Dear Members, Supporters and Partners, 

February is well and truly here, and the 2026 AFL season is now only weeks away.

Last week opened with the Season Launch and Hall of Fame event on Monday at Adelaide Oval and closed with our traditional Intra-Club and Family Day event at Alberton Oval. With the re-development works at Alberton continuing we were compromised with space and activity, but it was terrific to see so many here to open our season. 

This Friday night we play the Adelaide Crows in an AFL practice match at Alberton and again will have similar capacity restrictions so I'd encourage our members and fans to arrive as soon as they can for the 5:30pm game start. We've informed Adelaide FC the game starts at 6:00pm so hopefully that helps ensure our people are in first .... 😊

Hall of Fame - Honouring our champions

Opening the week with the Season Launch and Hall of Fame event provides a very special connection of our past and future at Port Adelaide. It's an important aspect of the induction for the new staff and players providing a unique and powerful connection for our past champions and Premiership teams. 

This year Matthew Primus and Russell Johnston were inducted into the Port Adelaide Hall of Fame and both of their speeches exemplified the selflessness of these two great leaders of our Club and reinforced how their influence, passion and connection endures. 

The teams' category saw the 1988-89-90 three-in-a-row premiership teams inducted and when you see the collection of talent in these groups you realise what a powerhouse the club was in this era. It was the start of an incredible nine Premierships in twelve years - think about that for a moment! 

The night was filled with plenty of great stories. These aren't just great players and teams - they're made up of people who embody the Port Adelaide way: tough, humble, and totally selfless. For our young players, hearing their recollections and understanding the story they're now part of is invaluable.

The 2026 AFL season - the build begins

November seems a lifetime ago as we re-set the AFL program around new Coach Josh Carr. The early uncertainty of change shifted very quickly as the new off-field team came together and across the last month in particular there has been an exciting momentum, energy and focus inside the club as we build into the start of the season. 

There is tremendous experience and diversity when you step through the group supporting Josh and the playing group - Ben Rutten (GM Football), Andy Collins, Stuart Dew, Luke Webster and Darren Reeves just for starters. We're here to win, to build towards our next premiership, and we're doing it with a clarity of process and behaviour that's exciting to see. 

Our new leadership group - captain Connor Rozee and vice-captains Zak Butters and Willem Drew - perfectly represents the quality and potential of our playing list. 

Congratulations to Zak and Mitch Georgiades on the honour of representing their respective states, Victoria and Western Australia, at last weekend's State of Origin game in Perth. A massive privilege and we're proud of them both. Credit to the AFL and their team who had a message through to us within two minutes of Mitch being pulled from the game as a precaution. The care and respect shown to clubs was appreciated. 

KFC co-major partnership extended

Earlier this week we announced KFC had extended their partnership with the club for a further five years, which will take this partnership out to ten years. This is a great example of two brands working closely together over the last five years to build a genuine and enduring partnership and we couldn't be more appreciative. Make sure you drop through your local KFC store and order one of their magnificent new Zinger burgers to celebrate on our behalf. I also thought Todd Marshall's work with his 'summer job' at KFC was captured magnificently and is certainly worth a watch if you've not seen it - employee of the month x6, very well played Todd . . . and maybe even say Todd sent you to call through and see if you can get a bonus on him! 

Alberton's transformation continues

The redevelopment at Alberton is progressing well with our partner Sarah Construction doing an outstanding job. The AFLW extension to the northern end of the ASHQ and the Eastern Stands are on schedule and on budget. We expect the AFLW facilities to be complete in early June and the eastern stands in April. 

The 'all new' Port Club is re-building nicely and now open seven days a week. If you've not tried us for a while, please come in for a meal from the new menu or drink with friends or family. We value your feedback and want to ensure our members and fans have a great experience at the club and are proud of this fantastic facility. There isn't an AFL club in the country which has this type of offering for its members to enjoy and connect directly with their club so let's take advantage of one of the unique features of our football club - we have a social club, museum, and retail experience which is first and foremost there for our members and supporters to enjoy and be part of their football club on a daily basis. 

Record membership continues to build

To all our members who've already renewed - thank you. 

Your loyalty means everything. We've now reached more than 57,500 members with renewals at an all-time high, continuing our year-on-year growth. This incredible support positions us strongly heading into the season. 

We're looking forward to celebrating Member Recognition Round with you in Round 2 against Essendon, where we'll have a range of exclusive experiences on offer. Whether you experience the game at Adelaide Oval through our reduced-access options or from home with our Premium Power On-Demand Membership, we've got something for everyone. If you know anyone looking to join the club, please have them call our membership services team on 8447 9900 or refer them and we'll have a player call them. If you know a lapsed member who's still not renewed, refer them and we'll have the team follow them up. 

Conclusion 

As the 2026 season approaches, we enter it from a position of excitement and anticipation - all-time high membership for this time of the year, a revitalised Alberton Oval taking shape, a new coaching era already generating real momentum, and an on-field leadership group led by Connor that embodies exactly where this club is headed. 

The Hall of Fame last week reminded us what Port Adelaide is built on - toughness, humility, and selflessness - and everything happening right now is a continuation of that story. 

The energy is real and the belief is strong. We look forward to seeing you at Alberton on Friday night. 

Cheers,
Richo