Graham Cornes was the inaugural Adelaide Crows coach and also coached Port's long-term rival Glenelg in the 1980s and famously advocated against Port's original bid to enter the AFL.
But Cornes has backed Port Adelaide's proposed model to maintain its long and successful contribution to South Australian football development at grassroots level, saying "Port Adelaide's model to have its AFL-listed players all play at the Magpies is a good one."
"Importantly, it will see a financial return to the other SANFL clubs of $600,000 - a figure not to be sneezed at in these tough times," Cornes wrote in Saturday's edition of The Advertiser.
"Most importantly, though, it retains the club model."
"...Time is a great healer, and even those of us with decades-old grudges have to admit it: our beloved South Australian Football League would not be the same without the Magpies.
"We hate them, but we are much poorer without them."
READ the full opinion piece by Graham Cornes on page 95 of today's Advertiser
Cornes's support comes a day after David Koch told a packed SANFL Chairman's Luncheon at AAMI Stadium the club would not support any move to strip it of its recruiting zones and junior teams.
The Port Adelaide chairman was applauded when he denounced moves to remove the traditional Magpies presence in the state competition, saying the club's "traditions and values" were more important that its football program.
"We would not support any proposition that would see a genuine Magpies structure removed from the SANFL competition," said Mr Koch.
"We will not agree to the Magpies being dismantled."
See David Koch's full address to the SANFL Chairman's Luncheon: On the Magpies | On the year so far
Port Adelaide's chief executive officer Keith Thomas also wrote to the club's members and supporters on Friday addressing a series of queries outlined in Friday's Advertiser.
In doing so, he called for any supporter questions to be sent to him.
The emphatic response of support from the club's supporter base led to Thomas issuing a follow up message on Friday night.
"We remain hopeful that our preferred option, as presented to the SANFL Clubs last week, will be viewed favourably and we will continue to work with the the Clubs to find a suitable solution," said Mr Thomas.
Read Keith Thomas's full CEO's Report here
portadelaidefc.com.au will provide ongoing coverage and comment from key stakeholders throughout the submission process to the SANFL.
