Well, TRB, lets disect Simons comments then....:
Getting massacred in AFL grand finals better than everyone else - One Grand Final, not Grand Final s . It is what it is and the might of Geelong that day would have been difficult for anyone to counter. ( Port won the Prelim by 70+ points the week before )
digging deep financial holes and needing help to crawl out of them better than everyone else - Many AFL clubs have had dire financial situations in the last decade, some still in that position despite much support from the AFL. If North Melboure, Melbourne or the Western Bulldogs got as much media attention as Port's situation did in the local press and forums it would be interesting. So Port are not the only football club, at all levels, with poor financial statements, of all people I thought you'd be aware of that? ;)
running down the team and the comp that was always the bedrock of the Port Adelaide Football Club's achievements, better than everyone else; disconnecting itself from the local community and closing up shop on junior development, and so starving its SANFL reserves (and ultimately league) team of talent, better than everyone else.
Talented kids growing up a drop punt from Alberton Oval will be playing their U/16 and U/18 football for whom? Not Port, that's for sure. - Well, call it how you see it, but the Port Adelaide Football Club wanted to maintain it's junior development stucture, it's development pathway for local kids.
As for disconnecting itself from the local community that is a comment from someone who is clearly uneducated. The Port Adelaide Community program is a cornerstone of our adminstration / off field operations.Indigenous programs, the Foodbank program to ensure people dont go hungry etc etc is all part of the clubs commitment to the community. As for local U16/U18 players, there is every possibility a kid from Port Districts could play at amatuer level for Port Districts while being guided through his development by an AFL club (directly, not indirectly) and become an SANFL reserves player with the Port Adelaide Football Club, an SANFL league player and if talented, committed and fortunate enough be drafted into the AFL or even remain living in the area he grew up in playing for the Port Adelaide Football Club in the AFL.
Suck on that indeed. 8)