Dear members and supporters,

First of all, can I thank you all for your support and strength in the weeks following the tragic passing of our much-loved friend and player John McCarthy.

It is clear to the world how much of an impact ‘J-Mac’ made upon the entire Port Adelaide community during his time at Alberton.

To those of us attending the funeral service in Sorrento, we were once again reminded of what a magnificent club Port Adelaide is, and it made us feel enormously proud to see such a huge number of the Port Adelaide family turn out at Alberton to pay their respects to John. His wonderful family were simply amazed and overwhelmed by the love we have shown their son.

The past weeks have been really difficult for all of us, but together we have demonstrated the strength, unity and sense of community that underpins the Port Adelaide Football Club. Our challenge is to use these very difficult times to help us grow even stronger, as a playing group and as a club overall. I am confident we can achieve this.

To this end, as our boys quietly head off to spend important time with their families to reflect and recover, your club management and staff are getting back to business.

The coach

It’s no secret that our senior coach selection process has been held up by the events of the past couple of weeks.

Whilst a lot of media speculation has centred on Brett Ratten and Rodney Eade as the most obvious experienced candidates, the selection panel has been determined to remain focussed on executing the process as professionally as possible.

We have been clear from the outset that we have an open mind on the type of coaching solution we are prepared to accept. We have consistently stated that we need to add further experience into the coaching structure, and that remains one of many important considerations.

We are currently still in stage 2 of our pre-determined 3-phase process, which means we are still interviewing candidates.

I can confirm that Brett Ratten did present to the panel, and has subsequently withdrawn from the race citing the fact that he believes a senior assistant role somewhere may be more appropriate for him in the immediate aftermath of his Carlton experience. We respect his decision.

In regards to the rest of the field, despite the fact that finals participation, dealing with John’s tragedy and celebrating his life, along with other issues have presented a few logistical challenges, we are very comfortable with our options and progress to date.

Having accepted that the pre-grand final timeline was not going to be possible following recent events, we are now simply committed to moving through these final stages as efficiently and diligently as we can.

I must say it’s been interesting watching betting odds fluctuate wildly as candidates seemingly come and go, ranging from red hot favourite to long-shots. Clearly not even the bookies know everything.

Far from being ‘the club no-one wants to coach’ as reported in one interstate paper today, we need to be patient, make sure that we do our due diligence, and ultimately pick the right guy for Port Adelaide. It’s as simple as that.

The President

Work continues on this front, but we are probably still some weeks away from resolving this leadership issue. Again, selecting the right person is far more important than the timing of any announcement.

The Review

I think it’s important that the results of the club review, which was conducted throughout season 2012, be shared with our supporters and members. Whilst some action is already being taken as a result of the review, an overview of the findings will hopefully help to provide further clarity in regards to the direction we will take going forward. This report will be completed and presented by the middle of next month.

So, as we quietly regain focus on the task of re- building our leadership platform, setting ourselves for the challenges of 2013 and preparing for Adelaide Oval beyond that, October looms as a defining moment for this club.

Membership

From a player point of view things are winding down for a little while, but for some areas of the club we are entering the busiest time of the year.

Our membership team is finalising the packages for 2013 with a view to having you on board as AAMI Stadium farewells AFL football and then getting you all to Adelaide Oval the following year.

You’ll be hearing more from us on that front as we send out our membership renewals and application forms a little later in the year.

Thanks again for sticking behind your club and for your heart-warming support of Johnny Mac.

Keith Thomas
Chief Executive Officer

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