Port Adelaide chairman David Koch accuses SANFL of rigging rules as club gets first wooden spoon in 124 years

The Port Adelaide chairman has launched an extraordinary spray after his club crashed to its first wooden spoon in over a century.

Port Adelaide chairman David Koch has slammed the SANFL, saying the league “have got what they wanted’’ after his club finished with the wooden spoon for the first time since 1900.

The outspoken Koch has driven a further wedge between his club and the South Australian state league competition by also questioning where the money from its future fund is going and why the eight stand-alone state league clubs aren’t “rolling in money’’.

Just four days after Port finished rock bottom of the SANFL for the first time in 124 years, Koch went on a wild radio rant on FIVEaa, saying: “It means the SANFL have got what they wanted, they wanted Port to be last, they rigged the (AFL club concession) rules and we can’t wait to be out of there’’.

He also accused the league of only paying “lip service’’ to his club and fellow South Australian AFL club Adelaide.

The SANFL and its stand-alone clubs are locked in delicate negotiations with Port and the Crows, with some input from the AFL, over the concessions they will be granted to stay in the local league for at least the next two years before an AFL reserves competition is expected to be introduced.

Port Adelaide chairman David Koch.

Port Adelaide’s Bailey Chamberlain celebrates a goal for the Magpies in their SANFL clash against Central District at Elizabeth Oval last Saturday, which ended with them winning their first wooden spoon since 1900. Picture: David Mariuz/SANFL

Port and the Crows have made no secret of the fact they want to join a national reserves competition for equality reasons, threatening to pull their teams from the league early if they can’t improve their top-up lists, claiming the lack of supplementary talent is hindering the development of their young AFL players.

A 12-person SANFL working group, which includes key league personnel, including chief executive Darren Chandler, executive general manager football Matthew Duldig, SA Football Commissioners and three club CEO’s, is currently thrashing out potential concessions for the two AFL clubs before making a recommendation to the SA Football Commission to endorse.

“The SANFL will complete its review over the coming months, which will involve discussions with SANFL clubs, the AFL, Adelaide and Port Adelaide football clubs and other state leagues and clubs around the nation to determine what is best for the SANFL competition and football in South Australia,’’ Chandler said last month.

Koch described the negotiations as “all lip service’’.

“And given their track record you want to see it in writing and signed before you believe anything that comes out of their mouth basically,’’ Koch said in a stinging attack on the league that comes just days after he issued a call to take the “nastiness” and “sting out the Showdown” after Showdown 56 was marred by on and off field incidents.

Port Adelaide’s Quinton Narkle in action against Central District at Elizabeth Oval in Round 19. Picture: David Mariuz/SANFL

“They have said to the AFL ‘we’re not going to change the rules until you agree to give us our funding from the AFL’.

“That’s like going to the bank and saying ‘you know, we’re not going to discuss the terms until you give us the money’, because the AFL is the SANFL’s bank.

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

While Port finished bottom in the SANFL this season, it has made three grand final appearances in the past 10 years, losing the 2014, 2017 and 2019 deciders to Norwood, Sturt and Glenelg respectively.

It also picked up this week’s AFL Rising Star winner Logan Evans from Norwood under the SANFL Rookie Program at the end of last season before selecting him at this year’s AFL mid-season draft.

The SANFL, diplomatically, did not want to get embroiled in a war of words with Koch.“The review is ongoing and throughout this process, the focus has, and continues to be, on the player pathway for young talented players in SA and the long-term growth and strength of the SANFL competition and its clubs,’’ Chandler said.

Originally published as Port Adelaide chairman David Koch accuses SANFL of rigging rules as club gets first wooden spoon in 124 years