AFL season preview 2023
Years in Finals – 2
Top 4 appearances – 2
Grand Finals – 0
Premierships – 0
Port Adelaide fell literally off a cliff in the first 5 games last year at 0-5 and it looked ugly, ugly, ugly! This is on the back of losing two home Preliminary Finals and it looked that the Grand Final window, let alone a premiership had come to a screaming halt. To their credit they did bounce back well for the remainder of the 2022 season but the big question is where to now for Ken and the boys. Port fails to meet expectations largely because they set expectations of themselves so high there is never any wriggle room. When your mantra is “we exist premierships” in a competition so fierce and difficult as the AFL it sets a pretty high bar and one that Port has been unable to comprehend. Long standing Coach Ken Hinkley comes out of contract end of this season and that in itself sets its own challenge. He has been a survivor no doubt and Port can challenge at their best, if you get their best is the question. It is very likely that Port and Hinkley have a clear understanding that this will be his last year. This could be the pressure is off and we get overperformance or conversely a bad start and it will be Hinkley out Josh Carr in before we know it.
Port does have young talent and if it gets going they can have a bounce. The charts show for Port it is either a top 4 finish OR mid table just outside the 8. We expect Port to push hard for a top 4 finish in 2023. Port are 15-1 to win the premiership, 9-1 to make the Grand Final, $4 to make the top 4 and $1.85 to make the 8.
PORT ADELAIDE IN 2023…5th
