Sorry, Kochie. It’s the AFL, not the SANFL crushing Port Adelaide’s big plans | Graham Cornes

The Power chairman’s SANFL spray teeters between irrational and hysterical. An apology would be a good idea, writes Graham Cornes.

For all the good he has done for Port Adelaide, David Koch can be a real pain in the neck.

This week’s toxic rant when he savaged the SANFL and blamed it for the Port’s reserves poor performance teeters somewhere between irrational and hysterical.

“The SANFL have got what they wanted, they wanted Port to be last, they rigged the rules and we can’t wait to be out of there”, he said on his regular spot on FIVEAA. He then went on to question the integrity of the SANFL.

“Given their track record you would want to see it in writing and signed before you believe anything that comes out of their mouths basically.”

It’s an extraordinary attack on the character of good people who devote their working hours and much of their personal lives to ensure that the SANFL remains viable and second only to the AFL as the best football competition in the country.

Kochie never struck me as mean-spirited but that is straight-out nasty, if not defamatory.

So the Port reserves won the wooden spoon this year.

It can happen to any team, even one with the vaunted history of the Port Magpies. Oops, sorry. They’re not the Port Magpies any more.

All that tradition was wiped away as the famous emblem was discarded. How did that happen?

Quietly, surreptitiously, maybe in the dark of night when they thought nobody would notice, the Magpie was spirited away.

Port Adelaide chairman David Koch. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Koch, even accuses the SANFL of “rigging the rules” so Port will finish bottom.

For an intelligent man it is a ridiculous accusation and one that can be immediately dispelled by the facts.

In the past decade Port’s SANFL team has played off in three grand finals. Two of those they lost by less than a goal. It would take a genius to “rig” those games.

(Although Chad Cornes, who coached Port in the 2017 finale, might claim that they were competing against more than the players in the Double Blue guernsey on that day).

Nobody rigs anything, but there has to be rules and recruiting restrictions placed on the AFL teams.

After all, they are professional teams with access to players and resources that are beyond the budgets of SANFL clubs. Unrestricted recruiting would see the AFL teams far too dominant in the SANFL.

But that is one of Port’s biggest gripes.

They haven’t been able to access high-end talent. They are allowed to list four rookie-age players, the 19-year-olds who were overlooked in the draft. Last week’s Rising Star nominee, Logan Evans, is a prime example of that.

But don’t blame the SANFL if the energy and the recruiting focus hasn’t been on its reserves team and they couldn’t attract better talent.

It is Port’s lack of focus on its reserves team that has seen it plummet to the bottom of the ladder.

Port Adelaide “Magpies” head coach Chad Cornes looks on prior to the SANFL Grand Final match between Port Adelaide and Sturt at AAMI Stadium on September 24, 2017. Picture: Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images

Even the great clubs are destined to have poor years so look inside for the reasons, not outside for excuses.

Port Adelaide, and to a lesser extent the Crows, have been lobbying the AFL to establish a national reserves competition.

The brutal truth, which Kochie refuses to confront, is that the AFL don’t want a reserves competition.

The word from AFL House is that the cost outweighs any benefit. That’s not hard to understand.

What would it cost to fly and accommodate 18 (soon to be 19) reserves teams around the country? Besides, what development could you get that was any better than for young footballers to be playing against men in the SANFL? For all his bluster and rhetoric, we will not be seeing a national AFL reserves competition in the immediate future.

No such threat has been made.

It is true, however that the SANFL has been lobbying the AFL for more funds to develop the game.

Compared to other states, particularly those north of the Murray, South Australia does not receive excessive development funds.

And in Victoria, the Under-18 competition receives significant, if not all its funding from the AFL. However, Australian football is facing a talent drain in the men’s game and this will only worsen with the introduction of the new team from Tasmania.

No threats have been made but the SANFL is definitely asking for more development resources.

Perhaps the most mischievous, misleading, even snide comment Koch made, was about the SANFL’s Future Fund that was established after the sale of Football Park.

“And I just want to know where the West Lakes future fund went because the SANFL clubs should be rolling in money really”, he said.

Well David you should know.

The first tranche of those funds was used to pay down the SANFL’s debt, much of which, if you need reminding, was acquired by Port Adelaide’s debt which had been guaranteed by the SANFL.

Remember when the tarps covered the empty seats at Football Park to impersonate the crowd? And they were the days when that “Charitable Trust” fund was established to hide money from the SANFL.

Every year the Adelaide Football Club paid its dues to the SANFL (80 percent of the club’s profit) but Port found ways to hide it.

The second tranche of those monies was distributed to the SANFL clubs to pay down their debts and to invest in new facilities. The third tranche, which is yet to be fully obtained by the SANFL will be used for long-term facility investment.

Port Adelaide has always had a “them against us” mentality. It was Port Adelaide against the world.

That passion served them well and drove them to great successes.

Largely it was a healthy rivalry, be it Port versus Norwood, Port versus Westies, Port versus Sturt or Port against Glenelg.

However it turned particularly ugly in 1990 when Port tried to undermine the SANFL and go alone into the AFL.

Rivalry became enmity.

Over the years we’ve seen it manifested in those Showdowns.

Strangely however the SANFL does enjoy a good working relationship with Port Adelaide’s executive team but how much of the constant sniping and undermining from the Chairman can the relationship stand?

Perhaps an apology might help to soothe the troubled waters.

Originally published as Sorry, Kochie. It’s the AFL, not the SANFL crushing Port Adelaide’s big plans | Graham Cornes