PORT Adelaide coach Matthew Primus says the club is disappointed by its slow start to the season, but it has a plan and the character to again develop into an AFL powerhouse.
After successive losses to the Gold Coast Suns and North Melbourne, Port has slipped to a 1-5 win-loss record in 2011.
Speaking on Channel 7’s “Game Day” program on Sunday, Primus said his team was still fighting to deliver consistent competitive football, but it was symptomatic of the long-term development phase the club is in.
“We have the ups and downs of an AFL season, but we know where we’re at with the big picture of our club. What we need to do with our growth and we’ve just got to keep looking forward to that,” Primus said.
“We have a core group of players between the ages of 18 and 25. We need to get games into them and teach them a game style to be able to stand up week in and week out for the next 2, 3, 5 years time and that’s our big picture plan.”
Primus - a member of the Power’s inaugural squad who played 137 games for the club and was captain between 2001 and 2005 - said Port Adelaide had endured tough periods in its history, and come back stronger.
“… the year 2000 we were the bottom of the ladder for the majority of the year. (In the following years) We lost some finals games while I was playing that we should not have lost. We came out of it to win the 2004 Premiership,” he said.
“Every club has their ups and downs and … clubs probably have more downs than ups. And we’ve had lows and that kind of stuff, but we’ll find our way out of it.
“We know what our plan is on a weekly basis what our plan is for the next few years.”
Port Adelaide has been the target of recent criticism, but the coach said it is something the club has to accept until it delivers on its potential.
“It doesn’t sit well. Any club who’s been on the bottom of the ladder it doesn’t sit well,’ Primus told Game Day.
“But we know what our plan is. We know where we’re at and where we’re heading towards. But at the moment we’re not looked on in a good light. But every team has those moments when they’re down the bottom of the ladder and then they end up at the top of the ladder.”
Primus also praised the Power’s young and developing leadership group, rejecting suggestions the club has an absence in this area.
With captain Domenic Cassisi still recovering from knee surgery and senior forward Jay Schulz absent in recent weeks, Primus says the younger leaders are learning every week.
“We’ve go a real young leadership group and they learned some good lessons last week and this week.
“It’s a matter of educating them and keep working with that young group. Because they’re going to learn in the game and during training. We haven’t got a void there. We’ve got an area where we need to work with these young guys.”
Port Adelaide plays Hawthorn at AAMI Stadium from 8.10 on Friday night at AAMI Stadium. The club is calling on all of its members and fans to attend the game and show their support for their team, as it takes the national Friday Night Footy stage.
