Prediction The rebuild could be long.. years if not a decade

[Sewer de Lance]

Home and away we have been very good.
When the tempo lifts in finals we haven’t been able to go with sides that know how to go up a gear.
Why? Well that’s the big question but whatever you believe it is we haven’t even been able to make a GF.
If you can’t make a grand final it’s laughable to believe you’re good enough to win one.
I once believed we could then again I once believed in Santa Claus.

Has our H & A record really been that good?

If you dig down below the surface you could mount a strong argument that there’s been a large element of luck in our ladder finishes.

We have rarely managed to put teams away by the sword throughout Ken’s tenure. That’s not Port Adelaide, we use to make a habit of demoralising the opposition when we got a decent run on. Not under Hinkley though. How many times have we put on a 60 point advantage, only to allow the opposition to bring back the final margin to 5-6 goals?

It’s the little things that matter. Under this regime, the club has continually forgotten how to be ruthless and make a habit out of humiliating the opposition. It’s mentally & physically weak, & has gotten far too complacent with being satisfied with meaningless H & A records.

 

[240volt]

Has our H & A record really been that good?

If you dig down below the surface you could mount a strong argument that there’s been a large element of luck in our ladder finishes.

We have rarely managed to put teams away by the sword throughout Ken’s tenure. That’s not Port Adelaide, we use to make a habit of demoralising the opposition when we got a decent run on. Not under Hinkley though. How many times have we put on a 60 point advantage, only to allow the opposition to bring back the final margin to 5-6 goals?

It’s the little things that matter. Under this regime, the club has continually forgotten how to be ruthless and make a habit out of humiliating the opposition. It’s mentally & physically weak, & has gotten far too complacent with being satisfied with meaningless H & A records.

I was talking strictly from a win loss record but yes your correct the old grind them into the ground mentality hasn’t been around for donkeys years.

I believe because we have been putting the cue in the rack for years is part of the reason we struggle to run out games.
Honestly I have zero confidence in any of the Port Adelaide coaches.
Hopefully this will change from next year.

 

[GremioPower]

Brazilian club Cruzeiro (one of our Big-12) just changed the head coach and suddenly stopped losing. The squad that looked deplorable not long ago, now seems to be fine.

It took 2.5 months for the new coach to turn the tide. The team struggled a lot in the beginning of the season. However, since April 27th (9 matches), Cruzeiro has won 7 times and didn’t lose once.

It was too late for the Fox in the Copa Sul-Americana (equivalent to the UEFA Europa League). Still, the club is currently third in the Brazilian league and have qualified for the Round of 16 in the national cup.

 

[EskimoPAFC]

I split our list into 4 categories based on what players have shown over the last couple of seasons and also taking unto account contracts.

We don't have a bottom 4 list. We also don't have a top 4 list like Collingwood, Brisbane, Geelong and Gold Coast have.

We are stuck in the middle and if we aren't mentally tuned it, its the lower end of the middle. Like nearly all clubs, we have a depth issue when we get more than 5 or 6 injuries. I expected us to win 10-15 games this year, and it was based on how many injuries we had - ie having a reasonable run. not no injuries. We could still get to 10.

I'd expect about 26 to 28 of the 32 players in my first 3 columns to still be on our list for 2026 and 2027. That assumes we keep Butters and Bergman and they take up their 2 years + X year options deal they have been offered, and the 2 year component for now at least.

1 or 2 players in the right hand column might survive and be on the 2026 and 2027 but we have to b e ruthless at the end of this year. We make the decision on Boak not the other way round.

We have to get in some decent players but not trade away our decent picks for average players. We have to get some future stars in thru the draft, not just 100% of picks are good ordinary footballers.

Not having Lukosius for more than 1 game and 2 minutes has hurt our win - loss record and is going to hurt on draft night when the GC are going to get a top 5 or top 10 pick from us for that trade.

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Do we have the worst looking "FUTURE" on paper of any club?

Not a single top 10 pick and only two top 30 picks I can see?