Port Adelaide are now the number one team in South Australia and it’s the first time that it’s ever happened.
It is a big call, but I think it’s now reasonably clear and obvious.
I’m happy to debate the reasons why with you. Since the Adelaide Footy Club started in 1991, they have been the biggest thing that’s ever happened to this town.
They have dominated pretty much in every way. Fluctuations in form, we get that, but two premierships, Malcolm Blight, the superstar players that they’ve had.
The amount of good players that Adelaide have had are equal to the superstars of any team in the competition. You can talk about Ricciuto, Edwards, Goodwin, Modra, McLeod, they just roll off the tongue.
Pound for pound, I’m not sure Port Adelaide have had as many good players as what the Crows have had.
But it’s now come to a point where the baton has been passed, it has been handed over for a number of reasons. Most of you would understand why.
Memberships are pretty even now. We’re talking three or four thousand between memberships. When has that ever happened? When have Port Adelaide ever been hunting down Adelaide with memberships?
Port Adelaide’s game day experience is much more entertaining, the crowds are better.
The recruiting as well. It is much easier for Port Adelaide to recruit players from other teams than it is Adelaide. It is actually a destination for players from other clubs who want to go and play for Port Adelaide, as opposed to the struggles Adelaide have had.
When it’s a decision to come to South Australian and is it Crows or Port, that player has often gone to Port over the Crows.
Who’s guernsey are you buying if you’re a Crows fan? Eddie Betts’ was a guernsey that just sold itself, Taylor Walker’s guernsey sold itself, McLeod’s guernsey too. If you’re a young Crows fan coming through, who’s guernsey are you buying right now?
The off-field stuff continues to pile up at Adelaide. It’s almost death by a thousand cuts from everything recently. How many of these are hurting?
And the one thing that Adelaide had in its favour was its AFLW team. You could argue their highest profile player overall is Erin Phillips and she only plays for three months of the year.
Now Port Adelaide have their own AFLW team. That was the one area of advantage Adelaide had.
It’s clear as day that Port Adelaide, for the first time in its history, have become the number one team in Adelaide.