Magpies and Power merger to be announced in a fortnight.

[Macca19]

Except that if political parties didn't think pursuing the 'neutrals with a bit of an interest' was worth doing they wouldn't spend millions on advertising campaigns. But then, why would you want to bother with attempting to attract new recruits to the cause when you can shore up the traditional toothless vote whose stagnant-to-dwindling 'support' has helped get the club in the dire mess it is today? You signed your own expulsion Nwanda!

If the level of support we are supposed to attract is a group of "supporters" whove never bought a Port membership, never gone to a Port game, never spent a cent towards Port Adelaide, never will spend a cent towards Port Adelaide and who only watch the odd Port game on TV...well theres probably about 700,000 of them in the state already. They're called Crows supporters.

You have already seemed to have made up your mind on what your level of support would be and it seems that nothing the club could have done would change that.

[smithy]

BIG PHIL - Your links to The Advertiser articles without comment is bordering on SPAM.

Are you on their payroll by any chance ?

[zipzap]

Except that if political parties didn't think pursuing the 'neutrals with a bit of an interest' was worth doing they wouldn't spend millions on advertising campaigns. But then, why would you want to bother with attempting to attract new recruits to the cause when you can shore up the traditional toothless vote whose stagnant-to-dwindling 'support' has helped get the club in the dire mess it is today? You signed your own expulsion Nwanda!

If the level of support we are supposed to attract is a group of "supporters" whove never bought a Port membership, never gone to a Port game, never spent a cent towards Port Adelaide, never will spend a cent towards Port Adelaide and who only watch the odd Port game on TV...well theres probably about 700,000 of them in the state already. They're called Crows supporters.

You have already seemed to have made up your mind on what your level of support would be and it seems that nothing the club could have done would change that.

Well, I should clarify, in the early days before the chest thumping creed & 1870 guff was rammed down our throats, I did go to a few Power games, was seriously considering a membership and even had a sticker on my car(!). I've had a bit to do with the Power in Schools program, had kids involved in competitions, I even made a point of taking my Crows-loving class from the Riverland for a tour of the facilities while on camp, in an attempt to broaden their horizons and after meeting with an enthusiastic Chocko I dare say a few were even swayed. Rightly or wrongly I appreciated them as a real club, as opposed to the corporate Crows but still distinct from the Magpies of whom I have an inbred distrust and dislike (& grudging respect). Rightly or wrongly I know lots of others who have felt the same way - would like to support the Power more but feel a moral obligation to oppose the Magpies in all their guises.

But the end of the day what confuses me most of all is how narrowing the supporter base short-term is going to increase the supporter base long-term. It makes NO sense.

[Big Phil]

BIG PHIL - Your links to The Advertiser articles without comment is bordering on SPAM.

Are you on their payroll by any chance ?

Thanks Smithy, I like SPAM and no, I'm not on the payroll, although I wish I was

[nickname]

Doesn't the fact that the Magpies will now be unable to select Adelaide-listed players in the SANFL mini-draft suggest the merger will involve on-field resource sharing, rather than just administration as we've been told?

[Booney]

Well, the feeling at Alberton last night was fantastic. For many years those of us who are members, supporters or mere followers of the Power and Magpies have known in our heart of hearts the truth about Port Adelaide. The most irritating piece of this whole debate is supporters of other clubs trying to tell Port Adelaide fans about our heritage and how they perceive it and not taking into account the passion surrounding the football club I love and taking into account how you would feel if it were your club in the same boat, making our position as unique as can be. Well, the decisions made in the 90's to split the two clubs ( and yes, the SANFL and the other 8 clubs felt it was in thier best interestes at the time ) has now been reversed ( once again the SANFL and the other 8 clubs believe it is in thier best interest ) and for the first time in our long and proud history we are able to say, One History, One Future, One Club.

I know I'm dreaming here, but surely this is a point in time that can see everyone move on from the endless round-and-round-and round debate that invariably goes nowhere other than in circles. Like I said, it wont happen but now that the decision has been made by ALL 8 CLUBS AND THE SANFL perhaps followers of the other 8 SANFL clubs may just realise it is best for football in SA.

If not, question why your clubs directors chose to vote for the proposal. Each one had a say.

[CUTTERMAN]

What an absolute sham the SANFL are now officially the AFL's toady's, all this has done is alienate all the non Port Adelaide Power supporters, it will be interestig to see if crowd numbers go down next year because of this, sure the true Port supporters will be ecstatic of the one Port Adelaide concept but will it really fix their financial problems ??? as far as i am concerned the status quo will remain, i have said in previous posts their is only so much money a supporter can spend so its either you go see the Power or now the Power Magpies, personally i think there is more to this there, maybe a behind the scenes AFL agenda, our friend Mr Demetriou and his cohorts are up to something which will probably rear its ugly head in the future, as for me i used to love going to Alberton to watch Centrals and the Magpies do battle however i will not be spending a cent to watch the Power Magpies and i would say there will be probably be thousands of supporters of all clubs who will probably do the same, is this the end of the SANFL as we know it ??????

Buy a season ticket for Centrals then and you can see every minor round game and all your money goes to Centrals.

[CUTTERMAN]

Your embarrassing yourself Macca, claiming Partland got it wrong and when quoting him you stuffed it yourself

Partlands article was absolutely spot on and captured the feeling of 90% of the SANFL fans, the best thing I read in the Addy for years.

150% agree

agree also, thought it was sounding out alot of background issues of the merger be they possibilities, fears or facts.
The AFL is heavily involved with this which gives reason for concern. With the AFL backing this and having a major influence with everything concerning Port Power do they now have a major say in the future of the Magpies, I think so and they can bring pressure to bear on the Power to kill off the Magpies if all is not profitable in 3-5 years?
Question- What happens to Adelaide's SANFL dividend to the SANFL clubs, do the Magpies get a slice of this still?
Question- What happens to Power's SANFL dividend to the SANFL clubs, do all the other clubs still get a slice?
If I was Adelaide I'd be demanding that all players on their list that are playing at the Magpies, be they home grown or not, are removed from Port Adelaide totally.
I'll wait and see how this pans out but I can't help but think that Port Adelaide has just pimped out their SANFL brothers once again to the AFL.

[whufc]

Your embarrassing yourself Macca, claiming Partland got it wrong and when quoting him you stuffed it yourself

Partlands article was absolutely spot on and captured the feeling of 90% of the SANFL fans, the best thing I read in the Addy for years.

150% agree

agree also, thought it was sounding out alot of background issues of the merger be they possibilities, fears or facts.
The AFL is heavily involved with this which gives reason for concern. With the AFL backing this and having a major influence with everything concerning Port Power do they now have a major say in the future of the Magpies, I think so and they can bring pressure to bear on the Power to kill off the Magpies if all is not profitable in 3-5 years?
Question- What happens to Adelaide's SANFL dividend to the SANFL clubs, do the Magpies get a slice of this still?
Question- What happens to Power's SANFL dividend to the SANFL clubs, do all the other clubs still get a slice?
If I was Adelaide I'd be demanding that [b]all players on their list that are playing at the Magpies, be they home grown or not, are removed from Port Adelaide totally.[/b]I'll wait and see how this pans out but I can't help but think that Port Adelaide has just pimped out their SANFL brothers once again to the AFL.

Very good point, i tend to agree with you i would be relocating all current crows players at the Magpies to other SANFL clubs.

BUT

in reverse now does all SANFL players at Port Power ala J.Westoff get assigned to the Magpies when not playing for the Power, after all they are ONE club.

[Aerie]

The merger makes sense on many levels and I think the outcome is a good one. The Power and Magpies now won't be competing for sponsorship or members who may only be able to afford or commit time to one or the other. The Power get a hotel to turn into a profitable asset and the Magpies temporarily get to minimise administrative costs and turn their attention to spending money on the field.

The issue is still essentially the same though. Do the Power have enough support to keep on surviving in the big league and if they fall will it bring down the Magpies as well? Still a lot of work to do, but I am pleased they are the one club.

[nickname]

Very good point, i tend to agree with you i would be relocating all current crows players at the Magpies to other SANFL clubs.

Why? Aren't the Power and Magpies only sharing admin resources?

[Psyber]

....If I was Adelaide I'd be demanding that all players on their list that are playing at the Magpies, be they home grown or not, are removed from Port Adelaide totally... .

That is a valid consideration I have not seen raised before.
The Crows would hardly want their recruits being overseen by a rival AFL club.

[Ronnie]

Time for Port to deliver on their promises.
No more looking for external excuses, just deliver on what you say you can.

[Voice]

What an absolute sham the SANFL are now officially the AFL's toady's, all this has done is alienate all the non Port Adelaide Power supporters, it will be interestig to see if crowd numbers go down next year because of this, sure the true Port supporters will be ecstatic of the one Port Adelaide concept but will it really fix their financial problems ??? as far as i am concerned the status quo will remain, i have said in previous posts their is only so much money a supporter can spend so its either you go see the Power or now the Power Magpies, personally i think there is more to this there, maybe a behind the scenes AFL agenda, our friend Mr Demetriou and his cohorts are up to something which will probably rear its ugly head in the future, as for me i used to love going to Alberton to watch Centrals and the Magpies do battle however i will not be spending a cent to watch the Power Magpies and i would say there will be probably be thousands of supporters of all clubs who will probably do the same, is this the end of the SANFL as we know it ??????

Buy a season ticket for Centrals then and you can see every minor round game and all your money goes to Centrals.

But does a season ticket get us into a game that is a curtain raiser? Sorry if this has been already answered but I just doubt very much whether it will.

[Hondo]

But the end of the day what confuses me most of all is how narrowing the supporter base short-term is going to increase the supporter base long-term. It makes NO sense.

Perhaps the "narrowing" you perceive from losing casual neutrals who hate PAM and don’t like the Crows is < the PAM people who have dropped off because of the PAM/PAP split.

The business plan might be based on only needing X number of extra people at their games (7000?) to turn things around and so what is the easiest fruit to pick to get those 7000 in the short term? Traditional Port people or neutrals like you?

Longer term there is no reason they can’t appeal to the next generation the same way as the Crows do given those kids won’t have the historical links to the SANFL/hate Port days. They are sponges and parental influence only goes so far! I have Crows mares whose kids support the Power.

Some of the posts I read like yours imply that they need to find tens of thousands of new people to go to games. I get the impression the real number is not that high. I have plucked 7000 out of my backside as the number they need to get back to 30,000 attendance per game. This plus the extra revenue from the POW might be more than enough.

I think re-unification of the clubs and the supporter base was their bigger priority than chasing down neutrals. At least now they can in time (hopefully) work the existing pool of Port people. Remember too that every AFL club is out there chasing down any neutral footy fans. It's not as though ditching the PAM heritage automatically brings in new supporters when there's the Crows, Geelong, etc, etc also after those new fans.

[once_were_warriors]

What an absolute sham the SANFL are now officially the AFL's toady's, all this has done is alienate all the non Port Adelaide Power supporters, it will be interestig to see if crowd numbers go down next year because of this, sure the true Port supporters will be ecstatic of the one Port Adelaide concept but will it really fix their financial problems ??? as far as i am concerned the status quo will remain, i have said in previous posts their is only so much money a supporter can spend so its either you go see the Power or now the Power Magpies, personally i think there is more to this there, maybe a behind the scenes AFL agenda, our friend Mr Demetriou and his cohorts are up to something which will probably rear its ugly head in the future, as for me i used to love going to Alberton to watch Centrals and the Magpies do battle however i will not be spending a cent to watch the Power Magpies and i would say there will be probably be thousands of supporters of all clubs who will probably do the same, is this the end of the SANFL as we know it ??????

Buy a season ticket for Centrals then and you can see every minor round game and all your money goes to Centrals.

But does a season ticket get us into a game that is a curtain raiser? Sorry if this has been already answered but I just doubt very much whether it will.

Is it confirmed that there are going to be curtain raises , or is this a Port wish?

I don't want to be paying AFL rates to go to the footy , plus car park , plus having to be seated etc etc.

[sjt]

The talk of "re-uniting" the club and supporters, reducing confusion, somehow growing attendances is all waffle. Nobody has stated how the change will achieve any of those minimal priorities.
There's one priority - a financially stronger Port Power. This is clearly the obvious want of the Power, the SANFL (and all SANFL clubs), and most importantly the AFL. The only way they can achieve this is a better stadium deal, better for the Power, but not necessarilly the SANFL or increase revenue potentially by controlling the POW. Power want the POW, that's what this is about. They aren't concerned about the Magpies, the AFL definitely aren't but the SANFL I think would like to see them survive.

[JK]

They aren't concerned about the Magpies, the AFL definitely aren't but the SANFL I think would like to see them survive.

Or to try to avoid being seen by some as responsible for their demise.

[staritski]

I trust this will be the last time that they get bailed out. Any more slip ups and its bye bye as far as i am concerned.

[ElizabethVCRThief]

But the end of the day what confuses me most of all is how narrowing the supporter base short-term is going to increase the supporter base long-term. It makes NO sense.

Perhaps the "narrowing" you perceive from losing casual neutrals who hate PAM and don’t like the Crows is < the PAM people who have dropped off because of the PAM/PAP split.

The business plan might be based on only needing X number of extra people at their games (7000?) to turn things around and so what is the easiest fruit to pick to get those 7000 in the short term? Traditional Port people or neutrals like you?

Longer term there is no reason they can’t appeal to the next generation the same way as the Crows do given those kids won’t have the historical links to the SANFL/hate Port days. They are sponges and parental influence only goes so far! I have Crows mares whose kids support the Power.

Some of the posts I read like yours imply that they need to find tens of thousands of new people to go to games. I get the impression the real number is not that high. I have plucked 7000 out of my backside as the number they need to get back to 30,000 attendance per game. This plus the extra revenue from the POW might be more than enough.

I think re-unification of the clubs and the supporter base was their bigger priority than chasing down neutrals. At least now they can in time (hopefully) work the existing pool of Port people. Remember too that every AFL club is out there chasing down any neutral footy fans. It's not as though ditching the PAM heritage automatically brings in new supporters when there's the Crows, Geelong, etc, etc also after those new fans.

So the future of One Port looks pretty certain then