On Monday, Port Adelaide senior coach Josh Carr and CEO Matthew Richardson were pleased to announce the elevation of Tyrepower to co-major partner of the club. 

After 14 years of supporting the Power, Tyrepower’s extension takes them through to the end of 2029, with the brand to be featured on the upper back of the AFL playing guernsey. 

Richardson and Carr fronted the Adelaide media on day one of pre-season to discuss the partnership uplift, how the squad was looking early, and how Carr hopes to improve as a coach in 2027. 

Richardson on the Tyrepower partnership 
“Partnerships like this are critical. As I said, we're really focused on building long-term generational partnerships. Tyrepower has been a partner now for 14 years, and we're looking forward to that to extending. They play a really important role in not only supporting the football club, but also our community, our members, our fans. It’s one of the great things about our people is they support our partners, and we look forward to that continuing.” 

Richardson on big brands wanting to partner with Port Adelaide 
“We’ve certainly been on a journey (over the years with partners), but I think because of the partners that we've got and the strength that that provides, it just allows you to continue to be strategic, to think and plan long term, and make sure that our football program is fully funded and fully invested. You look at the transformation of the facilities here at Alberton Oval. That that will continue. And also, it's really important we've got a really strong membership base, and our partners play a really important role in supporting our members as well. 

“They're big national brands (that we frequently partner with). It talks to the strength of Port Adelaide nationally and our brand. We've certainly been on a journey in relation to that, but now we've got MG, major partner, co-major partners now KFC and Tyrepower. So, as I said, the strength of those brands talks to the power of the AFL platform, but also Port Adelaide plays a really important role in that. We take those brands around the country, and obviously footy here in South Australia is a religion as well, which all feeds into it.” 

Carr on his professional development trip to the UK 
“I obviously enjoyed it. I got to spend time with elite teams, obviously started at Sunderland for a few days, and then managed to get into Liverpool and Man United and Man City, and have some really good conversations in there. So it's always nice, it triggers a lot of thoughts in in the way that you plan, and for me individually as a coach, and just makes you think about the game a little bit differently.” 

Carr on how he wants to improve as a coach in 2027 
“Oh, everything. You're never a finished product as a coach, and it's always about improvement. You can always find areas to get better, and whether it's on the track with the way you prepare the players, in the gym, or what you do in a game with your coaches and how you work together as a team. So you can pick up a lot of things from going to other sports and other clubs, and bring it back and bring it into our program. We're not trying to copy anyone, but it's about our progression and getting better. 

“You're just in so many conversations. I was talking to a guy at Liverpool and he'd worked with at Arsenal as well and worked with really good coaches in Arsène Wenger and Jürgen Klopp and all these guys, and just listening to the characteristics of those coaches and what made them really good coaches, it makes you think about yourself and the way you prepare and being ready as a coach in what I do. So I wouldn't say there's one thing that I'd bring back, there's a lot of things that get me thinking about the game and how we do it.” 

Carr on the common themes across high performance sport 
“The simple answer to that is probably all around the standards that the coaches set for their players and the leadership and the drive that their leaders had within the organisation, whether it was at the top, with the CEO, to the coach, to the players on game day. You talk to those guys, they wouldn't be successful without that sort of drive from all their leaders. It was a collective approach, not just one.” 

Carr on reflecting on himself in 2026 
“There’s nothing that stands out to me other than I just look at myself and know that I've just got to get better in every area. Pinpointing one specific area of my coaching, I just like to think that you’ve never got it nailed. You've just got to keep looking for improvement and making sure that you don't think you're ahead of the game. The game is always moving forward and moving fast, so don't ever think you're in front of it.” 

Carr on Connor Rozee being on the track on day one of pre-season 
“I was really confident. It's probably more for you guys to see it, to be honest. I've seen him over his break in here and doing the work and working on his body and joining in certain drills. So, I think for our supporters to see him and just get a bit of confidence that it's not as bad as what people probably think it is, and as much as there's a lot unknown about it, the known part is that it's improving and getting better. And to put a specific date on it, it's really hard. But at the same time, we've got a good time frame of what that's looking like and the improvement that it's taken over the last month or two. 

“I love seeing those mock drafts and everything now when they go back and only a year ago, he was probably top two or three, and then all of a sudden, he’s slid down the pecking order. You get forgotten about pretty quick in this game, and that's always a really good message to all of our players. Someone retires, and then two years later, these little kids that are coming through, they want to know what these current players are doing. And when you've had a year out of the game, you can get forgotten about pretty quickly. So it won't take him long to get those guys back.” 

Carr on Connor Rozee’s leadership development while injured 
“I look at him and think he's definitely matured, and he's definitely got a lot out of this last eight to nine months, and whether it's improvement individually, perspective on the game, and what that looks like, a lot of learnings out of being able to sit in the box and on the bench and watch footy. So, for me, I feel like it's been outstanding for him to sit back and just understand himself and the team and us as a footy club and more importantly, his captaincy. He’s spent time with the younger players and helped them out so I see a guy that looks pretty free in the mind and pretty excited about playing AFL footy.” 

Carr on Jase Burgoyne training as an inside midfielder 
“Jase will definitely be, I guess, more inside than outside. He will still have moments where he'll go out into the wing, but we saw him step up in that last month as an inside mid, and he showed everyone what he's capable of. Now it's for him to keep going and taking that next step.” 

Carr on stepping into second season as senior coach 
“It feels great. I know what I'm walking into, to be honest. There's a lot of unknown when you take the job for the first time, and there was so much change off the back of the last game versus Gold Coast (in 2025), and pretty much, I stepped in the next day, and then we had to obviously fill the staff and coaches, and there was a lot happening. So we've got a coaching group that's been together for a year now. We all understand how we work together and what we want as a coaching group. We’ve obviously got a few less coaches into this group. From our point of view, it's less coaches but better coaching. For our young guys, even with our development program, and the way we set that up is about all of us coaches are development coaches, including myself. Making sure next week when we hit the draft and we bring these young guys in, it’s them sitting down with a Stuart Dew or Lue Webster who have been in the game for a long time and learning from him, how good's that for a young guy. So the way we look at it is every player is a part of our development team, and every coach is going to coach our players like that.” 

Carr on the upcoming draft 
“(The list team) know the type of players that we want as a as a coaching group and what we think is best fit for us and we sit down together, it's a collective approach. We've got a few big meetings coming up to go through the list and what that looks like and who we bring it to our club. It's pretty exciting. I've sat down at the draft camp with a lot of those young kids and there's so many quality footballers, but also quality people that there's going to be a lot of lucky clubs, I reckon, in this draft that are going to bring in some really good people and good players into their AFL clubs.” 

Carr on Dougie Cochrane 
“He’s definitely got a head start being a part of the program for 12 months and understanding what an AFL program looks like. He was obviously pretty hampered with his body and didn't play a lot of footy, but visually he was out there and sitting in meetings to understand what he needs to do and what we need to do. So to bring it to life and make it real, we've got a week to go, and I reckon he's pretty excited. But I think we're pretty excited too.” 

Carr on Zak Butters’ departure 
“We always get caught up with one player in a footy team. In our game, when there's 18 on the field, the impact of one player, it can be big, but it's not the difference of you being a premiership team or winning finals. You need your whole team, you need your collective squad to win a premiership. So we're always bigger than one individual. And losing Zak was disappointing because we know what a quality person and player he was, and what he did for our football club also. But at the same time, we move forward now, and we've got an exciting opportunity to bring some really good young players into our club off the back of him leaving.” 

Carr on the risk of players playing AFL Origin 
“That’s one thing I learnt, you know, when I went overseas, is they don't have any say about what their players do when they go to internationals. They come back and they had injuries and had to deal with it. They don't have communication about how much game time or anything like that. So, I know the AFL like to work with the coaches and making sure they're doing what's best for clubs as well. So, I think it's a bit of a two-way communication and agreement. Yeah, you get a little bit worried or nervous when the players are out there. You just hope that they get through.” 

Carr on Jack Lukosius 
“He’s looking good. I feel like he's ahead of where he needs to be with his body and understanding of what his body needs. In a couple of weeks' time, he shouldn't be far away from full training. So, I think it's exciting for him. He's ready to go.”