Hows things going off field for the Power? Kochie and Thomas are apparently going great guns???
Can see the excuses starting now....SMA are ripping us off just like the SANFL with Adelaide Oval....of course despite Port agreeing and signing the contract.
http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/ian-collins-predicted-port-adelaide-would-go-broke-in-three-years-under-adelaide-oval-deal-20140710-zt3a3.html
I'll assume for one moment you read the article.
Where it notes pressure was applied to Port's board to remove Thomas as his continual questioning and challenging of the stadium deal began to get under the skin of SMA / SANFL officials is even more reason to keep the man in charge. So to answer your question, in some regards, yes, Port Adelaide is doing very well off field.
It has also emerged that Port Adelaide chief executive Keith Thomas was under pressure through 2013 to retain his job so fierce was the animosity from the SANFL - which then still held the licences of both the Power and the Crows - as Thomas continually challenged aspects of the Adelaide Oval contract.
The Power board was being pressured by the some key SANFL players to remove Thomas despite his strong relationship with the AFL, successful football appointments............
So for the first time in a while Port have a man in charge who stands up for his club.
Then it seems both clubs, although unhappy with the deal, reluctantly signed into the agreement on the eve of the AFL season. Now I know the knockers out there, like Dutchy, will say why, why sign into something you are not happy with?
Can you imagine those same knockers if the two clubs had not signed the agreement and Adelaide Oval was either laying unused or the clubs were forced to play at Footy Park this year without any agreement in place.
Signed at the 11th hour in March 2014, both clubs only agreed to terms on the condition of a mid-season review of the agreement, which will start on July 18. Adelaide and Port Adelaide remain disenchanted at the financial model and concerned the agreement was reached in haste with the AFL determined to complete the deal on the eve of the season.
Seems as though Andy D would have made life very difficult for both clubs if his biggest achievement in his time in charge went unfulfilled as he wandered off out of the job.
So let's all take a deep breathe, wait for the review which will clearly have the AFL pushing for a better deal along with the clubs and then see where we go from there.
So Dutchy, it seems Port and more so Thomas and Koch did what they could to improve the deal but succumbed to the pressure of the agreement deadline and signed on with the premise of a review midyear to establish what future direction the deal takes.
Thomas is doing an excellent job and so too is Koch.
Reading the article and letting a dislike of Port cloud judgement in every port related post are two separate things