The Footy Boss: An in-depth look at all aspects of Port Adelaide
Are the Power bottom-six bound again? An industry insider takes an in-depth look at all aspects of the club — including whether they will attempt to hijack the Crows’ pursuit of Callum Ah Chee.
Port Adelaide will hit 2026 with not only a new coach, but a new football GM and essentially a brand new coaching panel around Josh Carr.
And the Power will have to make plans to secure the signature of impending free agent Zak Butters.
With so much change and a vital contract to get done, Port Adelaide has an important time ahead.
GETTING THE BUTTERS SIGNATURE
Zak Butters’ name was brought up during the trade period and I think Port did a really good job snuffing out any noise around him.
He is due to be a restricted free agent at the end of 2026 and will get enormous offers from Victorian teams, given he is from Darley, west of Melbourne.
The list management team, led by Jason Cripps, will be staying nice and close to Zak’s management to work out when the best time is to put an offer to him.
As list manager at Fremantle, I was in a similar situation with Nat Fyfe when he was out of contract.
When you start getting to May you start getting a bit nervous about a player at that star level being uncontracted.
Steve Rosich was the CEO of the Dockers at the time and he gave me some advice that if the player and his manager aren’t ready to negotiate, try and get an agreement in place on when you would start talks. His theory was that agreeing on a date to commence may be a step closer to talking dollars.
I was able, with Fyfe’s manager Jason Dover, to get a date in place, a few months down the track when we would meet and start talks. We saw that as a win and a step forward.
My direction from Steve on the back of that was to fly over to Perth for the meeting, go into an office with his manager and I wasn’t to leave that office until I came out with Nat Fyfe’s signature.
That put a fair bit of pressure on me to get it done but by that stage, Steve’s good advice to try and organise a time when we would talk, rather than just talking numbers straight away, was a lever that helped us start talking. In the end we agreed on a six-year deal.
There is already plenty of talk about Zak in the media and at this early stage, Port’s plan will be to put out assertive messaging regarding him remaining at the club.
This is where retention becomes a lot more important than acquisition. A lot of talk around trade period is bringing players in but you leave a fair hole if a player like Zak Butters departs the club. The signature is a bit of a bit of a juggle and will take some real nous from Cripps with his relationship with the player and his manager, and understanding the dynamics around the club.
The approach and timing is crucial when you try and get into the negotiations. It’s a day-by-day watch and sometimes circumstances open up and the player is ready to talk. At that stage you need to move quickly. Cripps is an experienced list manager and will know when the time is right to make that approach.
LIST OVERVIEW
List changes – In: Will Brodie (Fremantle), Corey Durdin (Carlton), Jacob Wehr (GWS)
Out: Travis Boak, Rory Atkins, Willie Rioli Jr (retired), Ryan Burton, Lachlan Charleson, Jeremy Finlayson, Hugh Jackson, Dylan Williams, Jed McEntee (delisted)
List gaps
With Willie Rioli Jr retired and Sam Powell-Pepper working his way back from a knee injury, the Power took a hit on their small forward stocks, and brought in Corey Durdin from Carlton. Small forwards are really important, some of the dominant players in the competition now play that role.
Having seen him up close at Carlton, Durdin is a quality person and character who he has got really good power.
He is quick, low to the ground with his movement and can jump to take a good mark as well.
His issue has been continuity, he hasn’t been able to have a good run in some seasons due to injury. I have seen him be quite dominant in games but he has had some soft tissue and shoulder issues that have held him back. I think he will be a good pick-up for the Power.
The Power also haven’t ruled out looking into ex-Lion Callum Ah Chee, who didn’t get a trade through to the Crows.
He will enter the pre-season draft with a financial contract on his head. That may be something Port explores and they might have the capacity to take on that contract.
Ah Chee has been trying to get to cross-town rivals the Crows and you would struggle to bring a player into the club that didn’t want to come or refuse to meet with you. Ben Williams, who is Ah Chee’s manager, will work really closely with Callum and nominate a club.
Most times in this situation they will lock in with that club and only meet with them.
The good managers will say they will take that stance with you too, when a different player wants to go to your club so you know there is nothing personal to it.
Recruiting a player who is refusing to meet with you is rare. He seems happy to go to the Crows and history says most players in the pre-season draft get to the club of their choice.
LIST STRENGTHS
The Power have got some really high end talent and the good thing is they are young as well, given Butters, Connor Rozee, Miles Bergman and Jason Horne-Francis are going to be around for a long time.
They can all play midfield but are also quite versatile in playing half-forward or half-back. For example, what Bergman was able to do this year stepping into the midfield from half-back was pretty special. They have four genuine A-graders there that gives the Power some enormous flexibility.
DRAFT HAND – 49, 85
Port came in to the player movement period with a plan to focus on future drafts more so than this year and they brought in a number of players who can play a role.
They have really got a focus on next year’s draft and the year after given they have some strong options coming through.
They are still waiting for a decision on whether Doug Cochrane is made eligible for their NGA, and he is a top prospect for 2026.
The following year, in 2027, they have a number of father-sons coming through with Steven Salopek’s son Louis and David Rodan’s son Tevita. They will have to keep an eye on those players and prepare accordingly with future picks.
The AFL is still in the process of a really complicated project looking at the club academies, bidding systems, and changes to the DVI (draft value index) system.
Every year that this goes on clubs do get frustrated with potentially making future pick trades without exactly knowing the rule adjustments.
As a list manager you do need to make decisions with an awareness of the unknown and that there could be changes down the track.
When the AFL do end up making rule changes they sometimes don’t make it an immediate change to support the clubs in adjusting to new rules.
There is a level of anxiety based on making decisions around rules that may change. It is a complex program for the AFL to work through. Ned Guy and the player movement team at the AFL are always open to conversations for a steer if you need any advice which is worthwhile if you are unsure. You don’t want to be caught out with a decision and unexpected rule change that will undo your strategy.
It also shows that list managers and recruiting teams need to be quite nimble on draft night. We might find Port use their picks or they may just upgrade rookies they have already got and not be too active in the draft.
SALARY CAP
Zak Butters will be the first elite player that comes out of contract since the new market of a $2m has been set, by St Kilda and Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera.
That doesn’t mean that Port Adelaide needs to pay that amount but these recent offers have really thrown the market around. Port are going to be contending with some really aggressive offers from clubs.
When they may have been previously planning to keep just over $1m free in their cap, some of these offers are going to get a lot closer to $2m.
At least they have some time to plan for that but it is a new market they are entering into and the contract boom in 2025 is the biggest TPP (total player payments) disruption I’ve ever seen. The TPP has gone up with the last collective bargaining agreement but this has been another stretch on top of that increase and has adjusted everyone’s thinking completely.
HIGH PERFORMANCE CHECK-IN
Port Adelaide dealt with plenty of injuries in 2025, with Ken Hinkley even counting the amount of surgeries for the playing list as 19 by his last game.
It’s very frustrating and when you go through that type of situation you need to review the program with your high performance and medical team really closely and get an understanding on what type of injuries you are getting.
Are you getting collision type injuries that can’t be helped and are really unlucky? Or are they soft tissue injuries that are recurring?
Port Adelaide announced in September that Tim Parham had come on board as the club’s director of athletic performance, having worked at the Crows and with EPL giant Arsenal in the past. Parham will have spent quite a bit of time getting across the issues from last year.
THE COACH’S BOX
With a new coach and plenty of change in the football department, a lot of talk out of Port Adelaide is that the club feels ‘refreshed’.
I think last year would have been a good learning experience for Josh Carr to watch on as he is about to take on the senior coaching role but it is challenging when it is not your team just yet.
It is important that he will be able to walk into a really fresh set up so when the players come back for pre-season.
Sometimes new coaches can literally knock down walls within the club or put on a fresh coat of paint and that can be really good for the players to come back in and the environment feels brand new.
It is rare that a coach and footy GM departs at the same time.
I think the fact they will have a reasonably quiet draft period and they have got a very experienced list manager in Jason Cripps, that off-field and list side of things is really taken care of.
Matthew Richardson, their CEO, has been a long-time staffer at the club and he will be a lot more involved at the moment to support the football department.
Carr has some experienced people as part of a new coaching panel, in Stuart Dew and Andy Collins, who is a pivotal appointment as coaching director.
It is always good to have a past senior coach on the panel so Dew’s experience will be invaluable.
Luke Webster has also come across from West Coast and he has a strong level of experience, too.
A lot of Josh’s time at the moment would be spent on building that chemistry with his coaches, given he already has relationships with the players.
From what I have seen, Carr seems a really good relationships coach.
Chad Cornes is a friend of his and had to have a hard conversation with him, and Josh appears to have done that in a manner where Chad is really supportive of him.
FRONT OFFICE
They have a change of footy manager — with Ben Rutten joining the club — and having worked in that role, I see it as an important position to connect all the departments of the football club, including the list management team, high performance and medical, coaching team, operations and the clubs wellbeing staff.
You are also a connector with all of the departments within the football club.
Originally published as The Footy Boss: An in-depth look at all aspects of Port Adelaide
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