Power cops huge fine, Dan Houston and Peter Ladhams suspended after COVID breach
Port Adelaide players Dan Houston and Peter Ladhams have been suspended – and cost the Power thousands of dollars – over their late-night house party. And coach Ken Hinkley has made his views abundantly clear.
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Port Adelaide’s Peter Ladhams has been handed a three-match suspension and his partner in crime Dan Houston two matches following their decision to party with friends earlier this month.
The Power has also been handed a $50,000 fine, with half suspended, with $25,000 to come out the club’s football soft cap next year.
It is understood the players entertained guests at Ladhams’ house on August 3 following Port’s 13-point win against the Western Bulldogs at Adelaide Oval.
Port ruckman Ladhams lives with Adelaide player Billy Frampton and while the AFL has also investigated the conduct of the Crows tall, and cleared him of any breach after he remained in his room before training with Adelaide the next day.
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Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley has labelled Peter Ladhams and Dan Houston as selfish after they were banned and the club fined by the AFL for breaching covid protocol.
“Incredibly disappointed, frustrated and angry, because we all understand the obligation we have, and they know it,” Hinkley said before training on Friday.
“They made a mistake, they know they did and it’s an unacceptable mistake.
“They’ll speak to the players and they’ve spoken to their teammates individually but they haven’t been together collectively since things have been dealt with.
“This is not just our issue it’s an AFL issue, it’s a disappointing outcome when we all understand the rules. I am really clear, this is not an easy mistake to make when you know all the information, it’s a selfish mistake.
“The team will be OK, the team is fine, it’s a good team and ready to go but the outcome hurts the industry and the football club.”
Port Adelaide head of football, Chris Davies, described the breach as “hugely disappointing”.
“There is no other way to say it other than the players are abundantly clear of the rules that are in place, as are our coaching staff and everyone who is needing to live by the protocols at the moment,” he told media outside the club’s Alberton headquarters on Thursday afternoon.
“The fact that this breach has occurred and looks to be a wilful breach is bitterly disappointing and the players who were involved – both Peter and Dan – need to take responsibility for that.
“(They’ve) wasted a whole heap of people’s time and resource that should be going into other areas in order to keep the game going, rather than having to make punitive measures for idiotic behaviour.”
Davies said the club contacted the AFL within minutes of being informed of the protocol breach and the whole process took 36 hours, from the club finding out to the AFL handing down its sanctions.
He added he received a phone call informing him of the breach and immediately contacted the AFL.
“I don’t think it’s appropriate to speculate as to who it was or how it came to light, but it’s fair to say the minute that we became aware, we obviously took the matter really seriously … and made the AFL aware of the situation,” Davies continued.
He added the club wouldn’t impose any further club sanctions on the players.
“The fact that the AFL have sanctioned them significantly, the public embarrassment that goes with it, the embarrassment that goes with walking into the club tomorrow knowing that it’s cost the club a significant amount of money, at a time where we’re having to manage soft caps numbers for next year, should be well and truly penalty enough,” Davies said.
“I can’t imagine that anyone’s going to miss them in the short term in terms of their behaviour.
“Dan should know better. Pete is in a situation where he’s just got into the team, if he wants to have a professional career as a footballer, he’ll need to act in a far better manner than he has right now, as will Dan.”
AFL legal boss Andrew Dillon said the league was also disappointed the players had flouted the rules.
“Peter and Dan know the rules and it is disappointing that they chose not to follow them,” he said.
“The protocols are in place for a reason, to protect the players and the wider community.
“If you make the decision to breach them, then you will be held accountable.”
The AFL said in its statement that it was confident Frampton had not been involved in any breach.
“It was also discovered in the investigation that Adelaide Crow’s player Billy Frampton lives with Port Adelaide’s Peter Ladhams, however it was determined he had no involvement or contact with the group of people on the night, who attended the residence post a Port Adelaide match,” the statement read.
The Port Adelaide pair are believed to have had four to six people around to their house for a party that dragged on into the night.
While ex-Power player Frampton was in the house at the time, he did not have any contact with the people who were invited in by Ladhams and Houston.
Frampton played for Port Adelaide between 2015-2019, managing three games, before moving to Adelaide over summer.
Houston, 23, has played 72 games for the Power – including all 12 this season – since being drafted with Port’s No. 54 pick in the 2016 rookie draft and he debuted in 2017.
The 202cm Ladhams was also drafted by Port in the 2016 rookie draft, and has played 11 AFL games since debuting last year and established himself as a solid second ruck option for Scott Lycett.
Veteran Port Adelaide midfielder Tom Rockliff said on SEN radio on Thursday afternoon that the pair didn’t train with the players on Wednesday.
“We were made aware late last night or even early this morning as a group that there was a potential breach and that’s being investigated, so I don’t really know any of the details, we’ve got a day off today (Thursday),” Rockliff said.
“So, I can’t really comment on that because I don’t know anything about it until we find out the information and the AFL do their investigation. There’s not much I can really say.”
The Power are bracing for fines and possible suspension, with the players aware their conduct was against the AFL’s rules.
Port Adelaide’s head of football Chris Davies is expected to front the media this afternoon.
The league has been crystal clear with all players in South Australia that even though they are living in their homes, they must treat them as a virtual bubble.
Given the precedent the AFL made in suspending young Sydney forward Elijah Taylor for the rest of the season, it is hard to see how the pair play again this year.
Port Adelaide has made clear to its players their responsibilities after former co-captain Ollie Wines was guilty of a COVID breach when he invited a reporter onto his front porch for an interview in June.
He was suspended for a match by the AFL, with the fines and suspensions since then escalating as the AFL safeguards the competition.
Following Wines’ one-match suspension in June, coach Ken Hinkley said there was no excuse for not understanding the AFL’s strict protocols.
“It’s a mistake, it’s been made, we don’t like it,” Hinkley said at the time.
“If you read the protocols, it would have been very clear to everyone what you can and can’t do. Everyone.
“Ollie should have been better. Ollie knows he should have been better.
“Ollie was incredibly remorseful about what he thought was a simple slip up, but he knew the rules, and he just didn’t follow through the way he should have.”
AFL General Counsel Andrew Dillon’s comments following Wines’ breach that: “the protocols are very clear that players and officials should only have essential visitors attend their homes.”
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