Stuart Graham - Head of High Performance

[The Terrible Thinker]

Do you think our fitness is good enough? Are we top half in the league for fitness and conditioning? Not a high bar, are we average or better? I don't think we are.

I fully agree that our issues are predominantly mental, but fitness and conditioning certainly isn't a strength, and really hasn't been for a decade. Even when we had Burgess he didn't seem to have his method really dialled in at that point.

2014 was a perfect year in terms of fitness as we overrun most sides in the 2nd halve. Then Burgo cooked the side in 2015 and the players looked flat with plenty of soft tissue injuries.

 

[The Hobo]

I'd take Chad over our current fitness setup. Our last quarters are an absolute disgrace and half the side is out with hammies.

Exactly - and it's not just the last quarters. I saw someone on Twitter that had screenshotted a bunch of score worms for our games, and it was so clear that we fall away at half time in many games this season (even ones we won). Absolutely no fitness to play through into the second half and it's just costing us over and over again.

 

[Relativity]

Fatigue will turn you into a coward

A coward will make you feel fatigued.

 

[Doctor Feel]

Has always annoyed me that our players always have the shoulders, arms and quads of ICT office workers.

What a specimen.

also Marshall looks like the day he was drafted.

 

[Doctor Feel]

2014: Dubai
2025: A few trundles around the equipment shed and some sliced oranges

 

[RossFC]

Has always annoyed me that our players always have the shoulders, arms and quads of ICT office workers.

What a specimen.

also Marshall looks like the day he was drafted.
View attachment 2326125

Hitting the gym would take time away from pissblasting.

 

[Willsy10]

2014 we were definitely fit and had a great group of runners in our team. But a lot of that was mental too, the complete opposite of what is happening now.

The fitness levels of each club in the afl would be similar but the mental strength of a Collingwood versus us chalk and cheese.

 

[Rigs]

2014 we were definitely fit and had a great group of runners in our team. But a lot of that was mental too, the complete opposite of what is happening now.

The fitness levels of each club in the afl would be similar but the mental strength of a Collingwood versus us chalk and cheese.

When you’ve had a decent pre season with a high performance coach, then you have trust in your mind and body will be able to run all day long.

There’s no better feeling mentally and physically than being the fittest you’ve been.

 

[Ford Fairlane]

Has always annoyed me that our players always have the shoulders, arms and quads of ICT office workers.

What a specimen.

also Marshall looks like the day he was drafted.
View attachment 2326125

Am I missing a joke? That's Willem Drew.

 

[davesnothere]

Am I missing a joke? That's Willem Drew.

William Drew is looking like the day Marshall started.

 

[Doctor Feel]

Am I missing a joke? That's Willem Drew.

Poorly worded, talking about specimen I meant drew, the marshall comment as an addendum.

 

[Ford Fairlane]

Poorly worded, talking about specimen I meant drew, the marshall comment as an addendum.

Whew, I thought it must have been me.

 

[Long live PAFC]

Mmm he is definitely in the firing line due to these second half fade-outs of epic proportions but let’s not forget he has been in charge since October 2021. 2022, 2023 and 2024 we never had this issue of being completely overrun in second halves.

We may have changed something in the pre season that has completely ****ed our fitness levels but their appears to be a fair bit of mental issues going on right now and a malaise with the coaching regime that may be making this look worse for Stuart Graham.

This is really relevant. There is some runs on the board for this guy and, generally, we’ve had a really good injury run. We’ve made finals multiple times and have finished well in past years.

So what’s changed this year? The ‘succession plan’ for one. But also a shorter preseason. Last year we finished with numerous injuries and had a preseason with lots of injuries (knees, ankles, backs, not soft tissue). Our leaders and senior players were all delayed or took hits during the preseason - Butters, Rozee, JHF, Drew, SPP, Soldo, BZT, Ratugolea, team didn’t really have a good, unified pre season.

I'm going to call it although I'm a bit reticent to do so.

It's not the fitness coach. The players have just lost the will to play unless it is easy. They've always had this but with Hinkley not giving a toss, they also don't give a toss so they don't run out games.

I think we should still get rid of him if we can though.

The succession plan has been a disaster. The players aren’t working or running hard enough. Much of this is effort. Much of it is desire. I think the leaders - Rozee, Butters - are putting in. Bergs is working hard, wines, Aliir and Jones have been giving plenty. Problem is the desire for victory and the high standards across the entire club aren’t there. It’s gotten worse as the chance of finals has disappeared.

I do agree to point and it would be a mental battle for them in this current circus of a situation.

I do think there’s an element that we are not conditioned appropriately still. Just look at the soft tissue injuries we currently have.

For sure. The team isn’t mentally tough. There isn’t a demand of high standards. They aren’t working for one another.

There is also a lack of confidence in the body and that translates to effort and mental toughness.


There are reasons for port being down this year. There is evidence that Stuart has been good previously. But I do think it’s time for a new approach and new talent in the performance department.

 

[all seeing eye]

Fitness hasnt been this much of an issue under this guy in previous years and they would have a fairly detailed and science based metrics for tracking the fitness levels of players , so something has changed.
Couple of thoughts,
1. Injuries and preseason operations were high this year, hard to catch up,
2. The new gamestyle is extremely taxing and cant be sustained over 4 qtrs, which means adjusting with periods of recovery tempo or alternatively requiring a new level of fitness to be reached , this may end up like burgess regime in which the players were ultimately cooked.
3. Its mental, players are stale, checking out, giving up, complacent etc
4. Cumulative effect of late preseason training starts due to making finals over years, slow degrade in fitness.

probably all the above

 

[malcheski]

The fade outs are 100% mental & game plan related.

Just watch our attempt at this galaxy-brain handball play on style - we are drilled to run forward in waves with overlap handball, but we over-posses the pill and inherently turn it over forcing our players who were running forward of the ball to sprint back in transition. This only lasts so long until our constant turnovers, and poor conversion in front of goal kill any semblance of confidence in the game-plan and we pack it in.

The players can run out 4 quarters - when they want to. Just have to look at the Showdown as proof. We dominated the last 15 minutes of that game because they wanted to try but they're being set up to fail with a shittruck coach and game-plan.

 

[PatientMental]

Tim Parham is getting off pretty lightly here

Was at crows from end of 2020 to end of 2024

Now here and we've hit a ****ing brick wall and they've turned into a competitive outfit.

'Head of athlete health and performance'

Athlete health: shit
Athlete performance: shit

 

[1954]

We've always been undersized.

Agreed Ford, it has been a problem for years now!

 

[Long live PAFC]

Fitness hasnt been this much of an issue under this guy in previous years and they would have a fairly detailed and science based metrics for tracking the fitness levels of players , so something has changed.
Couple of thoughts,
1. Injuries and preseason operations were high this year, hard to catch up,
2. The new gamestyle is extremely taxing and cant be sustained over 4 qtrs, which means adjusting with periods of recovery tempo or alternatively requiring a new level of fitness to be reached , this may end up like burgess regime in which the players were ultimately cooked.
3. Its mental, players are stale, checking out, giving up, complacent etc
4. Cumulative effect of late preseason training starts due to making finals over years, slow degrade in fitness.

probably all the above

Yea spot on.

The other element is the young guys on the list. Guys like Moraes, Whitlock, Berry, Charleson, Anastasopoulos, Evans, Walsh, Cochrane, Lai, Lorenz, Moss, Barrett - 12 on the list that have barely seen a preseason.

We’ve had about 3-4 players front every game - that level of disruption makes it very hard to play consistently. And the leaders/senior guys have also been in and out and inconsistent. Crazily our most consistent club player has probably been Atkins - clear best at SANFL and hasn’t missed a game (that I can think of).

In terms of the gameplan, I agree we need to be able to play tempo footy but when learning it, we probably can’t introduce too many elements all at once. Probably best to play the main game style, get it down, then add in the extra bits. Partly with the disruption in the squad.

 

[all seeing eye]

Yea spot on.

The other element is the young guys on the list. Guys like Moraes, Whitlock, Berry, Charleson, Anastasopoulos, Evans, Walsh, Cochrane, Lai, Lorenz, Moss, Barrett - 12 on the list that have barely seen a preseason.

We’ve had about 3-4 players front every game - that level of disruption makes it very hard to play consistently. And the leaders/senior guys have also been in and out and inconsistent. Crazily our most consistent club player has probably been Atkins - clear best at SANFL and hasn’t missed a game (that I can think of).

In terms of the gameplan, I agree we need to be able to play tempo footy but when learning it, we probably can’t introduce too many elements all at once. Probably best to play the main game style, get it down, then add in the extra bits. Partly with the disruption in the squad.

Good point with the number of kids , probably takes 2 to 3 preseasons to get them to the required level.
Probably timely for a detailed review, just one of many areas that need assessments.

 

[Peninsula Boy]

I talked about it at the start of the year in a preseason post.

Basically Hinkley has one year left on his horrible contract and he has no answers beyond a preliminary final.

No one and I mean no one with half a brain would think that he has the coaching nous to get even the 2001 Brisbane Lions over the line.

It meant that this year there was little to no hope.

That's where we are.

The head idiots tried to mitigate it as much as they could with 'the decision' but in the end, it is their arrogance, poor decision making and boys club mentality over the years that has gotten us to this type of epic failure.

You get what you deserve.

All of their legacies are tarnished and Port Adelaide is not so much a laughing stock but at the moment, more of an ugly concern for the AFL.

 

[Windy Cindy]

I talked about it at the start of the year in a preseason post.

Basically Hinkley has one year left on his horrible contract and he has no answers beyond a preliminary final.

No one and I mean no one with half a brain would think that he has the coaching nous to get even the 2001 Brisbane Lions over the line.

It meant that this year there was little to no hope.

That's where we are.

The head idiots tried to mitigate it as much as they could with 'the decision' but in the end, it is their arrogance, poor decision making and boys club mentality over the years that has gotten us to this type of epic failure.

You get what you deserve.

All of their legacies are tarnished and Port Adelaide is not so much a laughing stock but at the moment, more of an ugly concern for the AFL.

definitely a laughing stock.. I'm sick of the ridicule from crows supporters and what's worse is I cant disagree.

 

[Andre]

We've always been undersized.

From the start of being in the AFL. Skinny kids the first two years, Choco liked runners, the Falloon years, Burgo - run, but lock the gym door, now the 'promote from within' era.

Every pre-season I've hoped we don't look like boys vs. men when the games come around and the odd genetically gifted player aside, every pre-season I'm disappointed.

 

[Ford Fairlane]

From the start of being in the AFL. Skinny kids the first two years, Choco liked runners, the Falloon years, Burgo - run, but lock the gym door, now the 'promote from within' era.

Every pre-season I've hoped we don't look like boys vs. men when the games come around and the odd genetically gifted player aside, every pre-season I'm disappointed.

Consistency And after Burgess came back from the UK, he suddenly realised Aussie football players need size. Beneficiaries - Melbourne and Adelaide

Mind you, there are a lot of EPL players who could flog our players in the gym.

 

[Duck Farmer]

Didn't Cam Falloon turn into a billionaire or something once he left Port?

 

[Ford Fairlane]

Didn't Cam Falloon turn into a billionaire or something once he left Port?

He probably invented that calf vibrator that Global Direct flogs off as high-tech fitess training