Positive effects surface for Port

Port Adelaide's Kane Mitchell and Oliver Wines celebrate as they sing the team song in the dressing rooms after their round one win over Melbourne at the MCG. Picture: Scott Barbour Source: Getty Images

NEW president, new board, new coach, new fitness coach, new captain, new game plan - and finally new results.

It's been a tough time of change at the Port, but the

The broom at Port Adelaide has done its job.

Congratulations to the decision-makers who have hired and fired the necessary people in order to start the rebuild of this proud club.

It's not thanks to one man.

It's thanks to many people - past and present staff who have made the hard calls, some on themselves.

Nothing against Matt Primus and Brett Duncanson because they gave their all. They made huge sacrifices, personally and financially, and both love their club as much as anyone. But it was time for a change.

Yes, they only beat Melbourne but you could see this result coming as clearly as you could see GWS beating them last year.

The pre-season has been close to perfect. The minute they ran out against St Kilda in the NAB Cup you could see they were fit.

Port will win three to four more games than last year just because they are fitter

They have been kidding themselves for two years thinking they had been training hard enough.

Whoever made it a priority to chase Darren Burgess needs to be commended. He is obviously a gun. Not sure how they can pay the rumoured salary of $350-$400k when they lost as much as they did last year, but they probably don't care and they shouldn't.

Fitness coaches are critical to a football club. You could make a strong argument to say they nearly rival the head coach in importance.

It's time to watch some of the young guns blossom under Burgess's influence.

Most players would be feeling the fittest they have ever felt and when you take your fitness to a level it's never been before, you feel incredibly powerful.

You feel like you can run all day. You look forward to taking on your opponent because you know you will run over him.

Port will win three to four more games than last year just because they are fitter.

When challenged they will fight back and not roll over.

I was disappointed when the Power played the Crows in game two of the NAB Cup. They rested a few guns which may have cost them the game.

At the time I said it may have also cost them the NAB Cup and I think I was right.

After taking a half-baked side to the Riverland to play Melbourne, Port then went on to beat West Coast in Alice Springs in good fashion then knocked off the premiers Sydney in a game where the Swans were going flat out.

Two big scalps, even in the pre-season. I know it's more important to prepare to play round one but winning anything is surely good when you haven't won much for a while. I thought the confidence and experience would have been valuable.

Ken Hinkley has been fantastic so far for Port Adelaide.

In some ways he is doing to Port what Brenton Sanderson did to the Crows last year.

He has come in and made all the right calls.

He identified what needed to change and did it. He has made it crystal clear what is expected from his players and communicates it clearly.

He has a strong focus on defence but has also straightened them up as well.

How good was it to see the Port players taking the game on against the Demons?

Hard, attacking running for which Melbourne had no answer. He has clearly taken a lot from Malcolm Blight over the years as well.

Some players have been given the biggest bakes or sprays that they have ever had in their careers.

No gold passes, no excuses, no compromise for anyone.

The standards at Port appear to have risen sharply. I don't think you will see Bobby Carlile miss a game because he is overweight this season, but expect him to have his career-best year instead.

Whether it was luck or good management that Port ended up with Hinkley doesn't matter, even though it was clearly luck.

Every person I have spoken to who has played or coached with Ken holds him in high regard. Some, such as Cameron Ling, couldn't believe that he didn't have a head coaching job earlier.

He has served a long and thorough apprenticeship and is ready to stamp his influence.

People say that a coach can only do so much, that it's all about the cattle he has at his disposal. That's true, to some extent. But look at Port at the moment.

They have pretty much the same players out there but are like chalk and cheese from last year.

The good coaches can and will get the best out of their players. They provide the environment and give them the tools to have career-best years.

I can see Hamish Hartlett becoming a gun, Travis Boak becoming an A-grader, Chad Wingard fulfilling his potential and Jasper Pittard will be like a new recruit.

Even Jay Schulz will benefit from being in a team that moves the ball faster with a deeper midfield. Don't be surprised if he kicks 60-plus goals. The list goes on and on.

Things are looking a lot brighter than 12 months ago.

Port has clearly bottomed out and is on the way up. How quickly they improve depends on how many players have career-best years.

They need some luck with injuries, as all sides do, but even more so when you don't have any depth.

Whatever happens this year needs to be a stepping stone for the future.

They need to replicate the off-season again. The recruiting officers need to get it right over the next two years, as they did last year.

At the moment it's looking like they had a cracker.

If Port can win eight to 10 games this year, play with passion and compete week in, week out then not only will the supporters rush back in numbers, but the sponsors will too.

At the moment they are on top of the ladder and should enjoy it while it lasts. It might be for a month.

Then we will see how good they really are when they mix it with the big boys.

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