Dear Members and Supporters,

Twelve months ago to the day, the Port Adelaide family gathered at seaside Sorrento in Victoria and at home at Alberton Oval, to honour the life of John McCarthy. It was a defining moment.

Somehow we grew stronger. More resilient. Wiser.

We witnessed the first signs of the year that was to come, in our exhibition match in London against the Bulldogs, way back in early November when the boys staged a miraculous 8 goal comeback to win the European Challenge at The Oval with a late goal from Brad Ebert. On that same trip the first layers of the new plan were being laid down by Hinkley and co. as they spent hours together in Milan and then London constructing the template of a game plan that would ultimately propel the Club into the finals for the first time since 2007.

Off field, a new image was forming for the Club. Through our new Chairman David Koch and coach Ken Hinkley, the language of Port Adelaide began to change. We were positive, confident and spoke of playing a bigger game on the national stage. We declared this team would never, ever give up! We started to look and sound like Port Adelaide again.

Then we secured Renault, and rather than take the safe option and announce the partnership in Adelaide, we stuck a Formula 1 car and a some flash Port Adelaide signs on the MCG and made a statement… we want to play on the biggest stage, so here we are!

By round one, the Port Adelaide family was starting to rumble, so we organised our first ‘March to the G’ from Fed Square ahead of our opening game against Melbourne. We were thrilled with the 600 fans who turned up loud and proud to strut their stuff. The 79 point win surpassed our wildest expectations and we were off and running!

More wins followed, then some losses, and then a big win against Sydney. We were back on track.

The round 14 home game against Collingwood was a highlight. Having broken through the 40,000 member barrier for the first time ever, our members had made an emphatic statement to the football community…Port Adelaide was back! We celebrated by turning up en masse, firstly to try and win the Renault that was on offer, but then to witness an emphatic victory against one of the competition favourites! It was a night to savour, but our year wouldn’t end there.

Two incredible Showdown victories, and a massive 45,000 crowd to witness our last game at AAMI against Carlton were other wonderful highlights on our way to the finals.…we were back at the MCG, this time as a dangerous and legitimate contender. Our second ‘March to the G’ attracted nearly 4000 fans! It was glorious chaos…thank you! And then, what a win!

We backed up our courageous Elimination final win against Collingwood, with a fighting loss to the hardened Geelong side. Another important lesson in the development of our young side.

And yet, despite all of the excitement of our on field exploits, I believe our biggest achievement this year has been the re-engagement of the Port Adelaide community. Remember the family day in February, where the Magpies played the Power and 5000 people turned up to watch. You could feel it there. After every home game we’d have 700- 800 supporters back at the Club, win or lose! At every away game, our interstate Supporter groups were out in force. All year you’ve been buying shirts, caps, scarves, Renaults (!), lottery tickets… you have been incredible! We launched the Premiership fund…and it took off. So much so, that we have been able to purchase a crucial piece of training equipment for the team in our first 6 months of the fund being open.

And we’ve done it in true Port Adelaide style…one in, all in.

We’ve made the entire football community sit up and take notice.

So now we get the chance to go to Adelaide Oval…full of confidence and with momentum.

But just as we are saying to our players, we cannot allow this to be a one off, special effort. This must become, the way we do it. The expectation, not the exception.

We wish the playing group a safe and restful break. They deserve it.

For the rest of us, planning for 2014 continues, as we look forward to further strengthening our entire organisation ahead of our arrival at Adelaide Oval.

From the entire Port Adelaide team, thank you all so much for your full throttle support this year, we have been amazed by your passion and enthusiasm!

We look forward to making you even prouder to be a Port Adelaide supporter next year.

Thanks again,
KT