Power looks at home and north to shore up its base
PORT Adelaide has today flatly denied it will move to Tasmania, a suggestion given life on radio station 5AA in Adelaide. Rather, the Power's chief executive Mark Haysman said the club will be looking to solidify its South Australian roots and strengthen its ties to Indigenous Australia in the Northern Territory.
The bizarre claim on radio said that the soon-to-commence Senate Inquiry into the establishment of an AFL team for Tasmania will consider three options, one of which is the relocation of the Power from Adelaide to the Apple Isle.
But the AFL and Port Adelaide today have flatly rejected the report.
"(Tasmania) is not really worth discussing further in that it is not something we've considered at all," Haysman said. "We'd look potentially to expand our footprint up to the Northern Territory -- that's a natural fit for us -- through the central corridor through our Indigenous links."
Those links are strong and can be traced to the club's birth as an AFL entity in 1996 (Port's first AFL season was in 1997). Indigenous Team of the Century half-back Gavin Wanganeen was appointed its inaugural captain, a position he held until the end of the 2001 season.
Since its inception, the Power has had 15 Indigenous players on its list. Some of those running around today include the Motlop cousins -- Daniel and Marlon -- and the Burgoyne brothers -- Peter and Shaun. The club's 2004 premiership came on the back of a best-on-ground performance by Norm Smith medallist Byron Pickett, and a second-half surge from Wanganeen and the Burgoynes.
The club is also looking at playing at least one home game per season in Darwin, while also keeping its fixture as the away team when playing the Western Bulldogs in the NT capital each year.
The Power's Indigenous links extends also beyond the playing arena. The club, with backing from the SA State government, the SANFL and the SA Aboriginal Sports Training Academy, has instituted the Aboriginal Power Cup, a school-based footy carnival which has as its aim to 'encourage healthy lifestyles and build future community leaders' out of Nunga boys and girls.
DARREN MONCRIEFF
Darren@AboriginalFootball.com.au
Monday, March 2, 2009
Last Modified on 02/03/2009 23:40