Port Adelaide General Manager of Football Chris Davies says while the first half of the year hasn’t been as hoped, there is an opportunity for the group to improve following the bye.
The players are currently on a four-day break to reset mentally and physically, before coming back together on Friday to prepare for Rounds 13 and beyond.
Speaking with the Adelaide media on Monday, Davies addressed the season so far, the upcoming mid-season draft, and ongoing contract discussions with key players.
Davies on evaluating the season so far
“It hasn't been where we had hoped it would be. I mean, that doesn't mean that the second half of the season can't be better, but we definitely haven't hit the heights that we were hoping for at the start of the season.
Davies on the bye
“Well, it's a good opportunity for the players to go away, the coaches to go away and have a bit of a reset moment within the season. We know we've got some things that we need to well-and-truly tidy up if we're going to get on a roll and head towards the finals in 2025. So everyone gets a chance just to take a breath and reset from there.”
Davies on reviewing the season
“I mean, we review regularly. I think most of our people have been getting up and certainly highlighting that we've had issues from week to week that that need to be fixed. I don't think that it is purposeful right now to go back and have a look at, you know, pre-season in order to give us the best chance to have a look at what's happening from here. I think we've got some shorter-term focuses right now that we've got to get right from here.”
Davies on turning the season around
“Well, I mean, look, we're two games and percentage out of the eight right now. We have faith that our good footy has still been pretty good within the competition. We have spent time in the past, being able to put runs of good form together, and you know that we don't think is too far away, but also acknowledge that we haven't played anywhere near the footy that we want. I still think there's a great opportunity, if we can lessen the gap between our best and worst football, there's still something to be achieved in 2025.”
Davies on the coaching succession plan
“Well, I guess coming into this year, you know that if you start losing games that people are going to be questioning that aspect of it. My preference right now is to look at the things that we can actually control for the rest of the year, and that is, to look at a game plan that's been set up that we haven't quite got right for long enough periods of time. You know, our midfield stoppage work hasn't been what it was last year. And, you know, ultimately, we haven't been able to defend very well behind the ball. So not much has been going fantastically well for us this year. And rather than focus on, you know, what you (the media) would like to focus on, I think that internally, we've got some actual practical things that we need to get right in the next period of time that will, and should, take up more of our focus than worrying about succession plans.”
Davies on the coaching situation
“Right now we're in a situation where we're using the opportunity to reset and wanting to be far better in the second half of the year than we have been in the first half, and that doesn't include changing the senior coach right now. We're in a position where we have a good opportunity still to play good footy. We've announced what's going to happen in 2026 but we are well-and-truly coming back to what we can be better at in 2025.
“What I have said constantly with regard to the succession plan is I totally understand that when you don't play good football, that you open yourself up to people wanting to talk about any aspect of your club. Our job is to get back playing better footy. The irony, I guess, through this is that when we win, there's no talk about it, and when we lose, there is talk about it. So I think it would be easier for me to be able to answer that question if you thought this was an issue each week. It's not. And so what we're going to do is get back to focusing on the things that are practical, because there's a lot that's not going right in our game right now, and they're the things that we need to be better at in the second half of the year.”
Davies on the alternative of leaving Ken Hinkley “in limbo” until the end of the year
“I think that's actually a reasonable point. You know sometimes are the alternatives? You understandably have to answer questions about the things that are real. And for us, the succession plan is real. But you know, sometimes it may be worthwhile putting yourself on the other side of that argument and saying, okay, if we hadn't done some of the stuff that we did over the off-season, what would have changed right now? I imagine that there might even be more pressure on Ken right now. Now that's not in any way to say that we're happy about that, because at four and seven and feeling like we're not playing good footy, it definitely doesn't feel great. So yeah, we’ve got work to do. But right now, based on the fact that in the past, the club has handled situations reasonably well, and have been able to get on long periods of time playing good footy. My preference right now is to stay in that boat and to work with the coaches to say, in the short term, we can be better at some things. Let's focus on what they are and see how the second half of the season goes from there.”
Davies on performance expectations
“(We’ve) got a group who have a history of playing far better than what they are right now, it's not like this group of players or this group of coaches have been terrible for a long period of time. We haven't got it right this year, , and that's certainly based on what has been high expectation of our team's performance over a period of time, because it's been good, far more than it has been bad.”
Davies on Ken Hinkley’s energy to continue coaching
“Yeah, look, I don't think that has ever been a doubt with Ken. If there ever came that time, I'm 100 per cent convinced that he would come and tell me that, but I haven't seen anything that that would suggest that Ken doesn't have the energy for the job.”
Davies on the game plan
“Well, if you, if you look at, what was the off season, we definitely have tried to do something different this year. Now that was personnel based. Having said that, we haven't had the fortunate aspect of having a lot of our personnel out there that we had built our game plan around, and that's also not suggesting that we were going to get everything right. But, you know, I'm sure that the coaches will reflect upon that. We reflect upon, you know, the tactics week to week. But you know, with the way that we're playing, I'm not going to sit here and say that we're getting everything right. We have to reflect upon what is going to be our game plan for the rest of the year, because what is clear is that what we've been trying to implement over the off-season, and so far this year hasn't quite worked out the way that we would like.
“All of the coaches have a say in what they think is the best way for us to go about it. Clearly, the senior coach has the ultimate say. But our coaches, again, they've worked together for a period of time. This is the same group of people who took us to the position that we were in last year. So I have some faith that that we can get it right, but what is clear is that we haven't played good enough footy to this point yet.”
Davies on the gap between the best and worst football this year
“I mean, that's a fair thing to say. Definitely, the gap between our best and worst has been as significant this year as in my time at the club, and, you know, a lot of that starts around the ball, if you're getting scored heavily against with regard to stoppage, which is an area of our game we have historically been really good at (and) we haven't been as good there this year. So I think that that ultimately our game is going to be based upon fantastic contest from a stoppage standpoint. We've tried to get more efficient in our forward line over time. We haven't been able to achieve that this year. There are a number of games this year where, from a territory perspective, we've, in theory, won that battle, but just haven't been efficient enough to score. I think the start of the game on the weekend, I reckon Fremantle had had eight inside 50s and scored six times. I mean, that's not what has historically been the case for our team, and it's something that we're going to need to be clearly better at in the second half of the year if we're going to get going.”
Davies on using lots of players at AFL level this year
“It's been surprising only to the extent that we've been really good there previously. So you know, the coaches have got to work through that, as the players do, to try and work out a way that we're going to be better in that area of play into the future. Obviously, Connor has moved into defence for a period of time. We didn't have Horne-Francis on the weekend. We missed Zak for a period of the year. You know, I think we've used the most number of players in the competition now to this point, which probably says that you're not playing fantastic footy and you're searching for answers. The fortunate aspect of that is that we have exposed some young players to AFL footy this year and we've seen some steps forward there.”
Davies on getting players back from injury
“We've got at least two players who won't play again this year, and we're certainly contemplating a couple of others right now, with the mid-season draft not too far away, I'd imagine that Esava wouldn't be too far away after the bye, Horne-Francis won't be far away after the bye. Sinn will probably play after the bye, so I think we'll start to get some players back. You know, I think Todd might be a stretch, but hopefully those guys can actually influence again, and we can get some continuity with a number of good players we've actually got out there, which will be helpful in the back half (of the season).”
Davies on the upcoming mid-season draft
“We’ll take a balanced approach to that. I don't think that we would suggest that any one player is going to come in and make our team infinitely better than the players that we've already gone on our list who potentially are coming back from injury. You know, we're contemplating right now how many selections we actually have. I think that there's a chance that we have more than one, but we'll work through that over the next 24 hours.
“(Xavier) Walsh has had his shoulder surgery and will be out for the rest of the year. Jacob Moss has had his (ankle) surgery, but as a category B, we can't replace him. I think that right now, I would say that Tom Cochrane and Todd Marshall are unlikely to play for the remainder of the year. So we've really got to work out what it is that we want to do there. You know, we're certainly going to open more than one spot up, whether that means that we take more than one selection in the mid-season draft remains to be seen. But I think that for both Tom Cochrane and Todd Marshall, you know, right now, it'll be a stretch for them to play this year.”
Davies on the kind of players that come through the mid-season draft
“If you bring a player in in the mid-season draft, it means that you either see something in them long term or you think that they could play straight away. And sometimes it's both. So Logan Evans was a player last year who we got to see through the pre-season. There are a number of players right now who we think can help us, certainly at SANFL level, that we might look to draft who we think might also have the capability to be longer term AFL players.”
Davies on Jack Watkins
“I mean, Jack's probably been our best SANFL player all year, and in fairness, that’s what we expected from a from a guy who had already played state footy in Victoria. He's one of the guys that we're certainly looking at. And, you know, if it's not in the mid-season draft, then I still think that there's, there's hope for Jack yet, longer term, he's shown that he's a quality SANFL player.”
Davies on Miles Bergman
“Miles has got an offer in front of him. I think from my perspective, you know, Miles has continued to show this year that he is going to be an absolute quality AFL player for a long period of time. Now, I really hope that's with Port Adelaide. You know, he's stepped into a lot of our leadership stuff this year. He’s gone into the midfield over the last couple of weeks and has certainly added another string to his bow. I think he's a fantastic player who I certainly hope, stays important leading into the future.
“The challenge that I guess a lot of the non-Victorian clubs face now is that in a very short period of time, there's been significant inflationary pressure, and we've been part of this as well. So I'm not discounting us as being part of this. But the deals have gone from when I first started from being four or five years, feeling like you were committing the rest of your life to now being, you know to, in Connor's situation, I mean, Connor's going to be in a wheelchair by the time he finishes with us. So, you know, Miles and the Victorian players will be getting those types of offers to go back there. So we've got to be finding innovative ways to try and compete with those. And without going into the specifics, a player like Miles will have an opportunity to stay at Port Adelaide for a short period of time or a long period of time.
“We try and plan for every sort of situation. So as much as it would be great to know sooner rather than later, and that's not me in any way putting pressure on Miles. He's a mature person who I think signed his last contract a couple of years ago at around about this time. So I'm sure he'll take this break to think what he and (fiancé) Meeca want to achieve the rest of their life and go from there.”
Davies on Zak Butters
“Zak is less of a pressing need in the sense that he's contracted for another year after this. But again, you know, we're not going to be in a position where we're either low-balling the players that we've got currently, whilst, you know, we've been linked to players coming into the club. We want to make sure that we're showing the right amount of faith to the players who are already here, you know, definitely not getting into a situation where they feel disrespected by the offers that we're putting to them. Zak's got an amazing offer in front of him, and Miles has got a very good offer in front of him as well.
“Zak is contracted until the end of next year. We expect Zak to stay (until at least the end of his contract), and we haven't heard anything different to that. And right now, the club is wanting Zak to sign for an extended period of time, but again, we're not putting any pressure on him in regard to that. He's already contracted to the end of next year.”
Davies on the value of contracts when players request trades
“Well, they still mean something. And unless you're getting something outstanding back, then you just don't entertain it. Or if you've got a player who you think is the type of player that you want to build the rest of your future around, well, you know, it's a different discussion again. You know, Dan (Houston) last year, I think we've spoken about this a lot, Dan wanted to go. We took the opportunity as much as Dan did, to make sure that we were able to get some new players into our club at a time where you're starting to fast forward to Tassie’s inclusion, if they can get their stadium sorted, with the players that you can actually bring in who you think are going to be helpful. Now, Lukosius comes in as part of that, Joe Berry comes in as part of that, Christian Moraes comes in as part of that. You know, it's very easy to try and make an assessment as to whether that deal was a good one six months after, when Collingwood might be flying and we're not going as well. But I probably encourage you to think, you know, five or six years (into the future). I remember standing up and having many similar conversations about Chad Wingard’s deal. And I would have thought that most people right now would suggest, even though we had a great relationship with Chad, but that deal went pretty well for Port Adelaide.”
Davies on Alex Pearce’s suspension
“I actually feel like Justin Longmuir handled that pretty well after the case. I mean, the tribunal is what it is. I think we would have all expected that if Darcy (Byrne-Jones) was on the other side of that, that our player still tries to contest the ball. You know, the suspension is what it is. But I don't feel in any way that Alex Pearce wasn't actually trying to contest the ball.”
Davies on the AFL’s actions following the Willie Rioli situation
“What the AFL did do is send every club a letter asking for the clubs to be open to providing greater feedback to the AFL as to how we can help our environments for Indigenous and multicultural players into the future. For me, that was essentially what we were actually asking. So, you know, I think that that our club can take great pride in the fact that we pushed the AFL to ask the question, and let's hope again, in a short period of time, that all of the clubs are able to take the AFL’s request seriously and actually provide some good quality feedback, both from players and people who are involved in AFL clubs now. But maybe even more importantly, the players that that are recently retired and not in the game anymore, to try and reflect upon what we can all do better.”
Davies on whether clubs should have a list spot allocated to a First Nations player
“I think there are some simple rules that the AFL can address right now about having more Indigenous players on lists. We've been pushing the AFL for a long time to say, you know, if there is, if there's an NGA player at, let's use Adelaide because this was a real example a couple of years ago. One of the players that Adelaide had on their cat B list was Tariek Newchurch, and the other one was James Borlase. So they didn't have another cat B spot available, they had a couple of Indigenous guys who we actually quite liked, and if we could have had them on our cat B list with that, with Adelaide passing on those guys at the time, it could have added another Indigenous player on our list. Now, I think you'd look at Port Adelaide’s AFL list over time and say that we aren't a club who has ever shied away from drafting an Indigenous player. I think it could certainly help the AFL into the future as to how you get more Indigenous players on AFL lists.”
Davies on Dougie Cochrane
“What we've got approval for Dougie to do is his rehab here at the club. He's done three hamstrings, I think, in the last 12 months, and I think for the entire competition right now, it's best for Dougie to get his rehabilitation done right. And doing it here, I think, is as will be great for him.”
Davies on his future at Port Adelaide
“I think (being linked to other administrative jobs in the league) is what happens when you're a big, familiar head that's been around for a while. So I would like to see the future at Port Adelaide, and certainly help Carry (Josh Carr) into the future where I can. But like most people who serve their clubs in a way that I try to, that'll be the club's call at the end of the day.”
Davies on playing young players on the list
“I think that's always something that, take the word ‘rebuild’ out, you're often thinking about, well, what is the benefit of getting games into X player, not only for 2026 but also for the back end of 2025. You might say, Christian Moraes right now, he's a good example of a guy who we've wanted to keep around the AFL team, not because we think his performance right now is exponentially better than whoever it might be that comes in and replaces him, but that, in four games’ time, he will be a better player than what he is right now. So, yeah, that doesn't have to mean a total rebuild. And you don't have to start focusing out to 2026, to start thinking about how we’re going to be better in the future. And as I say, the future can be in two or three games’ time. We're going to have the same sort of conversations around Jack Whitlock, who, right now, his numbers at SANFL level don't look anything special, but I think he's going to be an absolute player. Right now, he's got amazing hands, and can mark the ball. You might even find sometimes, and we're seeing this more, where players at AFL level sometimes look better than what they do at SANFL level, because the overall level of skill in the game is a little bit better, with all due respect to the SANFL competition. So they're all they're all things that we look at.”
Davies on the focus for the rest of 2025
“What I do know is that right now and for the rest of 2025, that we are steadfastly focused on playing better footy than what we have right now, we haven't hit the heights that we wanted to. It's been a disappointing first half of the year. That doesn't mean that the rest of the season has to go that way, and it certainly doesn't mean if we can start getting our better players back towards the end of the year, that we shouldn't still be thinking that our best footy is good enough to give it a shake. Albeit, as I said, the gap between our best and worst has been massive this year.”
