2019 in a Nutshell
Another season away from finals action for the Power meant another long offseason. With plenty of good wins in 2019 Port might have been able to sneak themselves into finals action had they not given up some shockers. Bad losses to Fremantle, the Western Bulldogs, North Melbourne and Adelaide cost them dearly. Port’s new crop of draftees were brilliant and easily the standout of their season, with Rozee, Duursma and Butters all having the potential to be stars.
2020 Playing List
| 1 Tom Jonas (c) | 16 Ollie Wines (vc) | 31 Trent Burgoyne |
| 2 Sam Powell-Pepper | 17 Tom Clurey | 32 Sam Mayes |
| 3 Ryan Burton | 18 Zak Butters | 33 Darcy Byrne-Jones |
| 4 Todd Marshall | 19 Mitch Georgiades | 34 Dylan Williams |
| 5 Dan Houston | 20 Connor Rozee | 36 Boyd Woodcock |
| 6 Steven Motlop | 21 Xavier Duursma | 37 Jake Patmore |
| 7 Brad Ebert | 22 Charlie Dixon | 38 Peter Ladhams |
| 8 Hamish Hartlett (vc) | 23 Jack Watts | 39 Justin Westhoff |
| 9 Robbie Gray | 24 Kane Farrell | 40 Jarrod Lienert |
| 10 Travis Boak | 25 Sam Hayes | 41 Riley Grundy |
| 11 Tom Rockliff | 26 Riley Bonner | 44 Jackson Mead |
| 12 Trent McKenzie | 27 Joel Garner | 45 Martin Frederick |
| 13 Wylie Buzza | 28 Willem Drew | 47 Tobin Cox |
| 14 Miles Bergman | 29 Scott Lycett | 48 Jake Pasini |
| 15 Karl Amon | 30 Joe Atley | 50 Cameron Sutcliffe |
| INS: | Wylie Buzza (Geelong), Miles Bergman (Sandringham Dragons), Mitch Georgiades (Subiaco), Dylan Williams (Oakleigh Chargers), Jackson Mead (Woodville-West Torrens), Trent Burgoyne (Woodville-West Torrens), Trent Burguyne (Woodville-West Torrens). |
| OUTS: | Jack Trengove, Cam Hewett, Kai Pudney, Matthew Broadbent, Aidyn Johnson, Billy Frampton, Dougal Howard, Paddy Ryder, Sam Gray. |
2020 Fixture
| 1 | Gold Coast | Metricon (A) | 21 Mar 19:25 |
| 2 | Adelaide | AO (H) | 28 Mar 19:40 |
| 3 | North Melbourne | MS (A) | 04 Apr 19:25 |
| 4 | West Coast | AO (H) | 10 Apr 19:50 |
| 5 | Collingwood | MCG (A) | 18 Apr 13:10 |
| 6 | Bulldogs | AO (H) | 25 Apr 19:50 |
| 7 | Carlton | AO (H) | 02 May 16:35 |
| 8 | Melbourne | MCG (A) | 10 May 15:20 |
| 9 | Brisbane | AO (H) | 16 May 19:40 |
| 10 | Hawthorn | UTAS (A) | 23 May 13:45 |
| 11 | BYE | ||
| 12 | St Kilda | MS (A) | 07 Jun 17:40 |
| 13 | Adelaide | AO (A) | 14 Jun 15:50 |
| 14 | Geelong | AO (H) | 20 Jun 19:40 |
| 15 | Fremantle | AO (H) | 28 Jun 16:40 |
| 16 | Richmond | MS (A) | 04 Jul 16:35 |
| 17 | Gold Coast | AO (H) | 12 Jul 13:10 |
| 18 | Sydney | SCG (A) | 18 Jul 16:35 |
| 19 | Hawthorn | AO (H) | 24 Jul 19:20 |
| 20 | West Coast | OS (A) | 01 Aug 20:10 |
| 21 | Essendon | AO (H) | 09 Aug 16:40 |
| 22 | Bulldogs | Mars (A) | 15 Aug 13:45 |
| 23 | GWS | AO (H) | TBC |
The club kicks off their 150th season celebrations with their Round Two Home Opener against Adelaide. With the team set to wear their traditional prison bar jersey, the only possible way to have Power fans any more excited about a clash with their cross town rivals.
With their fixture assessed by Champion Data as the fifth easiest in the competition, there is little in it worthy of complaint from those down at Alberton. Gold Coast, Adelaide and North Melbourne presents a a potential confidence boosting start to the season. Conversely, the Bombers, Bulldogs and Giants is a tricky pathway to navigate to end the season if they are in a tight finals race.
Five Fearless Predictions
Port and Hinkley will part ways.
We love Ken Hinkley and the passion he brings to the game but unfortunately this is a business judged on wins and losses and he has too few of the former and too many of the latter in recent times. The club is in a win now period yet have only played finals three times in Hinley’s seven years in charge. Anything less than a finals berth won’t be enough for Hinkley to see the final year of his contract.
Second Year Blues for Power Young Guns.
The Power unearthed a number of young guns last year in Xavier Duursma, Connor Rozee and Zak Butters. While we are expecting all three to have long careers we believe they will all fall foul of the second year blues in 2020. Working out how to overcome the greater attention they are sure to attract this year will be benefit them in the long term but will be too much for them this year.
A farewell to Alberton for Wines.
While Ollie Wines has been a fine servant of the club since arriving at Alberton in 2013, we are expecting him to be wearing different colours in 2021. At just 25-years of age he will still have strong trade value which might be too much for a club, we expect to be rebuilding, to refuse. With it also possibly the best thing for Wines too, it could be the ultimate win-win for both parties.
Renewed calls for the Prison Bar Jumper.
Port will get the opportunity to wear their traditional prison bar jumper when they face the Crows this year which is sure to rekindle calls for it to be available on a more regular basis. Letting Collingwood have control of the situation, the AFL has been ridiculously weak in their handling of the matter. We expect nothing less from them this year but it wont stop the Port faithful demanding their right to wear it more regularly.
Make or Break for Charlie Dixon.
Ever since he began plying his trade on the Gold Coast as part of the Suns inaugural squad, we have loved the way Charlie Dixon has gone about his business. Coming off a nine game season in 2019, the big tall will be 30-years-old and out of contract at seasons end. If he cannot improve the Power’s dysfunction inside forward fifty this year, they were first for entries but 17th for effectiveness, it may well be his last crack at the big time.
Where will they finish?
The Power are one of the most frustrating teams in the competition with the massive disparity between their best and worst footy. While there is a universe in which we could see it all clicking for them, we are predicting another disappointing season from them. Port to finish between 11th and 14th.
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