was taking place, why did Power CEO Keith Thomas send out a letter to all members taking responsibility for not listening and admitting to the club’s failings?
It was a poorly executed, desperate act. It gave little clarity and insight into why Port is where it is, or why key decisions such as mothballing the tradition of the captain wearing No. 1 by appointing co-captains only a year out from the club’s 150-year anniversary, irritating the diehards.
Both clubs have clearly misread the room.
It’s a club’s job to sell hope and a vision to their fans. I can see how Port Adelaide has made tough decisions for the future by recruiting and blooding kids, while I’m not sure what Adelaide is selling.
The Crows have regularly played men who are past their best and out of form, and until recently, were still refusing to give young talent a go — even though their list is rated as the third oldest.
Adelaide and Port Adelaide need to re-engage their fans and make them feel loved once again. If recent member surveys are to go by, they have a lot of work to do.
The last thing supporters want to see is their team fall into the finals and for it to paper over the cracks that they need to fix.
Fans aren’t stupid. They see what’s going on. Clubs, ignore your lifeblood at your peril.