Opinion Port Adelaide's biggest rival aside from the Crows

Port Adelaide's biggest rival aside from the Crows?


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May 26, 2017
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Interesting to see which club Port Adelaide fans view as their biggest rival aside from the Crows.
Ourselves…



Seriously, though, it should probably be one of Cats, Lions, Eagles, and Pies. But rivalries should go both ways, and I don’t know whether there’s a match.



- - -
Generally to have a rivalry you have to not grab your ankles at your own home ground every time there's a big game

Tell that to the Red Sox and the Yankees. :)
 

King Cold

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The wobblers usually finish 2nd in everything else, but they should win this poll.

Technically Collingwood are coming second, given Adelaide are obviously first in terms of the Power's biggest rival.

Ourselves…



Seriously, though, it should probably be one of Cats, Lions, Eagles, and Pies. But rivalries should go both ways, and I don’t know whether there’s a match.

Geelong? 5 finals with head to head 3-2 in favour of the Power.

Brisbane? Finals history early 2000's and stopped them winning four in a row.

West Coast? Classic finals matches gone down to the wire, 2007 and 2017.

Collingwood? Prison bars, and apart from the 5 year lean patch of 2008-2012 the Power went through, they've tended to have the wood over Collingwood. In fact, apart from Hawthorn, no club has a record against Collingwood as good as the Power do, which is ironic given the Crows have always had an absolute horrendous record against Collingwood.
 
May 26, 2017
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Geelong? 5 finals with head to head 3-2 in favour of the Power.

Brisbane? Finals history early 2000's and stopped them winning four in a row.

West Coast? Classic finals matches gone down to the wire, 2007 and 2017.

Collingwood? Prison bars, and apart from the 5 year lean patch of 2008-2012 the Power went through, they've tended to have the wood over Collingwood. In fact, apart from Hawthorn, no club has a record against Collingwood as good as the Power do, which is ironic given the Crows have always had an absolute horrendous record against Collingwood.
That’s why those four were the candidates. My point is that clubs must mutually identity one another as rivals. I don’t know if they see us as their rivals.
 

EskimoPAFC

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Dec 17, 2017
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I voted Geelong, but the problem is there isn't really a true rival.

The camry cows rivalry is certainly there, but they aren't a real football club. They are a created franchise with no history that's sort of an amalgamation of a bunch of other real clubs that have since become completely irrelevant. If you look at their "fans" they barely even talk about their own club, they only exist to hate us. Their comments are always around Port (eg 119 or tarps) whereas every other clubs fans spend their time talking about their own clubs (eg Sack Ken). I feel a greater sense of embarrassment for them than I do a genuine hatred. I want them to just fold more than anything else.

The Collingwood rivalry is what should exist but sadly the Pies jealous obsession with Port has prevented it from ever being what it should have been. Collingwood will never get over the fact that we were what they always wanted to be - the dominant force at state level... which they could have been had they just been able to finish off their successful seasons, but instead they repeatedly choked in the biggest game of the year. I do have hope that post-Eddie they will be able to actually focus on bringing the on-field rivalry back and stop all the insecure nonsense crying about what we wear. If they do then perhaps they will be #1 within the next 5-10 years.

The Geelong and West Coast rivalries are the ones I feel the most genuine fire for but these are lopsided the other way around. We hate Geelong and West Coast with passion due to them having the wood over us but neither of those clubs give a s**t about us, in fact West Coast sees us as an ally if anything in their "interstate club" war. I do wonder if the recent finals wins over the Cats might re-ignite something.

Probably the only even rivalry Port has ever had is Brisbane, but despite us both being top third clubs the past couple of years there really hasn't been a big game between the two clubs that matters.
 
The Geelong and West Coast rivalries are the ones I feel the most genuine fire for but these are lopsided the other way around. We hate Geelong and West Coast with passion due to them having the wood over us but neither of those clubs give a sh*t about us, in fact West Coast sees us as an ally if anything in their "interstate club" war. I do wonder if the recent finals wins over the Cats might re-ignite something.

Probably the only even rivalry Port has ever had is Brisbane, but despite us both being top third clubs the past couple of years there really hasn't been a big game between the two clubs that matters.

Some Geelong fans might say they don't give a s**t about Port, but they do. Same with their team.
The fire and spite from them in our games tells you that.

Geelong and Brisbane are the two 'interstate' rivalries that mean the most to me.

Fremantle is the one that disappoints me the most.
Should be a big rivalry but it's just a nothing game on the fixture.
 
The big rivalries across all sports, they tend to be built around finals, grand finals and the chase for championships, or local derbies. The Port-crows one started with the politics of 1990 and continued once we got in, following in the mode of the great local derby clashes that happen around the world. We have only played 1 final against them, and got spanked.

If you look at the Port v Norwood rivalry every decade except for the 1960's and 2000's Port and Norwood either finished 1st or 2nd in the league system most years, before GF's were introduced in 1898 and then played in 15 grand finals and many finals, most sudden death finals every decade for the next hundred years before both Port and Norwood became bit players to Centrals and WWT's dominance.

Outside the local derbies, it's rare that rivalry's ferocity lasts a really long time. They might last 20 or 30 years but rare that they will last 100 years. West Adelaide and Port played some massive finals and grand finals in the 1950's and 1960's but by the mid 1980's those games had lost their zing.

How big was the Collingwood v Carlton rivalry before the 1970 GF?? After that it went into top gear for the next 30 years partly because of 1979 and 1981 GF's reinforcing it, but it has been so, so for the last 20 years for footy fans who don't follow those 2 sides.

In the AFL we have played 5 finals against Geelong and 3 against North, Brisbane and Collingwood.

Even the Ashes battle whilst they have great history and tradition over 140 odd years, beating the Poms when the West Indies were dominate for 20 years, wasn't really a big thing. Sure it was important and the winner had bragging rights, but it didn't mean much compared to beating the West indies. Now Oz v India is starting to challenge the Ashes as the most important battle - especially for the financial position of Cricket Australia - thanks to the 2000-01 series and the V.V.S and Dravid miracle in Kolkata changed everything. Time changes just about everything.
 
The Crows are the mortal enemy. The encapsulation of an entire competitions fan base and their jealousy and hatred of us, the true 'hate or love Port' attitude, and the old 'I go for whoever plays Port' mentality are 100% encapsulated by the Crows.

I attended all the 80s and 90s GFs with bus loads of adults watching Sturt, Norwood, Eagles and North fans all barracking for Glenelg or Centrals to beat us, like their lives depended upon it. It was that hatred of us that was born from jealousy of the fact we'd competed in half the GFs the SANFL had ever held, and won a half of them.

That us Vs them, is encapsulated by the Crows.

Any small time petty little rivalries we had, with far lesser clubs like Norwood are now totally irrelevant and exceeded by so far it isn't funny.

Had Norwood moved into the AFL the story would be different, it would be a solid rivalry. However the Crows rivalry and grouping everyone that hated us, all together to go against us, has created a massive rivalry of that there can be no doubt.


In the AFL we clearly have a semi rivalry with Collingwood based on our colours. Brisbane we have a semi rivalry with based on early days success and GF. We have a little thing with Geelong, but honestly they've wacked us so easily for such a long time that's never hit many heights, despite the fact we've played more finals against them than anyone.

Yeah this post sums it up well. The Crows aren't just a rival, they're a truly mortal enemy in a deep way that doesn't fit any other AFL rivalries. Had we entered AFL 1991 and Norwood 1996-7 or so, that would have been healthier all round and continued what must have been the game's longest living rivalry of all.

Collingwood yes, well they get all the love they so richly deserve. Geelong really don't care about us except as a bunny, Brisbane who we bumped into at the top of the table around the turn of the century - we both have good playing groups again that have both underperformed in finals - a few finals clashes in the next year or so between us might re-ignite an on field rivalry, but apart from some grumbling disrespect over the old days of COLA is there any bad feeling, probably not. West Coast while they're the soul-less Crows of the West I just can't bring myself to particularly care about them, even after Shueygate, etc. A rivalry with North Melbourne, please, talk about lacking in ambition.
 
Generally to have a rivalry you have to not grab your ankles at your own home ground every time there's a big game

Yeah, beyond the obvious existential rivalries mentioned, onfield it’s a Glenelgesque litany of damp squibs at the worst possible time followed by official shoulder-shrugging, gaslighting and whitewashing that dents your pride and kills your interest.
 

Kingfish73

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"One team had to loose"
"We are a good team, not a great team"
"I can't put my finger on that preliminary loss"
"We are a small blue collar club"

No team can take us seriously as a rival with Kern and breakfast Koch driving the ship. Under choco we had many rivalries brewing...Until the exit door shuts on them, we are purely focused on an exceptional % win/loss ratio during the regular season
 
Oct 11, 2006
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Even in Showdowns I don't believe rivalries are really a thing anymore or not what we're used to. Its been stated several times from players of both Port and Crows side that the Showdowns are more for the fans than players

Aren't most AFL players friends with each other to maintain the good bloke status and their image?
 

Willsy10

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Probably Collingwood, Brisbane or Geelong but the Showdown is on another level and nothing else really compares. I think it's the biggest rivalry in the competition.
 
Sep 3, 2002
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Probably Collingwood, Brisbane or Geelong but the Showdown is on another level and nothing else really compares. I think it's the biggest rivalry in the competition.
Nah. I don't think from the Port side at least. Whilst we obviously like beating Adelaide, for Adelaide as a club and its fans it's an extension of their whole weird 'As long as it hurts Port more, it doesn't matter if it holds us back as a club' attitude (see SANFL, SMA, Prison bars helping show Victoria isn't the centre of the football universe etc. etc.).
 
Abba speaking sense in the tail end of this clip.



It’s funny isn’t it. At the crucial moment Port enjoyed another golden generation with premierships galore, and Norwood flailed about as fourth banana behind Glenelg and North.
 
what we have with collingwood and adelaide far transcends usual dinky little AFL rivalries. usually it's "garr yeah we played each other in 4 grand finals and used to bash each others supporters in the 80s grr can't stand em" (also basically what we have with brisbane). we blow that s**t out of the water, we made these clubs hate us so much they wish we didn't exist, just by how good we are (or were).
 
It's also funny how abba having played for the crows as well albeit briefly is still meh should've been Nord.

He wrote a book about the whys and wherefores of pursuing the AFL license. Regrets not just staying at Port.
 
Sep 3, 2002
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what we have with collingwood and adelaide far transcends usual dinky little AFL rivalries. usually it's "garr yeah we played each other in 4 grand finals and used to bash each others supporters in the 80s grr can't stand em" (also basically what we have with brisbane). we blow that sh*t out of the water, we made these clubs hate us so much they wish we didn't exist, just by how good we are (or were).
Lol What? I despise Eddie and the whole Collingwood Prison bars bullshit, but outside that they'd barely know or care we exist. Even that it's a periodic 'we own black & white', then back to normal (for them).
 
Apr 13, 2006
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Lol What? I despise Eddie and the whole Collingwood Prison bars bullshit, but outside that they'd barely know or care we exist. Even that it's a periodic 'we own black & white', then back to normal (for them).

Exactly. Everybody wants to be Collingwood's rival. Not really sure why. It's actually ******* stupid. It feeds into their overblown mystique and self importance. They've won 2 flags in 63 years. Given the leg ups they get, that is a shitful record and not worthy of any special cionsideration. Too many people fall for the narrative. They really aren't anything special. As I said earlier, it is a pointless rivalry for us. We are so far down the line for them it is just wasted energy.

Mcguire is the enemy, not Collingwood.
 
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