Better Late Than Never (Port 89 - 51 Suns)


It has been a busy time, but that is not an excuse. This week was the first time I didn't published on the blog. It has hurt me more than it should. This is how motivated I am with our team at the moment. I would love to understand what is going on, but people better than me seem also clueless. What can I do? Here, my comments on the game against GC, the season so far, and some ideas on the Magpies. The recap on the Hawks will come next, eventually.

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Port won. After 2.5 quarters of struggle, our team finally imposed itself over the Suns and got a comfortable victory. It was our best win by percentage this season. It was also our 10th consecutive victory over the Suns, the first time we managed such a streak since joining the AFL. No one got injured or suspended. Ok. That’s the full recap. Now, onto Tasmania and the Hawks.

Living Up to the Standards
Round 9 marks the end of the first part of the season for me. We have finished it with a 5-4 record; one fewer win than my prediction before the start of the season. With all our injuries, I am giving it a pass. The second part goes from Round 10 to Round 19. My earlier prediction was 5-4. Let’s see how we go.

I still have no faith Hinkley is able to take us to the next level, but he is not a bad coach. Whenever I criticize him, it is because I believe he is not fitting for our needs at the moment. There seems to be a difference between what I expect from Port and what those leading the club do. That’s certainly a huge source of disappointment for me.

I follow American football, and I barrack for the New York Football Giants. They are really bad at the moment, but that is not what I want to talk about. This difference of standards between the club leader and me, it reminds me of an anecdote on two of the Giants’ greats, which I believe it goes like this.

In the 80’s, the team was coached by Bill Parcells. The quarterback was Phil Simms. There was a game that the Giants won, and Parcels asked Phil how he had played. “I did great, coach!,” Simms answered. Bill, seriously, said then: “Well, that’s disappointing. I expect more from you.” They went to win two SuperBowl for the Giants together.

Koch, Board, Keith, and Hinkley: “that’s disappointing. I expect more from you.” That’s all.


Fixing the Magpies
Would the club benefit from having its SANFL zones back? Having our seconds playing in the VFL would allow us restoring the Magpies in the SANFL — competing on equal footing against the other clubs, forming players in our own Academy, supporting our local boys (and eventually also the girls).
I have no idea whether we already tried to take this route or, at least, the idea has been raised and discussed before. I think that it should have been our position from the get-go, when there was the merger. Did we try having our reserves in the VFL and preserve the Magpies as it was?

It is not an easy route. I know. I am ASSUMING that we would be COMPETENT enough to pull this off (a huge "if"). The question is whether the effort would be worthy. Would the club as a whole gain from it? Would this help reinforcing the club's link to its past? Would this help bringing the club closer to its community? Would this help reasserting the club's identity in our AFL side? Would this help PAFC? That is the question.

If the answer is "yes," then we may start worrying about the practical challenges it brings. For instance, if VFL cannot be convinced of this, the whole point is moot. If VFL hops on board, then, we would need to convince the SANFL. However, at this stage, if the league doesn't accept it, that would be on them. There is nothing we can do about it, but showing everyone that it is on them – and we totally should do it.

If both leagues accept our request, at least, we wouldn't start totally from scratch. We have some of the Academy left. It is not related to SANFL footy anymore, but it is there. We have some SANFL-only players in our roster. We have a SANFL-only coach. Still, we would need to hire almost an entire new squad and set a new department focused on SANFL footy. Ultimately, the idea may not be feasible.

Still, why shouldn't we be, at least, discussing it?



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