Chad Wingard and Port Adelaide celebrate community links

Port Adelaide’s close links with community culminate in the grand finals of the Aboriginal Power Cup tomorrow.

Matthew Karpany-Carter and Chad Wingard with players at the Aboriginal Power Cup carnival. Picture: Mark Piovesan

So precocious was Chad Wingard’s talent as a teenager, the Port Adelaide star’s passage into adulthood was always assured.

And although the dual-All Australian is wondering how to regain his best form ahead of tomorrow night’s clash against Richmond, he retains a broader interest in helping indigenous youth into adulthood.

The Murray Bridge-born Wingard provided the star factor with his indigenous teammates at Port Adelaide yesterday ahead of the 11th running of the Aboriginal Power Cup in South Australia.

The three-day carnival has drawn more than 400 indigenous kids from 70 schools to Port Adelaide’s heartland, with 24 male and female sides competing for a chance to play on Adelaide Oval tomorrow night.

The grand finals of both competitions will be held as curtain-raisers to an AFL clash against the reigning premiers that is vital to the Power as they seek to remain in touch with the top four.

And those not involved in the grand final will also participate in a cultural performance before the clash against the Tigers.

Port Adelaide have championed football as a tool to engage children in education, which culminated in 96 per cent of pupils involved in their programs finishing Year 12 last year.

Wingard said this carnival and other club-run tools such as the Powerful Futures program, run in conjunction with the South Australian Aboriginal Sports Training Academy, were vital in helping indigenous youth find employment after school.

“This is a reward for all the effort they have put in coming to school every day, ticking off all the exercises they have to do,” Wingard said.

“This is really about fun, learning and the opportunity for work outside school as well. These kids look up to you, whether you are an AFL player now or someone like Che Cockatoo-Collins, who was a past player.”

Paul Vandenbergh, the Power’s director of Aboriginal programs, singled out another young man from Murray Bridge named Matthew Karpany-Carter as an example to be celebrated.

The 20-year-old, who met with Wingard yesterday, now works for Safe Work South Australia as a project officer, after finishing his schooling courtesy of the Powerful Futures program.

“From my personal experience, it has built up my confidence and the skills I need to excel in my personal life and also professionally,” Karpany-Carter told The Australian.

“If I was not in a program like this, I would not be in this position today. It has allowed me to have that bridge from schooling to training and then employment.”

Wingard is also focused on recapturing the form that has made him one of the AFL’s most dynamic footballers.

Having moved back into attack at the start of the season due to an influx of recruits, the 24-year-old is struggling to reproduce his best football.

The left-footer is winning far less of the football than he did in 2017 and laying on far fewer tackles, while his goalkicking average is at its lowest level since his debut season in 2012.

“You can have a lot of excuses, but I am not going to chuck any out there,” Wingard said.

“It is really on myself. I have to play at a better level. I expect a lot more of myself and obviously the coaches do as well. Sometimes in your career, you go through this.

“I think I am just going to take it as a challenge and just try and learn from it. I have had a pretty lucky career to be where I am but it is a bit of a tough time.

“But it is not about me. It is about the team and we are six and four and in a good position to keep tracking on.”

Wingard conceded that the Power’s kicking skills were not at elite level but felt they had other strengths that would allow them to compete against Richmond.

“It is a bit about personnel. Some clubs draft kickers,” he said.

“We are not sure and can’t exactly pinpoint it. A few boys are a bit down on their kicking but we are still working on it.”