Just under seven years ago Port Adelaide chairman David Koch said the Power was in the “tier of death”.

Back then the Power’s issue was that it was finishing 10th or had not won a final for four years. So the club got busy and creative to get out of it.

But with one game to go before its mid-season bye, the Power sits 15th, has a percentage of just 82 per cent and do not have a first-round pick in November’s draft after trading it to Gold Coast last year.

The door to finals isn’t closed yet but already many fans are starting look to 2026 and beyond.

Josh Carr takes over from Ken Hinkley at the end of this year, so given the Power is a club that does not rebuild – and says this loudly and proudly – how will Port ensure that what we have seen this year is just a small blip and will get back to where it wants to be?

Four-time Hawthorn premiership player and Fox Footy expert Jordan Lewis says the Power – who takes on Fremantle on Saturday night, shown on Kayo Sports – might have to change their approach.

“I think Port Adelaide really overachieved last year (making a preliminary final),” he said.

“That will be the coach at the end of the year but they really have understand the direction that they want to head in.

“There is no point, and I said this about Hawthorn this is no point sitting eighth to 13th every single year, you need to give yourself a chance to win the premiership.

“Now the only chance (to do this) in the modern day is to go to the draft and if you aren’t in the draft work out how you can get into it.”

Here’s where the Power list is, what the plan is at Alberton and what could be in store.

DON’T CALL IT A REBUILD?

Ahead of the 2020 finals campaign, in which the Power were a kick away from making the grand final, Koch gave an insight into the mindset at Alberton.

“Port Adelaide supporters demand success and we have never used the term rebuild because I often think that’s a cop-out,” he told The Advertiser.

“We always want to remain competitive, which we have … inconsistent, but competitive.”

So while Port Adelaide doesn’t bottom out, it chooses its moments to rejig, reset, refresh – however you describe it.

In 2018, it traded out established players Chad Wingard and Jared Polec in their primes to go hard at that year’s draft – which netted the Power captain Connor Rozee and Zak Butters.

In 2019, Paddy Ryder and Dougal Howard were traded so it could bring in Miles Bergman and Mitch Georgiades.

When former No. 1 pick Jason Horne-Francis wanted out of North Melbourne to return to South Australia, Port went hard and secured him, and Willie Rioli from West Coast in a four-team trade.

It is all part of a plan in which – if it comes off – the Power remains a team that is there at the pointy end of the season, but also one that has a wave of youth to fall back on.

The Power made it clear that the side that reached the preliminary final stage last year was the youngest of the sides in the finals series.

In 2025, the Power’s list profile continues to reflect this.

It’s average age of 25.3 is the eighth youngest in the league.

The average of 93.2 matches on the list is also the sixth fewest in the AFL.

“I think they are in a bit of a reset phase,” Power 2004 premiership player Dean Brogan said.

“I thought coming into the year the list changes they made were for the future.

“(Jack) Lukosius coming in, (Joe) Richards coming in. Younger type of players sort of rejuvenating the forward line.”

Bringing some younger players into the forward line, Lukosius is 24 and Richards is 25, as well as first round draft pick Joe Berry.

That came at a cost though.

In a mult-team deal, Port traded two-time All-Australian defender Dan Houston – who wanted to move back to Melbourne – and pick No. 58 to Collingwood, and handed over its 2025 first and No. 39 to Gold Coast.

From that, the Power received Lukosius, Rory Atkins and picks 13, 29 and 50 from the Suns, and Richards and pick 36 from the Magpies.

The Power rated the 2024 draft highly, snaring Berry, Christian Moraes, Jack Whitlock and Tom Cochrane with its picks.

Berry, selected at pick 15, has been in and out of the side so far this year, playing a half forward role in a team that has been struggling at times, but is still highly rated at Alberton.

Moraes, selected at No. 38, has played eight games already for the Power this year, while Cochrane was selected as a rookie but has improved so much since being drafted he played three games before suffering a long-term foot injury.

While the Power rated last year’s draft, it doesn’t feel the same about this year’s – which looms as being one of the most “compromised” ever because of the amount of academy-linked players tipped for the first round.

The Power is not alone, though, with North Melbourne also trading its 2025 first to Richmond to select Matt Whitlock with pick No. 27 last year.

With future drafts set to be heavily impacted by the impending entry of Tasmania, should its current hand remain where it is, the Power could miss out on a top young talent.

“I think you really have to be cognisant of that Tasmania is coming in so drafts will be compromised,” Lewis said.

“So do you make the decision now to go to the draft and get in some young talent … and getting ahead of the curve because when Tasmania comes in the draft will be compromised.

“We don’t know to what level yet but you don’t want to be sitting here in three years having the same conversations wishing you made a different decision.”

It is understood the Power has no plans to voluntarily go down the ladder.

THE BUTTERS AND BERGMAN CONUNDRUM

The future of its two young stars remain one of the biggest talking points.

Bergman is out of contract at the end of the year, while, arguably, the Power’s best player in Butters’ deal runs out at the end of next year.

The Power has put a range of different contract options in front of them, but Victorian clubs are chasing the duo hard.

Historically, the Power has kept who it wants to keep at Alberton – Houston a recent and rare outlier.

Brogan said what happens with the two – this year and next – will dictate massively what the club does from here.

“So what do they do there? How do you sell what the future looks like?” he said.

“So all these discussions you would think have to be going on because they are two players you want to keep but if they do want to go what does that look like coming back through the door?”

Butters has said he will honour his current deal with the Power, which runs until the end of next season and qualifies him as a free agent, but will take time to decide his next move.

Whether that is to commit long-term to the Power or head back across the border to be near his home town of Darley in regional Victoria.

There’s one view in the industry the Power should trade Butters at the end of this year if he feels his long-term future isn’t at Alberton, in order for Port to get an almighty haul for one of the stars of the competition.

But unless Butters comes and demands a trade at the end of this season, why would the Power do this?

Butters will be a restricted free agent next year so the Power could match any offer a rival club puts in front of him and force a trade to get a big return for him.

And while Hinkley and Butters have an extremely close relationship, it is understood that Butters and Carr – who is the midfield coach – are tight themselves and the Power is still hopeful that its vice-captain will sign-on.

But Lewis believes the Power should act sooner rather than later if a move home looms more likely than not.

“You have to be realistic where you want to get to, if you don’t do that and in a year Zak asks to leave you have delayed everything by 12 months,” Lewis said.

“So I think for Zak, for Josh and the football club I hope they are having really honest conversations with each other and if there is any signs that Zak is willing to return to Victoria my belief is you have to let that player go but you have to get worthy compensation for them and start to build that list.”

WHERE ARE THE LIST GAPS?

On his weekly spot on Adelaide radio FIVEaa this week, Koch said injuries had been a factor for their poor ladder position this year.

Butters missed the start of the season after pre-season knee surgery, Lukosius has barely played after a kneecap fracture in round 2, fellow key forward Todd Marshall is yet to play a game, while defender Brandon Zerk-Thatcher is only back playing his first game this week.

Kane Farrell has also undergone knee surgery, Cochrane had foot surgery and Travis Boak has been dealing with a back issue.

Last time out against Geelong, the Power lost Josh Sinn (hip), Horne-Francis and Lachie Jones (both hamstrings) before halftime.

There is no denying the injuries have hit hard, and while Hinkley has thrown some magnets around, the numbers are looking poor.

Its 78.4 average points scored per game is its third worst return since 1999.

“I think the question has always been around their forward mix, do you have a genuine a-grade forward?” Lewis said of his biggest concern with Port’s lis.

“And for me you always look at the spine, you have Georgiades at full forward, he is still trying to become that absolute a-grader, their midfield is stacked, their defence has had some good games and some inconsistent games.”

Brogan agreed that the forward line was a work in progress for the Power.

“I think the bones are still there for Port,” he said.

“They still have some good A-graders, Aliir Aliir is an A-Grade backman.

“Horne-Francis, Rozee and Butters, whether Rozee plays halfback or in the midfield, they are A-Graders.

THE NEXT KEY CONTRACT MOVES

Logan Evans, the big success story from last year’s mid-season draft, signed a new three-year deal earlier this week, joining Farrell (five-years) in penning a new contract this year.

Father-son Jase Burgoyne looms as the next one to re-sign at Alberton as he continues to improve, while Sinn is getting a run in the Power side and Port would like to keep him and has showed a lot of faith in him after he battled injuries early in his career.

Aside from Bergman, also unsigned past this year is Boak, Ryan Burton, Will Lorenz, Jeremy Finlayson, Atkins, Hugh Jackson – who will make his AFL debut against Fremantle – Jed McEntee, Dylan Williams and untried duo Tom Anastasopoulos and Lachie Charleston.

Most of that group will have to wait until later this year for their futures to be confirmed.

WHO COULD COME IN?

In 2021, St Kilda swooped and selected Glenelg’s Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera just before the Power could have a crack at getting him – it ended up trading with West Coast to move up to No. 12 to select Sinn.

The Power is hoping that four years on it will get its man with Wanganeen-Milera weighing up whether to sign a new deal with the Saints or seek a move back to South Australia.

If it is the latter, Port and the Crows will once again duke it out for an SA star.

In the Power’s favour is that Wanganeen-Milera is good friends with Horne-Francis and Burgoyne, while its recent public declaration that the AFL industry needs to do more on First Nations issues could also bolster its case.

What happens with Bergman could also influence this.

The Saints are one of the clubs who are chasing him so that could facilitate a potential trade and, if Bergman wants to return to Melbourne, then the Power will all of a sudden have a chunk of cash in its cap – earmarked for him – freed up and able to use in different ways.

As we have seen before, the Power can be creative and is expected to wait until towards the end of the year to decide how aggressive it will be this off-season.

WHO IS THE FUTURE?

The good news for Power fans is that many of Port’s key players are still 25 or younger.

But a lack of impact from its recent draft hauls could become an issue.

While Berry, Moraes and Cochrane have already played AFL football in their first season, none of the Power’s draft picks from the 2022 edition – Tom McCallum, Thomas Scully and Kyle Marshall – played a game before they were delisted.

From the 2023 draft, Lorenz has played three matches and Evans 19 after being picked up in the mid-season draft in a big win for the Power.

Anastasopoulos and Charleston, also from the 2023 draft, are yet to debut.

None of these players were high picks, given Port finished towards the top of the ladder.

But unearthing a gem late on in the draft can be massive for a team hoping to stay competitive and not having to undergo a rebuild.