Port Adelaide fans line up outside Alberton for prison-bar guernsey
More than 500 Port Adelaide fans have lined up outside Alberton Oval to snag one of the club’s historic prison-bar guernseys after they went on sale.
Port Adelaide
Don't miss out on the headlines from Port Adelaide. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Port Adelaide fans have broken out the prison bars, a day before the club’s season opener at Adelaide Oval.
More than 500 diehard Port fans descended on Alberton Oval – some camping overnight – after the club revealed its historic prison-bar guernsey would be made available to the public.
The announcement came only days after the club revealed it had won the right to once again wear its historic prison-bar guernsey at AFL level.
A Port Adelaide spokeswoman said the club has sold over 1300 of the black and white guernseys over the past fortnight and the product has sold out online.
Port Adelaide general manager of consumer business Stephen Shirley said the huge turn-out showed “what this iconic heritage guernsey means to our members and supporters”.
“The prison bars are our people’s guernsey, and to see a crowd of over 500 queue out the front of the Port Store at Alberton Oval was incredible,” he said.
There will be a “very, very limited” amount of stock available at the Power’s round 1 clash against Brisbane at Adelaide Oval on Saturday, a spokeswoman said.
Port has won the prison-bar guernsey only four times in its 25 years in the AFL.
The Power will wear the traditional black-and-white strip when they host Adelaide in the round 3 Showdown next month.
The agreement is for this year but the club will continue talks with Collingwood, with a view to wearing the guernsey in every home Showdown.
No excuses this year: Port CEO
Port Adelaide chief executive Matthew Richardson says there are no excuses and expectations are high.
Coach Ken Hinkley is confident the Power can overcome an underwhelming pre-season.
And chairman David Koch says 2023 is a year of redemption after a disappointing 2022.
But the hype of the off-season finally comes to an end at Adelaide Oval on Saturday afternoon, when 35,000 fans are expected to flock to see the Power play the Brisbane Lions in Port’s season-opener.
Adelaide supporters will need to wait another week to see their team in the flesh, but TVs across the state will be tuned in for the Crows clash against Greater Western Sydney in Sydney on Sunday.
Mr Richardson says there are no excuses and Port Adelaide expects to bounce back after losing its first five games and missing finals last year.
“We’ve improved the quality of our playing list; we’ve done the hard yards on the track this pre-season and we head into round 1 with confidence,” he said.
“There are no excuses. Our expectations are clear. We expect to bounce back strongly from 2022. Like 17 other clubs, premiership success is our ultimate goal, but at the same time we know it’s a long season and we need to sharpen our focus on what is immediately before us.”
The Power is expecting a crowd of 35,000 at Adelaide Oval on Saturday, with the maximum temperature expected to reach a sunny 28C.
“Port Adelaide has the best game-day experience in the AFL, and this year is no different as we constantly make improvements to ensure we deliver an incredible entertainment experience,” Mr Richardson said.
Across town at West Lakes, Robe local Jordan Dawson will on Saturday lead his Crows team for the first time after taking over the captaincy from Rory Sloane.
Adelaide chief executive Tim Silvers said players, officials and fans were excited to put the pre-season behind them and to showcase a new-look line-up that also includes big-name recruit Izak Rankine.
“From a football perspective, our high-performance team has worked really hard on improving the strength of our players as well as their overall fitness to make sure they have the best possible preparation for the new season,” Mr Silvers said.
He said the club continued to look at new ways to improve both on-field performance and game-day experiences.
The Crows are expecting a crowd of more than 40,000 in their round 2 match against Richmond in Adelaide on Saturday, March 25.
How Port great helped draft the kid who’s out to emulate him
Robbie Gray was part of the Port Adelaide contingent that drove to visit Joe Berry in Benalla in August. Three months later, the Power traded up to secure the goalsneak. Here’s why.
Port’s record comeback stuns Hawks in AFLW finals classic
Port Adelaide has produced the greatest last-quarter comeback in AFLW history to stun Hawthorn and earn a preliminary final shot at flag favourite North Melbourne.