therisingblues wrote:Did they not also continually battle with the Ethelton Magpies before "they could never be torn apart"?
I understand those that want the Magpies out, generally want to do it out of revenge, but you will be punishing the wrong beast. You will not find a Magpies fan that wants them dead, and a good percentage of them do not even follow the Power. Those die yards that continued to follow their team, in spite of everything, are the ones that also stood by the sanfl.
On the other hand, there are plenty of Power fans that could not care less about the magpies now, many of them actually want them eliminated.
Kill the Magpies and you make a faction within the Power very happy, and punish loyal fans that stood by the sanfl, in one swift stroke.
Non-Port fans telling the masses how Port fans see things, interesting.
One your first point - without doubt the early years were a tumultuous time between the AFL and SANFL bodies, some of it our own doing, some of it the SANFL's doing. Internally the black and white of old who didn't adopt the extra colour on the guernsey were ostracized because of it, they were sent to Ethelton (an SANFL directive), they were not allowed to host events at Alberton (again, an SANFL directive) and felt the best people we had in SANFL land had been taken away. They had, from administrators to club volunteers the family was split like a nasty divorce and some chose Mum and some chose Dad.
As I've noted recently on here that divide has never been less than what it is now, whether that be from natural attrition, people walking away, time healing all wounds or a composite of all of that there's never been a more harmonious blend than there is now. There's far less "anti-AFL" than there was at the turn of the century. Perhaps just accepting that things have changed has occurred for some and it is now some 20 years on from that time.
What there now is, however ( and It's not a theory I subscribe to ) is a large number of people who want the Magpies gone from the SANFL and when they do leave they want us to leave with a middle finger in the air to the SANFL. I can sort of see why, much of the unrest 15-20 years ago was on the back of SANFL directives designed to lessen the AFL influence on the SANFL side and stop a Port Adelaide monopoly on the SANFL premiership. (Funny, we'd had one for nearly 30 years
). What that did was drive the Magpies into a slow death, the early 2000's were not a time to remember on or off field for the Magpies. Times were tough, dire in fact. Then again without the SANFL we wouldn't be anything, not just who we are, we just wouldn't be. To deny the SANFL as part of our rich history is absurd and only those who don't remember the great times would feel that way, IMO. The three in a rows, the 5 in 6 years, keeping North to 1 goal. Good times.
I think the vast majority of this groundswell is from people in their mid-20's who don't really remember the 1990 bid, the anger that came with it and followed us until 1997 nor do they remember the great divide created internally by our push into the AFL.
There will never be a kid from Rosewater play league football for the Magpies again, not a kid who is playing Grass Hoppers now, anyway, but that's what course we set ourselves on in 1990 and whilst it's a sad day in the eyes of many it's been compensated for with an AFL premiership and thousands standing arm in arm at Adelaide Oval with the promise you'll never tear us apart. Again.
If you want to go quickly, go alone.
If you want to go far, go together.
