Prison bars, SANFL: Power makes key calls at Port Adelaide AGM
Port Adelaide has made a crucial call on its black and white ‘prison bars’ guernsey ahead of a bigger discussion around a looming AFL reserves competition.
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Port Adelaide will wear its historic black and white jersey in its home Showdown against fierce rivals Adelaide this year.
And the Power has revealed it would look to wear its ‘prison bar’ jumper if it competes in a national reserves competition on a night where the club’s members were told that league was critical to the AFL’s future.
The club had its Annual General Meeting at Alberton on Friday night and during the question and answer session, Power chief executive Matthew Richardson revealed the club would wear its traditional black and white guernsey against the Crows in round 23.
The Power wore the jumper in Round 3 last year after striking an agreement with Collingwood.
As part of the deal, the Magpies were given the right to decide whether the Power could wear the guernsey in future seasons, with an agreement locked in well in advance of the late-season Showdown.
“We will be wearing the prison bars in our home Showdown this year, there will be no fight,” Richardson said.
On the national second-tier, Richardson added: “Our intention is that we play our home games here at Alberton Oval in that competition and when we play home games at Alberton Oval in that competition is that we wear our traditional strip,” he said.
Port formally applied in December to enter its reserves side in the VFL.
The increasingly likely split from the SANFL comes as movement is made towards a national reserves competition involving the 18 AFL clubs.
Power footy boss Chris Davies said Tasmania’s looming introduction made it the perfect time to reinstate the national reserves.
“If the AFL is serious about equalisation across the clubs then a second-tier competition has to be a component of that,” he said.
“All AFL players should have the same opportunity to develop... currently there are 14 clubs using one model, that is the eastern states model and four teams outside of that, us, Adelaide, West Coast and Fremantle.
“This creates further inequity for clubs and also compromises the state leagues that are impacted.
“For a professional sports league in 2024 and on the scale of the AFL we have to find a better way.”
Davies said it wasn’t “us having a go at the SANFL”.
“Although we don’t generally miss that opportunity either, this is a situation that the AFL needs to sort out,” he said.
“It is one of fundamental importance to the AFL competition.”
Power chairman David Koch also revealed initial concept designs of the club’s plans to further develop Alberton Oval.
Stage 4 of the Alberton Oval plans feature another grandstand where the Port Adelaide Bowling Club is currently located.
A new bowling club, club greens, club rooms and social facilities are included in the plans, while AFLW infrastructure at Alberton will be improved.
There will also be community health and wellbeing uses in the new stand.
Koch said any works would be done in conjunction with the bowling club.
The AGM became heated towards the end when some fans fired up over Port Adelaide’s straight-sets finals exit last year.
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