What really goes on inside the locker rooms at a Port Adelaide AFL match

WHAT really happens inside Port Adelaide’s locker room? You’d be surprised what happens before and after game time – particularly after.

PIZZAS, slabs of Coke and an iPod cranked to the max. It sounds like a frat party, but this is actually what you’ll find inside a professional sports locker room on game day.

Apart from a brief glimpse during a TV broadcast, few of us ever get to see what really goes on in a locker room, but I was lucky enough to be invited into the Port Power rooms for their game against the Sydney Swans at the SCG on Saturday.

BEFORE THE GAME

THERE are five main areas inside: a meeting room, a warm-up area, a change room, a physio room and the showers.

The physio room.

The warm-up area.

Walking in 20 minutes before the first bounce, I am immediately struck by the tense atmosphere in the warm-up area.

The players are kicking balls to each other with the coach, Ken Hinkley, standing nearby and observing, silently.

The players, too, are quiet, their minds clearly preoccupied with the upcoming game.

An assistant coach, Josh Carr, breaks the silence by barking instructions at the players to line up for a different drill.

The team splits into two lines, each player facing another and then running at each other, bumping into their teammate with enough force that would send me flying through the wall.

You can sense their testosterone levels rising, as too do their voices.

The room becomes noisy, filled with players and the assistant coach yelling words of encouragement to each other.

It was the largest AFL crowd at the SCG in the past 20 years.

“Plenty of run for us today, boys.”

“This is ours today, it’s our time.”

“Know your role. They don’t want to be here.”

The coach then calls the players over and they hush and huddle around him.

In a calm yet authoritative tone, he delivers some last minute words of wisdom and encouragement to his players.

As Hinkley finishes his last-minute address, an assistant grabs an iPod which is plugged into the speaker system and hits play on Rudimental’s Not Giving In.

The volume is cranked, the boys slap each other on the back and then they run up the race and out onto the ground with the song blaring in the background.

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AFTER THE GAME

AIMING for their first win at the SCG since 2006, Port Adelaide comes agonisingly close, losing to the Swans by just four points in a tense game.

When I enter the Port locker room after the final siren, the players are already in the meeting area getting debriefed by the coach.

I walk around, expecting to be smacked in the face by the smell of sweat, but I am instead greeted by the unmistakable scent of pizza.

To my surprise, there are dozens of pizzas inside the change room with slabs of Coke on ice as well.

The players ice up.

The pizzas laid out for the players. One each!

The players eventually come out of the meeting and they all sit down in the warm-up area.

They are quiet, their heads are down and many are limping.

A trainer tells them to “weigh in and have your protein,” so they take it in turns to stand on the scales and write their post-match weight on a sheet stuck to the wall.

The players are then run through five minutes of stretching by a trainer and bags of ice are handed around and strapped to legs and arms, even shoved down the front of pants to soothe sore groins.

The room is still quiet.

After the stretching, the players’ family and friends begin entering the room.

So too does Sunrise host David “Kochie” Koch, the Port chairman.

It strikes me that the atmosphere is like a wake. Not many people are talking, but when they do it is in hushed tones and smiles are few and far between. Heads are low.

A Port staffer cleans boots.

A player chats to a reporter.

Kochie mingles with the families, then walks over to each of the players and offers words of consolation.

After a quick chat with their loved ones, the players head to the change room area where they smash the pizzas and drink Coke and Gatorade.

Some have ice baths while others go straight to the showers.

One player comes out of the shower on crutches and a woman standing near me gasps, puts her hands to her face and says, “What happened?”

“It’s his mum,” whispers a trainer in my ear.

The players’ loved ones begin to leave, Kochie departs, and the players get dressed and gather in the meeting room for a final debrief.

They board the team bus and the rooms are empty again.

Originally published as What really goes on inside the locker rooms at a Port Adelaide AFL match