Boys from the Port

No longer play for Port.

A 100 game Port premiership player pointed that out to me this week and it is true. Soon the prophesy will be complete as this generation of players moves on and rezoning sends Port boys to other SANFL clubs.

It saddens me that Port Adelaide in the SANFL is no longer the Port Adelaide I grew up with. No longer can kids who barrack for Port come through the Port Adelaide system and play in the traditional guernsey. Sure a few will get through but the day of the good ordinary footballer who is a great club man are done at Port in the SANFL.

It's not a judgement, it's just the way it is. I like to see the Magpies win but I feel almost no attachment to the team. In the old days when it came to the reserves it was much the same. It was good if the reserves won during the season and made a great grand final day if we won the reserves premiership. But at the end of the day it was instantly forgettable and the important thing was the reserves produced good footballers for the league side.

We still try to treat the Magpies like the old Port Adelaide but they are not that any more. The old Port Adelaide was about winning every game and destroying teams in the finals. The old Port Adelaide would not have played Daniel Flynn or Campbell Heath in the finals. That's not a slur against these guys, those are the rules. We want them to play and we have to play them in the league side.

I know many people who treat the Magpies as the old Port Adelaide but to me they're not that anymore. For all the benefits the side is accused of accruing there are drawbacks and we've seen them these past few weeks. A lot of kids are played who are physically cooked. Players coming back from injury and that most curious of beasts the international rookie are handed games.

That is because this is now the Power reserves. It's a camel in a horse race. We can't pick a SANFL side as such, we pick a side made up of the scraps of the AFL side. The lack of a ruckman has told a story there ... although just one ruckman as a contracted SANFL player would not have gone astray. Even a tall plodder like Angus Graham who at SANFL level gets his hand to the ball and collects a few stats would have done.

Don't get me wrong, I fully believe in a Power reserves side, but I think we need to readjust our thinking about what that means in the SANFL. It's been fun this year but in a way it has been a distraction.
 

ab56452001

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Aug 23, 2009
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No longer play for Port.

A 100 game Port premiership player pointed that out to me this week and it is true. Soon the prophesy will be complete as this generation of players moves on and rezoning sends Port boys to other SANFL clubs.

It saddens me that Port Adelaide in the SANFL is no longer the Port Adelaide I grew up with. No longer can kids who barrack for Port come through the Port Adelaide system and play in the traditional guernsey. Sure a few will get through but the day of the good ordinary footballer who is a great club man are done at Port in the SANFL.

It's not a judgement, it's just the way it is. I like to see the Magpies win but I feel almost no attachment to the team. In the old days it was much the same. It was good if the reserves won during the season and made a great grand final day if we won the reserves premiership. But at the end of the day it was instantly forgettable and the important thing was the reserves produced good footballers for the league side.

We still try to treat the Magpies like the old Port Adelaide but they are not that any more. The old Pot Adelaide was about winning every game and destroying teams in the finals. The old Port Adelaide would not have played Daniel Flynn or Campbell Heath in the finals. That's not a slur against these guys, those are the rules. We want them to play and we have to play them in the league side.

I know many people who treat the Magpies as the old Port Adelaide but to me they're not that anymore. For all the benefits the side is accused of accruing there are drawbacks and we've seen them these past few weeks. A lot of kids are played who are physically cooked. Players coming back from injury and that most curious of beasts the international rookie are handed games.

That is because this is now the Power reserves. It's a camel in a horse race. We can't pick a SANFL side as such, we pick a side made up of the scraps of the AFL side. The lack of a ruckman has told a story there ... although just one ruckman as a contracted SANFL player would not have gone astray. Even a tall plodder like Angus Graham who at SANFL level gets his hand to the ball and collects a few stats would have done.

Don't get me wrong, I fully believe in a Power reserves side, but I think we need to readjust our thinking about what that means in the SANFL. It's been fun this year but in a way it has been a distraction.
Great post , even with winning most games , its just not the same , and believe me , ive tried . At the beginning of the season I was present at meetings where our Ceo , Power coach , Maggies coach all told us that no matter what the Maggies are out to win every game , and that no player , Afl listed or not would get walk up games , I and all others there were wrapped ! , unfortunately I think things have turned out to be somewhat different .
 
It's kind of sad that our SANFL history/dominance ends here.

But, I'm not overly bothered. We are moving on to bigger and better things. The national competition is the way forward, and I personally would be happy to leave the SANFL behind altogether.


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I've felt much less of an emotional attachment to the Magpies since the early 2000s, ie. once all the legends of the 88-99 era had retired. Once we were in the AFL, and with my own sporting commitments it was harder (and still is) to get to more than 3 or 4 SANFL games a year and with each year I knew the names (by sight) of fewer and fewer players. While it would be awesome to take out the TSH Trophy after a 15 year drought and get the NAITS crowd foaming at the mouth in anger, I have to admit I wouldn't be too distressed if we were to go down in the prelim or the GF (similar 'nice if the reserves got up' feeling that FF mentioned). I like that the higher intensity of the SANFL finals will benefit our younger AFL players' development immensely (all together in the same team!) which will help us fry bigger fish in the A(FL) grade going forward.
 

Magpiespower

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This could be an explosive thread.

These days I'm more inclined to see my local club play than head down to an SANFL game. Helluva lot of fans from rival clubs would like to see both Port and the Crows gone from the local comp. However, I can't see that happening any time soon.

Cut my footy teeth on the SANFL when it was still just the biggest show in town - so many great memories - and so I hope it remains a vibrant comp, the "best league outside of the AFL" if possible.

But I'm not sure if it will. That'll take some effort from league headquarters. And those goons don't engender confidence in anyone.

Then there's the who kids don't and won't have this same attachment to their SANFL club like we have/had with the Magpies.

My 14yo nephew's a nominal Eagles supporter but if you asked him who he barracked for, he'd say Port, meaning the Power. And this is a kid who went to heaps of SANFL footy because my brother took him to it all the time. (FWIW, he became an Eagles supporter because Eagles players gave him a footy at Auskick.)

Bit off-tangent and more focused on the SANFL than Port but I genuinely fear what will happen to the comp ten, twenty, thirty years from now when the old guard dies off.

Gotta admit, last week I was more interested in Mitch Harvey playing well than the scoreboard...
 
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ab56452001

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At the meetings pre season there were plenty of older types like myself , younger people , women , sponsers , you name it , and we were addressed by Ceo , coach etc , and were assured have no fear the Maggies play to win , no passengers and so forth . Well all of us assembled were thrilled ! , I hope we were lied to !
 

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I feel the same way. I've been to about 8 SANFL games this season and it just doesn't have the same feeling in previous seasons gone by. On the plus side the idiots that supported the magpies that supported other AFL clubs, that used to cause a fair bit of trouble no longer go. Losing our juniors and zones really hurts though, it was the heart and soul of the Magpies and the academy side isn't going to cover that loss.

The game on Saturday night was very disappointing, it was finals footy and you could tell it meant more to the Norwood players than it did to our players to win that game. But thats what it cost us to be in the AFL and having a reserves side. I still support us having the reserves side but I guess it will just take awhile to get used to the change thats all.

I still can't understand why we had to give up our underage sides, we should have been able to keep them and our metro zone. I understand our zones should have been greatly reduced but not completely taken off us. If you look at it for what it is and take your football allegiance out of it, 150 less kids will be playing underage SANFL every season from next year. How does the SANFL think that this is good for local football? its a disgrace really. We have a big problem in this country with kids being inactive, and not going outdoors and playing sport as it is. And worse of all we will lose a lot of our community ties to the football club which is a big loss.
 

Magpiespower

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I still can't understand why we had to give up our underage sides, we should have been able to keep them and our metro zone. I understand our zones should have been greatly reduced but not completely taken off us. If you look at it for what it is and take your football allegiance out of it, 150 less kids will be playing underage SANFL every season from next year. How does the SANFL think that this is good for local football? its a disgrace really. We have a big problem in this country with kids being inactive, and not going outdoors and playing sport as it is. And worse of all we will lose a lot of our community ties to the football club which is a big loss.

Rezoning has angered a-lot of Eagles fans. Club has lost its traditional heartland to take over a-lot of the Port zone.

Centrals is spewing, too. Just when it thought it would reclaim the rest of Salisbury... it goes to the Eagles.

Might be quite a few juniors using Nana's home address...
 
......
It's not a judgement, it's just the way it is. I like to see the Magpies win but I feel almost no attachment to the team. In the old days when it came to the reserves it was much the same. It was good if the reserves won during the season and made a great grand final day if we won the reserves premiership. But at the end of the day it was instantly forgettable and the important thing was the reserves produced good footballers for the league side.

We still try to treat the Magpies like the old Port Adelaide but they are not that any more. The old Port Adelaide was about winning every game and destroying teams in the finals. The old Port Adelaide would not have played Daniel Flynn or Campbell Heath in the finals. That's not a slur against these guys, those are the rules. We want them to play and we have to play them in the league side.
......

I go and watch the Magpies just like I used to watch the B grade, rarely, with some interest, especially looking at the odd young player and barracking but in a somewhat dispassionate way. My main interest and my overwhelming passion was always for the A grade. But that attitude was driven by playing footy in the arvo with mates during 1982-1991, and my real passion was playing footy, and then 1992-2010 I lived outside SA so rarely saw the A grade let alone the B's. When I was at school i used to know a fair bit about the B grade players and when I would go watch I would usually watch half a game.

I was watching the semi final with my family, who went to the Richmond final and all went to the Maggies final. We were in Aisle 135 and it was a real mix of supporters from both clubs. What stood out was Norwood fans were more passionate than most Port fans. I thought to myself they are watching their A grade, I was watching my B grade play, I knew all my players but only knew about 8 Norwood players. My passion was on the Sunday and I knew all my players and all of Richmond's.
 

Magpiespower

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Norwood fans were more passionate than most Port fans. I thought to myself they are watching their A grade, I was watching my B grade play, I knew all my players but only knew about 8 Norwood players. My passion was on the Sunday...

That was pretty much my experience, too.

But it almost kicked-off between a few Port and Norwood supporters on the train on the way home.

Then again, their blue had nothing to do with the game just played and everything to do with the usual boring crap.

You know, who is the "Real Port?," where was our 50,000 members tonight?, tarps, handouts, blah, blah, blah yada, yada, yada...
 
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That was pretty much my experience, too.

But it almost kicked-off between a few Port and Norwood supporters on the train on the way home.

Then again, their blue had nothing to do with the game just played and everything to do with the usual boring crap.

You know, who is the "Real Port?," where was our 50,000 members tonight?, tarps, handouts, blah, blah, blah yada, yada, yada...

Yep, Norwood supporters are bitter and resentful that their club has been left behind, playing in effectively a minor league. I would feel the same in their situation.

I'm also a little nostalgic for those classic Port v Norwood clashes of my youth but I'm so thankful our club took the risk and seized the opportunity to continue to strive at the highest possible level. It has been a tough journey with spme glorious highs and some shattering lows but i continue to have no regrets at the path our club has undertaken.

I couldn't be more proud to be a part of the PAFC community.
 
Yep, Norwood supporters are bitter and resentful that their club has been left behind, playing in effectively a minor league. I would feel the same in their situation.

I'm also a little nostalgic for those classic Port v Norwood clashes of my youth but I'm so thankful our club took the risk and seized the opportunity to continue to strive at the highest possible level. It has been a tough journey with spme glorious highs and some shattering lows but i continue to have no regrets at the path our club has undertaken.

I couldn't be more proud to be a part of the PAFC community.

Just tell those Norwood dills that they had the golden chalice in their hand, but they dropped it. It usually shuts them up.
 

Magpiespower

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Yep, Norwood supporters are bitter and resentful that their club has been left behind, playing in effectively a minor league. I would feel the same in their situation.

I'm also a little nostalgic for those classic Port v Norwood clashes of my youth but I'm so thankful our club took the risk and seized the opportunity to continue to strive at the highest possible level. It has been a tough journey with spme glorious highs and some shattering lows but i continue to have no regrets at the path our club has undertaken.

I couldn't be more proud to be a part of the PAFC community.

A-lot of my mates are Norwood supporters. A couple of them beat their chests about the recent back-to-back premierships. False bravado. Their solemn eyes tell a different story.

Coz they know these are hollow premierships.

This mighty powerhouse couldn't even impose itself on the SANFL when we joined the national comp. Looked set to dominate after a rampaging 1997. But no. For the next decade and change they played second fiddle to Central, Eagles and, for a long time, even Sturt.

Grew up on 80s footy when the bitter Port v Glenelg rivalry seemed to escalate every year so I never really got into the traditional Norwood rivalry. Probably similar to an earlier generation how some Port supporters hated Sturt more than any other club. But Norwood? Well, let me paraphrase Paul Keating:

"They're more to be pitied than despised."
 
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A-lot of my mates are Norwood supporters. A couple of them beat their chests about the recent back-to-back premierships. False bravado. Their solemn eyes tell a different story.

Coz they know these are hollow premierships.

This mighty powerhouse couldn't even impose itself on the SANFL when we joined the national comp. Looked set to dominate after a rampaging 1997. But no. For the next decade and change they played second fiddle to Central, Eagles and, for a long time, even Sturt.

Grew up on 80s footy when the bitter Port v Glenelg rivalry seemed to escalate every year so I never really got into the traditional Norwood rivalry. Probably similar to an earlier generation how some Port supporters hated Sturt more than any other club. But Norwood? Well, let me paraphrase Paul Keating:

"They're more to be pitied than despised."
I'm a child of the sixties, Norwood were the only SANFL opponent I respected, hated but respected, over the journey.
 
I have enjoyed pointing out their League team competes against our Reserves now.
Even though it was great to see our 2nds beat Glenelg by 150+ earlier in the year, I reckon our 3rds could have beaten Glenelg too.
 

Norwood1878

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Yep, Norwood supporters are bitter and resentful that their club has been left behind, playing in effectively a minor league. I would feel the same in their situation.

I'm also a little nostalgic for those classic Port v Norwood clashes of my youth but I'm so thankful our club took the risk and seized the opportunity to continue to strive at the highest possible level. It has been a tough journey with spme glorious highs and some shattering lows but i continue to have no regrets at the path our club has undertaken.

I couldn't be more proud to be a part of the PAFC community.

I hope this is okay to post here and with all due respect shown on your board but i think this needs to be clarified. The AFL never intended to have Norwood in the comp. They always wanted a composite SA team and they knew Norwood would take supporters away from that. PA was the team every other SANFL team supporter loved to hate and were never gonna take supporters away from a composite SA side.
Norwood was just as much as a power house as PA was in 1990, 29 to 26 flags.
Would i love for us to be in the AFL? You betcha, but it is what it is. Should i stop supporting my club that i grew up with? No, why should i.
I've always respected Port Adelaide for what they've achieved in the SANFL and AFL, good luck to 'em.
The comp is not what it used to be, can't deny that and i wish there was still a proper Magpies team running around in the SANFL.
I think Norwood's done alright to finish 2nd up against your mob. Norwood's been raided by the draft over the last two years, our coach left to the druggies and a few players retired.
We beat a side on Satdy night that had 15 full time AFL listed players, full time coaches and all the advantages of being a reserve AFL side, like superior training regimes, training facilities, fitness staff, medical staff etc.
If anything, i would love to see that basket case and an embarrassment to the red and blue tossed out of the AFL but that's unlikely.
Cheers.
 
I hope this is okay to post here and with all due respect shown on your board but i think this needs to be clarified. The AFL never intended to have Norwood in the comp. They always wanted a composite SA team and they knew Norwood would take supporters away from that. PA was the team every other SANFL team supporter loved to hate and were never gonna take supporters away from a composite SA side.
Norwood was just as much as a power house as PA was in 1990, 29 to 26 flags.
Would i love for us to be in the AFL? You betcha, but it is what it is. Should i stop supporting my club that i grew up with? No, why should i.
I've always respected Port Adelaide for what they've achieved in the SANFL and AFL, good luck to 'em.
The comp is not what it used to be, can't deny that and i wish there was still a proper Magpies team running around in the SANFL.
I think Norwood's done alright to finish 2nd up against your mob. Norwood's been raided by the draft over the last two years, our coach left to the druggies and a few players retired.
We beat a side on Satdy night that had 15 full time AFL listed players, full time coaches and all the advantages of being a reserve AFL side, like superior training regimes, training facilities, fitness staff, medical staff etc.
If anything, i would love to see that basket case and an embarrassment to the red and blue tossed out of the AFL but that's unlikely.
Cheers.

I think every Port supporter would rather have Norwood in the comp instead of Adelaide too.
Although some crows supporters like to think that Port Adelaide in the AFL has no link to Port Adelaide in the SANFL, I assure you if Norwood joined the AFL and had to change everything due to a branding clash with Melbourne (In similar fashion to Port when we were forced to change due to the clash with Collingwood) we would not be saying Norwood in the AFL and SANFL are 2 different clubs.
 

Norwood1878

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I think every Port supporter would rather have Norwood in the comp instead of Adelaide too.
Although some crows supporters like to think that Port Adelaide in the AFL has no link to Port Adelaide in the SANFL, I assure you if Norwood joined the AFL and had to change everything due to a branding clash with Melbourne (In similar fashion to Port when we were forced to change due to the clash with Collingwood) we would not be saying Norwood in the AFL and SANFL are 2 different clubs.

I would love to see that parasite, s**t club and embarrassment to the red and blue, Melbourne kicked out of the AFL and Norwood take it's rightful place.
 

ozph1870

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I hope this is okay to post here and with all due respect shown on your board but i think this needs to be clarified. The AFL never intended to have Norwood in the comp. They always wanted a composite SA team and they knew Norwood would take supporters away from that. PA was the team every other SANFL team supporter loved to hate and were never gonna take supporters away from a composite SA side.
Norwood was just as much as a power house as PA was in 1990, 29 to 26 flags.
Would i love for us to be in the AFL? You betcha, but it is what it is. Should i stop supporting my club that i grew up with? No, why should i.
I've always respected Port Adelaide for what they've achieved in the SANFL and AFL, good luck to 'em.
The comp is not what it used to be, can't deny that and i wish there was still a proper Magpies team running around in the SANFL.
I think Norwood's done alright to finish 2nd up against your mob. Norwood's been raided by the draft over the last two years, our coach left to the druggies and a few players retired.
We beat a side on Satdy night that had 15 full time AFL listed players, full time coaches and all the advantages of being a reserve AFL side, like superior training regimes, training facilities, fitness staff, medical staff etc.
If anything, i would love to see that basket case and an embarrassment to the red and blue tossed out of the AFL but that's unlikely.
Cheers.
i think its a criminal act that norwood and port arent the two sides representing sa football at the highest level, that is sa footy right there. the greatest rivalry, up there with any if not above those old vfl rivalries that are still there today. those imposter crows should never have been formed, port and norwood should have been the two sides in the afl, with their reserves still representing the clubs and area in the sanfl. so it would have been port adelaide power v norwood flames (bball reference) or whatever nick name you would have been forced to adopt, it would be awesome at the highest level. shame those imposter crows stole your place.

one thing though, although norwoods record was similar up to 1990, they had only won 3 flags in the last 40 years, port 17.

there are advantages having am afl reserves side in the sanfl comp. it also has some disadvantages as you would have seen, especially regarding structure of the team (no real ruckman, not being allowed to pick our reserves ruckman), inexperience in a tough contested comp at the heat of the finals (flynn), players being rested due to afl finals (mitchell would have been handy) also norwood can pick a proper balanced team while ports is a bit of a mismatch of whoever is left over and then they have to pick a team based around that. really hoping we beat south and we get to see a port v norwood gf, maybe for the last time as after this year i fear the maggies side will be severely depleted at sanfl level. we have been lucky this year with the set up as alot of our fringe afl / sanfl players are older and experienced, but if we delist logan, hitchcock, heath, stevenson, renouf and mitchell they will be replaced by 18 year olds who have never played senior footy and the maggies will be a very ordinary sanfl team, sadly.
 

Norwood1878

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i think its a criminal act that norwood and port arent the two sides representing sa football at the highest level, that is sa footy right there. the greatest rivalry, up there with any if not above those old vfl rivalries that are still there today. those imposter crows should never have been formed, port and norwood should have been the two sides in the afl, with their reserves still representing the clubs and area in the sanfl. so it would have been port adelaide power v norwood flames (bball reference) or whatever nick name you would have been forced to adopt, it would be awesome at the highest level. shame those imposter crows stole your place.

one thing though, although norwoods record was similar up to 1990, they had only won 3 flags in the last 40 years, port 17.

there are advantages having am afl reserves side in the sanfl comp. it also has some disadvantages as you would have seen, especially regarding structure of the team (no real ruckman, not being allowed to pick our reserves ruckman), inexperience in a tough contested comp at the heat of the finals (flynn), players being rested due to afl finals (mitchell would have been handy) also norwood can pick a proper balanced team while ports is a bit of a mismatch of whoever is left over and then they have to pick a team based around that. really hoping we beat south and we get to see a port v norwood gf, maybe for the last time as after this year i fear the maggies side will be severely depleted at sanfl level. we have been lucky this year with the set up as alot of our fringe afl / sanfl players are older and experienced, but if we delist logan, hitchcock, heath, stevenson, renouf and mitchell they will be replaced by 18 year olds who have never played senior footy and the maggies will be a very ordinary sanfl team, sadly.

4 Premierships haha. There was a long drought from 1950 t0 1975 no doubt. We lost a few GFs to the Maggies in between too.
 
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