Recapping Port Adelaide’s rise from 10th on the AFL ladder to this year’s minor premiership
Only 15 months after Ken Hinkley conceded Port Adelaide was an “unreliable” team, the Power will enter this year’s finals series as minor premier. These are the defining moments in the club’s resurgence.
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On October 4 last year Ken Hinkley fronted a room full of Port Adelaide supporters at its club champion night and delivered a pointed message.
“If you can’t see the positivity in this playing group, you’re not trying to,” he said, after repeated calls for him to lose his job.
The Power had just finished 10th with an 11-11 season which was the ultimate rollercoaster for fans.
One week they beat ladder-leader Geelong, the next they lost to the 15th-ranked Bulldogs.
Yet something inside Hinkley told him they were on the right track if they just stayed the course.
Fast forward to August 8, 2020, and Hinkley had this to say as the Power closed in on its first minor premiership since 2004.
“We’ve been consistent - we haven’t always been able to say that – but I can sit up here now and say we’ve got a consistent team who play for each other,” he said.
Here’s how Port Adelaide turned it around in 12 months.
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1. June 29, 2019, ‘You can’t trust us’
There is no better moment in Port Adelaide’s 2019 season which symbolised the frustration Power fans had endured with their inconsistent team than what happened in the last two weekends of June.
After beating ladder leader Geelong in Round 14, the Power returned to Adelaide Oval a week later and lost to 15th-ranked Western Bulldogs by 25 points in Round 15.
In the space of seven days they went from world beater to also-ran and coach Ken Hinkley did not mince his words, particularly when his team had just gone win, loss, win, loss for the past seven weeks.
“It’s an inconsistent team, it’s unreliable, the word is probably untrustworthy and that’s what we are, and it annoys everyone,” Hinkley said.
“(But) you keep coming back and give yourself another opportunity to get in that moment again to prove to yourself that you’re capable of changing that narrative that goes around about us.”
2. August 17, 2019 ‘We’re better than that’
Port Adelaide goes into its penultimate clash with North Melbourne in eighth spot and needing to beat the 14th-placed Kangaroos to help shore up a finals spot. The result? North Melbourne won by 86 points and remarkably the Crows jumped ahead of the Power on the ladder.
“We know we are way better than that performance ... There’s no easy way out of it, there’s no miracle cure, we’ve got to keep going there and working hard,” Hinkley said.
3. August 26, 2019, ‘Ken will be coach’
The day after Port Adelaide’s final game of the season, a 43-point win over Fremantle which left fans with a hollow feeling because they’d finished 10th, Power chief executive Keith Thomas called a press conference at Alberton.
“Ken will be coaching in 2020, absolutely, and 2021 I believe,” Thomas said.
“He’s an outstanding coach ... Phil Walsh who we all revere said no one sees the game as well as Ken, so that’s been a part of it.
“He has great relationships with his players, they play for him and we believe he can build us a premiership team.”
4. October 4, 2019 ‘Stick with us’
Hinkley uses his speech at the best-and-fairest to send a subtle message to the doubters that things will turn but will they be there to see it?
“It annoys me that people think it happens too easily, it’s a lot of damn hard work and it takes a whole football club to get it right,” he said.
“If you can’t see the positivity in this playing group, you’re not trying to, you’re looking from the wrong angle or from the wrong reason and if you’re not looking for the right reason then you should stop looking.”
5. October 14, 2019 ‘Goodbye Dougal’
Port Adelaide makes the bold call to trade versatile swing man Dougal Howard who was contracted and much loved ruckman Paddy Ryder to St Kilda. In return they got an additional first-round draft pick that would eventually see them land Mitch Georgiades. For the second year in a row, the Power targets top quality in the draft even if it means losing established stars like Chad Wingard and Jared Polec.
6. December 6, 2019 ‘The No.1 is back’
Tom Jonas is named solo skipper at a press conference where he was flanked by Ollie Wines who had been removed as co-captain and named vice captain, along with president David Koch and Ken Hinkley.
“This club has an incredible history of success with so many great on-field leaders across our 150 years,” Jonas said.
“To be able to pull on the famous number one guernsey and lead our club will be a great honour that I will cherish.”
7. December 12, 2019 ‘Fitter and closer’
Port flies to Maroochydore for a pre-season training camp in Queensland for the second year in a row to build on its fitness and connection among the group.”It is about being away with each other for that long and in each other’s pockets,” fitness coach Ian McKeown said.”The training load is the highest we’ll have pre-Christmas so that’s a great part of it and that’s a bonding experience at the best of times.”We’ll be having breakfast together, lunch, dinner and some activities in the evening as well so we’ll be spending a lot of time organically.”
8. February 11, 2020, ‘Look out, we’re coming’
Hinkley caught many by surprise when at his first press conference of 2020 he declares his team is aiming to win the premiership in its 150th year.
Despite finishing 10th the year before and being tagged the most inconsistent team in the competition, Hinkley defies a delicate situation surrounding his own contract by saying the goal is a premiership.
“I love this club and this club’s history is premierships, so that’s what we’re starting out to try and do,” he said.
“We’re going to start this year wanting to win the premiership in our 150th year. We’re going to do everything we can to do that. To do that, you have to qualify for finals, so look out, we’re coming.”
9. February 28, 2020 ‘Hopefully in nine months’.
Every current player attends a gala evening to mark Port Adelaide’s 150th anniversary season and at the end of the night joined past players on stage after hearing from them throughout the evening.
New solo captain Tom Jonas declares he and the group is inspired by the club’s proud history and wanted to do something special in 2020.
“As current captain I love hearing stories of your past success - you have created a legacy that our playing group admires greatly and you inspire us to achieve our own great deeds,” Jonas said.
“One day we would love to be a part of a night like this so that the Port Adelaide community can be just as proud of us as we are of you all tonight ... hopefully in about nine months.”
10. March 22, 2020 ‘Go home - for two weeks’
Port Adelaide flies to the Gold Coast and opens the 2020 season with a 47-point win over the Suns at Metricon Stadium. But with the coronavirus sweeping the nation and uncertainty surrounding the competition, the players returned to Adelaide the next day and were met with a message on their phones on the tarmac at the airport telling them the State Government required them to go straight home and quarantine for two weeks.
11. Saturday, June 13, 2020 ‘Take no prisoners’
Eighty-three days after their last game, the Power resumes its campaign with a home Showdown in their prison bar guernsey and belt the Crows by 75 points. Travis Boak wins the Showdown Medal and Connor Rozee has eight clearances.
“Every time you put it on it means a lot and you’re representing more than just yourself,” Boak said.
“You’ve got teammates, past history, everyone involved in the club, everyone in the Port Adelaide area, there’s so much history in that jumper and every time you put it on, it’s like armour for us.”
12. Saturday, July 4, 2020 ‘We got an uppercut’
The Power’s unbeaten start to the season ends against fellow premiership contender Brisbane at the Gabba in Round 5. Port Adelaide’s midfield was well beaten and the Lions won by 37 points.”We were beaten badly in the contest and it’s an area that we’ve been fairly solid - we’ve been fairly good for a while now but tonight we were given a good uppercut,” Hinkley said.
13. July 10, 2020 ‘The axe falls’
Hinkley makes a statement at selection by dropping highly-fancied midfielder Tom Rockliff who had just 14 touches against the Lions which was his lowest tally in two years. It followed his bold calls to make Ollie Wines come back through the reserves last year and to drop Charlie Dixon in 2019.
14. July 12, 2020 ‘Kenny in the middle’
Port Adelaide gets up at 4.30am to fly to Sydney to play GWS and beats the Giants by 17 points. The game marks Hinkley’s 300th as a player and coach which earns him AFL life membership and he is thrust into the middle of the team song, pumping his arms and being sprayed with water.
“He’s part of us just like any player so it was special to get him in,” Ollie Wines said.
15. July 19, 2020 ‘Pretty brave f***ing win’
Robbie Gray produces the highlight of Port Adelaide’s season so far when he kicks the winning goal after the final siren from the boundary against Carlton at the Gabba. He is mobbed by teammates who looked gone for large parts of the final quarter. Post-match, Hinkley’s off-the-cuff comments as he sat down for his press conference were broadcast by Fox Footy.
“Glad that’s over ... it’s a pretty brave f***ing win though,” he said.
16. August 8, 2020 ‘A genuine scalp’
The Tigers may not have been at full strength due to injury but they were still the Tigers who had won two of the past three flags when Port Adelaide beat them by 21 points at Adelaide Oval, leading Hinkley to label his team resilient and consistent.”We’ve been consistent, we haven’t always been able to say that, but I can sit up here now and say we’ve got a consistent team who play for each other,” he said.
17. August 14, 2020 ‘Tommo-hawked’
Tom Hawkins single-handedly destroys Port Adelaide with six goals as Geelong makes a statement with a 10-goal win at Metricon Stadium. Charlie Dixon is held goalless leading to questions the Power is too reliant on their key forward to kick a winning score.
18. August 19, 2020 ‘Party pair banned’
Ruckman Peter Ladhams and defender-turned-midfielder Dan Houston are banned for three and two games respectively for breaching the AFL’s Covid protocols when they had guests at Ladhams’ home late into the night on August 3.
“It’s extremely disappointing, there’s 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,” Chris Davies said.
“(But) this doesn’t need to be a distraction unless we make it a distraction.”
19. September 1, 2020 ‘Big Mick staying put’
Charlie Dixon ends speculation he was considering a move back to Queensland by signing a new three-year deal to stay at Alberton.”Over my last couple of years here the club has done a lot for me, they’ve helped me not just in my football but my off-field stuff as well,” Dixon said.”I’ve fallen in love with Adelaide and I really can’t see myself anywhere else, I love the place, I love the people, I love the club.”
20. September 17, 2020 ‘Westy’s last dance’
Fan favourite and much-loved club figure Justin Westhoff announces he will retire at the end of the season - his 14th at Alberton. Westhoff had not been in the senior team since Round 14 but says he’s committed to winning back his spot for finals.
“Obviously I’m looking forward to the rest of this season and hopefully some success at the end of it, but I’m happy with what I’ve done so far and with this being my last year,” Westhoff said.
21. September 21, 2020 ‘Top, top, top’
Port Adelaide secures its first minor premiership since its last flag in 2004 with a 45-point win over Collingwood at the Gabba in Round 18. The Power sat on top of the AFL ladder the entire season and booked two home finals.”I loved our ruthlessness from the start to the end,” Hinkely said.”It’s really significant, the boys deserve it, it’s been a 30-week season. We’ve played for a long time and managed to protect it all year.”
Power stars break silence on SA border bungle
- Reece Homfray and Matt Turner
Port Adelaide midfielder Tom Rockliff says his parents were concerned that news of their controversial travel exemption granting them entry from Victoria would become an unwanted distraction as he prepares for the first AFL final of his career.
Rockliff’s parents, who live in Benalla in country Victoria, are currently in hotel quarantine in Adelaide after flying from Melbourne with Darcy Byrne-Jones’ parents and Travis Boak’s mother on Tuesday.
They were granted exemptions to enter the state to watch their sons play finals with the Power but SA Health later admitted the decision was a mistake.
While they have been allowed to stay and continue their quarantine, SA Health cancelled exemptions granted to other Victorian-based family members of Port Adelaide players.
According to the State Government, a two-week hotel quarantine in Adelaide costs $3000 per person or $4000 per couple, and Rockliff said his parents plan to stay in Glenelg when they are out on October 7.
The 30-year-old has not seen them since February and while they will miss Port Adelaide’s first final against Geelong next Thursday, Rockliff said it would mean a lot to have them at the second final either a week or fortnight later.
“Mum was a bit rattled, she called me when they got wind that it was going to break, they got told there’s going to be a press conference and mum was a bit upset because she said ‘I don’t want it to affect you, I don’t want you to be worrying about this, I don’t want the club to be in trouble or anything like that’,” Rockliff told The Advertiser’s Lowdown Podcast.
“But I just said ‘look, at the end of the day you applied for an exemption, you got it ticked off and approved, you haven’t broken any laws, you haven’t driven in overnight or anything like that’.
“I think most people understand that it’s not our doing or the football club’s doing, it’s been ticked off, they went through the process and got approved by SA Health.
“What will be will be, they made the decision to let the families that are here stay, so they’ll do their two weeks and get out after that.
“I didn’t know they were coming until last minute, I think the parents got together and decided to apply and try their luck and 11 decided to come, and as was touched on, a few guys pulled out last minute and the five that got over were on that flight.
“It only happened in the last week that they started to talk about it, and I asked mum when I was going to the airport (to fly to Brisbane) on Sunday, she said they had applied and been approved so would try to get over at some stage.”
Rockliff said he did not have any contact with former Port Adelaide media staffer Hitaf Rasheed, who is now a high-ranking State Government tourism chief who says she helped connect a representative of the families to SA Health but had nothing to do with the decision to grant the exemption.
“I’ve never met her (Ms Rasheed) and I couldn’t tell you what she looks like … I wasn’t involved in the process at all, I think the parents got together and organised that,” Rockliff said.
Port Adelaide’s qualifying final against Geelong will be the first final of Rockliff’s 204-game career after spending nines years at Brisbane and joining the Power in 2018.
“They (parents) will obviously get to see (their grandson) Jack who had his third birthday last week, they haven’t seen him since February, so it will be nice for them to get over and also be a part of finals footy,” Rockliff said.
“They’ve been there the whole journey, seen me grow up from a fat little kid from Benalla to evolve and turn into a midfielder and get to play finals footy for the first time in 12 years.
“They will be super-excited, they won’t be at the first game but hopefully it’s a preliminary final they get to attend at Adelaide Oval.”
Speaking to the media on Friday after he was named All-Australian for the third time, Boak said his mum would be watching Port’s first final from her hotel room and that the families and club had done nothing wrong.
“She was fortunate enough to get over and obviously now in quarantine for a couple of weeks,” Boak said.
“She’ll be watching from her hotel room and certainly cheering with her Port scarf, I reckon.
“The families and the club have done nothing wrong.
“They went through the process of what everyone else does and were fortunate enough to get the exemption.
“Mum asked for an exemption … and I’m very grateful that mum is over here and the other parents are over here as well.”
Rockliff’s co-host on The Lowdown, Adelaide star Brodie Smith said he could empathise with Power players given his parents have only missed one Crows game at Adelaide Oval since 2014.
“I can fully understand Rocky’s family wanting to be here, he’s put so much into his career and finally gets to play finals, so it’s a moment you want your parents and family to be a part of,” Smith said.
“We are going through the same thing with our young guys from Victoria, clearly we’re not playing finals, but they want to go home and see their parents or they want to come here and we’re going through (the process of) keeping them here, so they can still access gyms and train because it’s going to be a really important off-season for us.
“There are a lot of sacrifices being made and there's no doubt you miss your family when you don’t see them for so long and it’s such an important milestone in your career, it’s great they get to come over and be a part of it.”
MORE AFL NEWS:
Approval for families of Port Adelaide players to enter South Australia from Victoria a ‘mistake’
Port Adelaide must pick retiring veteran Justin Westhoff to face Geelong in AFL qualifying final
Originally published as Recapping Port Adelaide’s rise from 10th on the AFL ladder to this year’s minor premiership
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