Forum topic

Modest expectations this year. Player retention has improved and our recruiting is better than last year (which from memory was mostly just undrafted u19s players who admittedly were handy pickups), but once again we've lost some of our best players. I think we've got a solid team and a coach with some good credentials, but I'm prepared for the possibility that we'll struggle at first while everything takes time to click. 

I am expecting improvement this year in terms of wins, however. Although we've lost some important players, with the ones we've retained and some handy recruits we've picked up, I aee no reason why we shouldn't at least be competitive again. Especially with the changes to the fixture and the extra home game. One thing that Jackson Kornberg emphasised when he first spoke at the club was making our home ground a fortress where other teams feared playing. So I do think we should be getting more wins on the board and getting out of the bottom four. Showing that we have some growth factor is important, both for attracting new players and new members in the coming years.

I'm optimistic about our future, but what matters most in my opinion is what happens post-season. Player retention has improved, but we need to hang on to the bulk of our players or we can expect to slip into the bottom four again. As far as off-field personnel go, I think Jackson Kornberg and Fraser Bayne are exactly the people we need. The next step will be building some stability in our actual playing list.

Great assessment UTD.

At Port, I'm feeling pretty bullish about 2024. I think our additions have depended the list. We had a few quality players on the list last year that fell out of favour or didn't really invest themselves in the club and I think that hurt us in 2023.

Voss is one of the ex-AFL additions (of which there are plenty) who is likely to be selected by Fremantle so we won't actually see him take the field.

The loss of Naismith won't hurt us as much as some people may have suggested. We lost games despite his ruck dominance and won games when he was unavailable.  Lots of hit outs that weren't to advantage didn't get much scrutiny.

Naismith going provides great opportunities for players like Flockhart and Hoffert to develop and have more influence not just in the ruck, but across the ground. 

Lentini hardly playing wasn't a huge loss, as his disposal could really let us down and hurt us on the rebound. 

Port have focused on selecting players who will buy in to the team ethic and I think the mix of local and AFL talent should provide a lot of excitement and cover some of the 'positional deficiencies' we saw last year.

Off field  I think there is a renewed excitement from supporters and we should see an improvement on crowd numbers with some better fixturing. 

I'm reserving judgment on the Dolphs a bit. We've been to training a few times over summer and there is a similar vibe to this group as we had in 2021 when we were firing before the season was abandoned. That came from a team that began with virtually no expectations, like this one will. One thing I've liked at training is that there are some big boys among the new blokes, and they all appear to be able to play a bit. One of our weaknesses over the past few seasons has definitely been not having enough height and strength around the ground. I'd love to give you more detail on these fellas, but I haven't seen any kind of team list to even know their names yet. If it gels, making the play-in finals are a possibility. Hope springs eternal in February eh!

Has been hard getting to know every new player, especially since some of them haven't gotten a formal announcement. Hopefully photo day comes along soon and the club updates the website so I can put names to faces.

I think best case scenario for Port will be 2nd week of finals but I'm.only 50 50 about playing finals so somewhere around 10th position is most likely in my humble opinion.

For me the forward line isn't potent enough, need some more venom. Saw last season the club bomb balls in and we couldn't get anybody on the other end of them. Never know Archi Manton could have a breakout season, Miller and Rourke Smith could do well and they might surprise us. Just above mid table for me. 

A consideration that may have gone unmentioned by many Port fans is that while theirs no doubt the club has recruited well theirs no guarantee how many games we will get out of some of these recruits as a few of them are injury probe and have previously sustained long term injuries.

10th position Mega, 

Think you are selling yourself short with all these boom recruits.

Most Port supporters would think otherwise !

Dont expect the Zebras to be playing September footy.

I'm with you Blackrocker Sandy /St kilda reserves middle of the list at best.

The only interesting thing for me is to see in 2024 how the new ex Sandy Dragons recruits go and if they get many games in the firsts!

I also note that the first H&A  match is at Moorabbin not TBRO!

That's pretty disappointing to hear. At least give Sandy the chance to host their first home game at their actual home ground.

Can never win with you, back in the days when I was very bullish you would say MegaA you are so brainwashed and biased that your way off the mark, now I say we will finish mid table and you still sound surprised.

Obviously you think we will do better than mid table , where do you think our team will finish this season?

My gut feeling is that Port will at least be snagging a wildcard spot. Planning to get down early on Saturday to catch the Port vs Willy game. I imagine Port will field more of their best team for that game.

Judging by all the annual hype surrounding the boom recruits & a lot of if's I think we'll win it.

Get on early !

Settle down Digs, your so infatuated with Port Melbourne that you've been brainwashed. Next you'll say another undefeated season is on the cards for your club !

I'm cautiously optimistic as well Mega. I feel like with the list we have recruited we should be somewhere around 4th to 6th position with our recruiting, but that is very dependent on our best 23 playing the majority of the season.

We had some talented signings last year but we all know how that turned out. 

That's probably another reason why I am not as optimistic as most other Port fans, I thought last year we also recruited very well and so did non Port Melbourne fans ( heard some in vfl media circles last year taking note of our recruitment and mention they were impressed) yet despite the good recruitment I think it's fair to say we underperformed. Im confident this years recruiting is better stil. We've proven we can attract quality but player retention wasnt great. I think the key is to have another group that stays together for several years like we had from the Pinwall, Baird era and if we have a good season this year like many are predicting then this may be the beginning of that era. 

Double post - malaka