SA-born Geelong player charged after car crash

Geelong's Brad Hartman has been charged by Victorian police. Source: News Corp Australia

VICTORIAN police have charged South Australian-born Geelong forward Brad Hartman with leaving the scene of an accident and failing to stop at a stop sign.

Hartman, 20, was returning home to Murray Bridge when he allegedly clipped a parked car but continued driving at St Peters in Melbourne late last Sunday.

Geelong CEO Brian Cook said, after Hartman arrived home he discussed the matter with his father and went to the Murray Bridge police station to report the incident on Monday. He was charged on Tuesday and a court date is yet to be set.

"We are disappointed and frustrated that Brad has been involved in this incident and believe there have been too many motoring related issues with our players in recent years," Cook said.

"Brad should have handled this differently by stopping and then providing his details at the time.

"As a club, it is clear that we need to reassess the manner in which we work with our players around their responsibilities as representatives of the Geelong Football Club.

"We will convene in the new year when the key people return to the club to develop a way forward in regard to this.

"The club has advised the relevant internal and external parties of the details of this incident."

Former basketballer who represented SA three times, Hartman was recruited by the Cats at pick 77 in the 2012 AFL national draft from Sturt junior grades.

The small forward debuted at Simonds Stadium in Round 13 last season.

Before moving to Sturt, Hartman played for Murray Bridge Ramblers

Originally published as SA-born Geelong player charged after car crash

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Captain’s Call: Boak on Power season

Travis Boak celebrates a goal. Picture: Mark Brake Source: News Corp Australia

PORT Adelaide enjoyed the best start (10-1) to an AFL season in its history but by Round 20 they'd stumbled to 12-7 and were labelled 'over rated'.

But what followed was an amazing finals campaign in which they fell an agonising three points short of victory against Hawthorn in the preliminary final.

In his 2014 captain's call, Travis Boak says the Round 6 win over Geelong was a turning point but the pain of the preliminary final loss will drive the Power all pre-season.

ROUND 1 (1-0)

Port Adelaide 18.12 (120) d Carlton 12.15 (87)

- Power kicks seven goals to one in the final term

ROUND 2 (2-0)

Port Adelaide 19.13 (127) d Adelaide 11.7 (73)

- Crows spark outrage with SA jumper plan

- Port wins first game at new Adelaide Oval

- Hamish Hartlett wins Showdown Medal

"The whole build up was massive it wasn't just the day. I got to the ground three hours before and it was chockers, people everywhere, and it felt like a final.

"There wasn't really (talk about Crows' SA jumper plan), we didn't worry about that because we couldn't control any of that.

"For us there was no motivation there, no 'stick it up them', for us it was just about going out to put a show on for our fans. It was our home game and we wanted to make a statement.

"To have that last quarter and be out by a fair bit to enjoy it was fantastic."

Port Adelaide won the first Showdown at Adelaide Oval. Picture: Sarah Reed Source: News Corp Australia

ROUND 3 (2-1)

North Melbourne 14.13 (97) d Port Adelaide 13.12 (90)

- Power led by two goals at final break but were over-run

ROUND 4 (3-1)

Port Adelaide 24.15 (159) d Brisbane 7.4 (46)

- Port wears commemorative 2004 premiership jumper

- Travis Boak has 41 possessions

"The one premiership with the Power side in the AFL was a pretty special moment so to have a 10-year reunion on that day and against Brisbane was a special moment for the club.

"To have the '04 stars forming a line on the ground was fantastic because a fair few of our players never got to play with them but know how special they are.

"There was a lot of talk and for the group to come out and play the way they did shows how much respect we have for the club and how much we want to play for this jumper."

Ollie Wines powers through a Jack Redden tackle wearing the 2004 premiership jumper. Picture: SARAH REED. Source: News Corp Australia

ROUND 5 (4-1)

Port Adelaide 10.10 (70) d West Coast 7.14 (56)

- Power's first win at Subiaco since 2010

ROUND 6 (5-1)

Port Adelaide 16.11 (107) d Geelong 9.13 (67)

- Port ends 10-game losing streak to Cats

"A few sides have had it over us in the last few years but Geelong certainly ever since that 07 grand final it's been a tough run.

"With Kenny (Hinkley) coming from Geelong we wanted to make sure we put in a good performance and we spoke about that it was about time we started beating these really big sides.

"Not just because it was Geelong and we hadn't beaten for a while, but the big sides that we hadn't really competed against in the past few years.

"That we needed to start making statements and getting ground on these sides and Geelong was the first one off.

"Another big occasion, another big game at Adelaide Oval it's hard to not get up for and for our fans to come out (47,000) the guys just love it.

"To get that result against Geelong really did give us a lot of confidence for the rest of the year knowing we can match it with these big powerhouse sides, that we were starting to make ground on these sides.

"We started off beating a few other sides that were probably outside the eight the year before, so for us to get a great result against Geelong who finished high up in the ladder in 2013 was great confidence for our group for the year."

Chad Wingard celebrates a goal against Geelong. Picture: SARAH REED Source: News Corp Australia

ROUND 7 (6-1)

Port Adelaide 20.12 (132) d GWS 15.7 (97)

- Jay Schulz kicks six

- Jared Polec has 30 and kicks three

ROUND 8 (7-1)

Port Adelaide 13.16 (94) d Fremantle 11.10 (76)

- Port wins without first-choice ruckman Matthew Lobbe

- Robbie Gray has second 30-touch game in a row

ROUND 9

Bye

ROUND 10 (8-1)

Port Adelaide 15.10 (100) d Hawthorn 13.8 (86)

- Power beats reigning premiers albeit an under-strength Hawks

- Boak has 34 and one goal

"A lot of their stars were out but we can't control that, we wanted to go out and play our game.

"That's what we spoke about before the game that it doesn't matter who they've got in the side, we go out and play the way we do and we'll win the game.

"There were a lot of areas we didn't win which we spoke about after the game ... but we played the reigning premier and beat them on our home deck so we wanted to take a lot of confidence out of it.

"For us to match it with another big side in the competition was a great result for our group."

Travis Boak and Kane Cornes after the win over Hawthorn. Picture: SARAH REED Source: News Corp Australia

ROUND 11 (9-1)

Port Adelaide 14.11 (95) d Melbourne 11.9 (75)

- Port's fast finish secures win in Alice Springs

- Boak returns to Adelaide on crutches

ROUND 12 (10-1)

Port Adelaide 19.15 (129) d St Kilda 9.5 (59)

- Chad Wingard takes mark of the year

- Power's best ever start to a season

"I was sitting up in the coaches box and you could see it coming from a mile away.

"He (Wingard) prepared himself for the leap and you knew it was coming, I think he did his hair before he went up so you just knew he was going to clunk one."

Chad Wingard takes mark of the year over Shaun Dempster. Picture: SARAH REED. Source: AdelaideNow

ROUND 13 (10-2)

Sydney 14.14 (98) d Port Adelaide 13.16 (94)

- Lance Franklin turns it on with five goals

"It was a big challenge for us and after that game we spoke about their senior players, their quality players really standing up in moments that count.

"For our whole group to learn from that, that we have to be stronger in certain moments in a game if we want to match it with the best sides.

"That's something we learnt out of that game but we came back knowing we're not far off these best sides."

Jarman Impey is powerless to stop Swans' star Lance Franklin. Picture: Toby Zerna Source: News Corp Australia

ROUND 14 (11-2)

Port Adelaide 19.14 (128) d Western Bulldogs 8.8 (56)

- Schulz bags eight goals at Adelaide Oval

ROUND 15 (11-3)

Adelaide 14.15 (99) d Port Adelaide 10.16 (76)

- Power loses Alipate Carlile and Jackson Trengove to injury

"That was really disappointing that middle patch through the year that we lost a few games and that was probably the start of it.

"We lost a bit of run and a bit of belief in our game and that hurt us. You never like losing your Showdowns at all and we went away and knew we had to work really hard to get back to what we were doing at the start of the year.

"It was unfortunate to lose Jacko and Bobby for a bit of time and we probably didn't realise how important they were until two or three weeks later, and not only the way they play and how we set up but their leadership was something we really missed."

Jackson Trengove injures his knee against Adelaide. Picture: Sarah Reed Source: News Corp Australia

ROUND 16 (11-4)

Essendon 8.14 (62) d Port Adelaide 7.18 (60)

- Woeful 7.18 costs Power victory

ROUND 17 (11-5)

Richmond 19.12 (126) d Port Adelaide 16.10 (106)

- Port falls out of the top four

- Troy Chaplin's lively goal celebration prompts Boak the following day to say he hopes Chaplin is enjoying the Tigers' season. They were 12th at the time.

"It (comment) was all in good fun. I probably look back on it now and it wasn't the greatest thing to say come the first final.

"But it was all a bit of fun and there was nothing really spoken about at the club ... there wasn't too much said until when Richmond made the final.

"It probably looked like we were getting a little bit tired but our numbers suggested that we weren't. It was probably the way we were defending that was really letting us down.

"That was why we looked a bit tired in offence - because we weren't defending well enough and teams were able to run through us.

"The best sides in the competition defend well and it makes their offence look really good."

Troy Chaplin celebrates a goal against his former club. Source: Getty Images

ROUND 18 (12-5)

Port Adelaide 10.12 (72) d Melbourne 10.9 (69)

- Power gets out of jail thanks to stunning Schulz goal

- Port sends retiring former captain Dom Cassisi out a winner

ROUND 19 (12-6)

Collingwood 11.10 (76) d Port Adelaide 10.10 (70)

- Port returns from week off with a loss

- 10-1 start becomes 12-6 as Power is labelled a 'pretender'

ROUND 20 (12-7)

Sydney 12.12 (84) d Port Adelaide 7.16 (58)

- Robbie Gray has 37 disposals

- Front page of The Advertiser's Game On declares the Power is 'over rated'

"By that stage we were starting to get our run and belief and confidence back.

"It wasn't the result we wanted, but we felt like we were starting to turn the corner. We knew it was a big challenge - it was our home deck and we expect to win at home every week - but Sydney coming down full strength it was a pretty close game.

"We took a lot of confidence out of it, we felt like we had our run back, like that confidence in our defence was starting to get back.

"Obviously there was a fair bit of bad press around at the time with the way we were playing but as a group we stayed strong, we knew we could turn the corner."

Hamish Hartlett tackled by Dan Hannebery at Adelaide Oval. Picture: Calum Robertson Source: News Corp Australia

ROUND 21 (13-7)

Port Adelaide 7.14 (56) d Gold Coast 7.5 (47)

- After losing five of its last six, Port returns to winners' list with tough win in the wet.

ROUND 22 (14-7)

Port Adelaide 20.20 (140) d Carlton 5.7 (37)

- Robbie Gray stars with 31 and four goals in 103-point win

ROUND 23 (14-8)

Fremantle 16.9 (105) d Port Adelaide 14.13 (97)

- Port loses race for top-four finish in Perth

- Finishes regular season fifth with 14-8 record

"Initially we were pretty flat, it was obviously a top four double chance game.

"It was a big challenge going to Perth and playing Freo and we were so close, but again periods in games we needed to get right.

"We sat down and had a look at those and we called them 'big moments' in games and that's what the best sides in big games do best - is in those little moments in games you need to stand up.

"We looked at that and said 'alright it's do or die now and it's up to us what we want to achieve this year', we had no second chances so we had to go out and prove that we're good enough to do it."

Jay Schulz dejected after the loss to Fremantle. Picture: Daniel Wilkins Source: News Corp Australia

ELIMINATION FINAL

Port Adelaide 20.12 (132) d Richmond 11.9 (75)

- Power stuns Tigers with eight-goal first quarter

- Port later releases Hinkley's stirring 'pay the price' pre-game speech

"Another big moment for our group and the big stage which we haven't been involved in a lot in the last four or five years.

"We were lucky enough during the year to be able to play the Sydney games and Hawthorn games, Freo games, the massive stages, and that helped us for this one.

"Our group was starting to get used to that and you could see by that first quarter they weren't fazed by that because they just wanted to go out and play footy.

"It was really led by the senior players, from that game the Hamish hit and handball, goal, that really set the standard and showed how much we wanted it."

Jack Neade celebrates a goal against Richmond in the elimination final. Picture: Mark Brake Source: News Corp Australia

SEMI FINAL

Port Adelaide 15.15 (105) d Fremantle 11.17 (83)

- Power stages remarkable comeback to claw back from 24 point half-time deficit

- Second year player Ollie Wines has 26 disposals and 7 clearances

- Hinkley rushes onto the ground and speaks to Boak post-game

"We always believed that half-time, three-quarter-time, we're never out of the game.

"And what we speak about is the work we do in the pre-season we certainly get out in the game.

"Come three-quarter or half-time I don't even need to say much to the group, the message was 'you've done the work boys, it's up to us now' and it was our younger guys like Ollie Wines and Chad Wingard, these guys standing up in these sort of moments is pretty scary because they're only pretty young.

"It was those big moments that our group had learnt during the year that we needed to stand up in and it's pretty good to see as a captain.

"The message after the game was 'yeah we've just won a game but we've still got plenty of work to do', so that was the message."

Ollie Wines and Travis Boak lead Port Adelaide off after the semi final win. Picture: Simon Cross Source: News Corp Australia

PRELIMINARY FINAL

Hawthorn 15.7 (97) d Port Adelaide 13.16 (94)

- For the second week in a row Port looks gone but fights back from four goals down

- Power finishes the game with all the momentum but unable to cause major upset

"It was nothing too different to what we speak about at three-quarter-time during the year, just asking the guys for one more effort.

"It's a prelim final, if there's a chance to go to the big stage then there's one quarter to go, you've still got plenty left in the tank, you've done all the work.

"Unfortunately we just weren't quite good enough and that's the message we've spoken about after the game and through the off-season, we weren't quite good enough in a lot of moments.

"And that's what we'll work on in this pre-season because we know we've got the group to do it.

"It was a disappointing result and we would have loved to play grand final day but I couldn't be prouder of the group and everything right back to when we started in Dubai, the amount of effort they put into their training to improve and help each other out was incredible.

"But we spoke about it at the end, we've just got to go again and go to another level.

"And they don't need too much convincing because they want it just as much as anyone. I'm proud of them and hopefully we can do it again."

Port Adelaide players get ready for the preliminary final. Picture: Sarah Reed Source: News Corp Australia

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Power starts its propaganda lineto win war

Keith Thomas in his office. Source: News Limited

"THE first casualty of war is truth." No one knows who first uttered that profound phrase or derivatives of it. Over the years it has been attributed to ancient Greek philosophers, Japanese warlords and American politicians but is as relevant today as it ever was. For truth is not a finite concept. There can be different versions. It simply depends from which perspective you view it, and whose side you are on.

Take this "war" between South Australia's two AFL clubs and the SANFL over the unexpected riches of Adelaide Oval. Each party has a different interpretation of who should get what. Propaganda is extremely important in any conflict because the weight of public opinion is powerful — powerful enough to topple governments. But can it sway the resolve of the SANFL, who appears to be fighting a battle on three fronts, to get the best for the whole of football in this state?

Port Adelaide's chief executive Keith Thomas must have felt he was losing the propaganda battle last week as he emailed his version of the truth to his 50,000 odd members. Responding to a David Penberthy Advertiser column that the SANFL had been driven close to insolvency by underwriting the mounting debt of Port Adelaide, he proceeded to list just how much money Port Adelaide had made for the SANFL. Reading KT it seemed that Port alone, no doubt a successful club that attracted big crowds, had been a one-team SANFL. Port Adelaide over all those years actually had to play another team, and over those years, most of those other teams had their share of success and crowd appeal. Did those 66,000 fans who attended the 1976 SANFL grand final come to see Sturt or Port Adelaide? Did not Glenelg, North Adelaide and more recently Central District have their crowd appeal? Then there's Norwood.

The Redlegs have been as dominant at times as Port. Thomas made his reputation at Norwood. His grand final heroics have him enshrined as a club legend. No longer, however. Judging by the Redlegs-tinged social media after KT's rant to the Port members, they have disowned him.

However, the squabble goes on. Port and the Crows have received what they were promised, but because the Stadium Management Authority made more from the catering, greed has taken hold. It's complicated by the fact that both clubs have spent more than they made. Port's observation that after attracting such big crowds, the Crows will only show a small profit seems a valid one, but one of the realities of AFL is that the more the clubs make, the more they spend.

Earlier this week an SANFL insider put a perspective on the negotiations. "How long do you think the discussion would last if we were having this dispute with the ground managers of Etihad Stadium?" he posed? "Exactly one hour", he said. "Because that was the contract we signed. You got what you were promised."

End of story.

Sadly, the SANFL can never win a propaganda war against the Crows and Port, but its status and indeed its relevance should never be undermined as it is being now.

It's Australia's oldest football league; it has guided South Australian football to be the envy of the country; it has the responsibility for all levels of football in the state, not just the bloated professionals who want to take more and more from those who can afford it least. Most importantly, were it not for the resources, courage and strength of the SANFL, there would be no Crows, no Power and no new Adelaide Oval.

Despite KT's gospel to his true believers, Port has taken far more from the SANFL than it has given.

Adelaide Oval alone will not save Port Adelaide. There has to be more revenue from its members, sponsors and other business streams. With 42,000 members already compared to 33,000 at this time last year, Thomas's propaganda is obviously working. But is it the truth?

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Hughes’ tragic death stirs McCarthy memories

A file picture of John McCarthy from 2012. Photo: Sarah Reed. Source: News Limited

PORT Adelaide Football Club has had to "check back'' with its playing group after the tragic death of Australian and Redbacks cricketer Phillip Hughes.

Outgoing football operations boss Peter Rohde has revealed the Power spoke to its players about their welfare before they left for their pre-season training camp to Dubai after Hughes' death triggered their emotions of teammate John McCarthy's passing two years ago.

"Obviously that (the players' emotional state) has been a bit of a worry for us because all those thoughts of what happened to John have been brought back again,'' said Rohde, who finished at the Power yesterday after 10 years as a key administrator at the club.

"We've checked back with the players to see if they are all right and considering the circumstances they have coped pretty well.''

Rohde said McCarthy, who died in an accident on an end-of-season players' trip in Las Vegas two years ago, was never far from the players' thoughts.

"The players certainly still refer to John a lot,'' he said.

"He's never far from peoples thoughts and in many ways he still guides the group.

"What happened to John has had a big influence over everyone at the club to try to make the most of every opportunity you get. That's the message we take out of it.

"The players don't hide from it, they're very open about it, which I think is very healthy.''

Rohde was the Port official who hurriedly flew to the US to identify McCarthy and counsel the Power players who had been holidaying with him.

He described the experience as "shocking'', revealing Port was first told of the devastating news through a "tip-off'' by McCarthy's previous club Collingwood.

"It was just a terrible time,'' Rohde said.

"John had a Victorian licence in his pocket so the initial police inquiries went through the Victorian Police via Collingwood before we were contacted.

"We then had to get our players in the US together to tell them the shocking news, which was terribly difficult.

"Boaky (captain Travis Boak) and Alipate Carlile were fantastic in that period with the way they handled things but it's still all a bit surreal to be honest.

"I had a good relationship with John and his family and it certainly rocked everyone.

"It really affected our whole playing group because everyone liked John and felt close to him.''

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Subpoena decision set for Friday

All media will be banned from the AFL ASADA hearings following the request of 32 former and current Essendon players involved in the doping scandal

Pharmacist Nima Alavi. Source: News Corp Australia

JUSTICE Clyde Croft will deliver his verdict on ASADA's Supreme Court bid to force witnesses to give evidence to an AFL tribunal on Friday.

ASADA and AFL lawyers spent today laying out their case as to why biochemist Shane Charter and compounding pharmacist Nima Alavi should be compelled to attend the AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal hearing of charges against the Essendon 34, which is due to begin on Monday.

ASADA'S JOB LURE TO STAR WITNESS

MEDIA BANNED FROM DOPING HEARING

Dan Star for ASADA said ASADA's case was that Charter had sourced banned peptide Thymosin beta-4, Alavi had prepared it for injection and that Stephen Dank, the former Essendon support person also charged with anti-doping offences, administered it to the players.

Star argued the AFL was a commercial business which has contractual power over the players, but not as their direct employer.

On that basis, said Star, the court could order Charter and Alavi be subpoenaed to attend the AFL tribunal under the Commercial Arbitration Act.

Shane Charter has been the subject of a subpoena but he isn't in the Supreme Court. Picture: Nicole Garmston Source: News Corp Australia

He was grilled by Justice Croft about whether the nature of the AFL tribunal legally meets the characteristics of an internationally recognised arbitrary body.

Renee Enbomb for the AFL began outlining her submissions this afternoon.

Alavi's lawyer Tony Rodbard-Bean and David Grace, QC, for 32 of the 34 players will likely address the court tomorrow.

Charter is not represented in the case but filed an affidavit asking that Alavi's submissions be applied to him.

Dank did not appear in court.

The 34 current and former Essendon players face two-year bans if found guilty of using the banned peptide.

Dank could be banned from the AFL for life.

Lawyers for the AFL last week told the court the subpoenas were necessary because "one party might travel overseas to avoid the proceedings".

Yesterday, Herald Sun revealed Charter was offered a potential job by ASADA as it sought to secure his co-operation in the case.

A secret email exchange shows an ASADA investigator discussing enlisting the controversial biochemist to a role with an NRL anti-doping campaign.

"The NRL is looking for a heavy hitting campaign and I have mentioned your worth," ASADA investigator Paul Simonsson wrote in an email to Charter sent on October 5 this year.

AFL legend Leigh Matthews yesterday criticised a ruling that ensures the tribunal hearings into Essendon's 2012 supplements regime will be conducted behind closed doors.

Tribunal chairman David Jones ruled on Monday that the three-week hearing would be confidential to protect the privacy of the players.

Matthews, now a board member at the Brisbane Lions, took to Twitter saying he was "disappointed" with the decision.

"Secrecy and finding the truth (are) rarely great partners," Matthews said.

"Let me add that a closed hearing and cynicism about the justice of the eventual outcome will go hand in hand."

Originally published as Subpoena decision set for Friday

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Unsigned duo still in mix for Crows captaincy

Rory Sloane leads his teammates in sprints at Max Basheer Reserve. Photo: Dylan Coker. Source: News Corp Australia

PATRICK Dangerfield and Rory Sloane's contract status will not affect their chances of captaining Adelaide next year, according to head of football David Noble.

With new coach Phil Walsh expected to appoint his first skipper next month, Noble said the fact that this year's stand-in co-captains Dangerfield and Sloane have yet to commit to the club beyond next season would not rule them out of the top on-field job.

"I don't see that as an issue at all,'' Noble said.

"I think you put your best people in place that are going to lead your club. That's what we're expecting them to do.''

Dangerfield and Sloane — out of contract at the end of next year — are among the six leadership candidates Walsh will pick from to lead the Crows in 2015, including incumbent skipper Nathan van Berlo.

Van Berlo has been captain since 2011 but did not play a game last season after rupturing an Achilles tendon in a pre-season training mishap.

Dangerfield and Sloane took over as co-captains, alternating the duties each week. The newly re-signed Taylor Walker, veteran Scott Thompson and new leadership member Daniel Talia round out the six-player leadership group.

Noble said he expected Walsh, who has declared he will pick only one captain, to make a decision by early next month before leaving it to the Crows board to ratify.

"Ultimately Walshy's coaching the team so I would imagine he would have a fair input as to what that (model) looks like,'' he said.

"The process is that fairly soon after Christmas something will be presented to the board and that needs to be ratified and then we'll let everyone know.''

In the meantime, Noble said new leadership mentor and former West Coast great Darren Glass is working closely with the leadership brigade "to help those guys''.

Just-retired star Eagles ruckman Dean Cox has rated Glass as the best leader he suited up alongside at the club.

"Darren is probing, he's questioning them (the Crows six leaders) and getting them to come to a conclusion and work things out themselves,'' Noble said.

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No slowing veteran Cornes in Power time-trial

Robbie Gray, Kane Cornes and Travis Boak after the 3km time-trial. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe Source: News Limited

PORT Adelaide veteran Kane Cornes has again blitzed his teammates in the 3km time trial as the full squad returned to training today.

With his greatest running rival Kane Mitchell (groin soreness) not contesting the run, Cornes ran his teammates off their legs.

The 31-year-old, due to play his 300th match next season, proved he had lost none of his renowned running power with a devastating physical performance.

Jared Polec and Kane Cornes contest the 3km time-trial at the Adelaide Uni loop. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe Source: News Limited

Young key defender Tom Clurey and half-back Sam Colquhoun — coming off a knee reconstruction — backed up their strong runs when the 1-4 year players returned two weeks ago by finishing second and third.

Travis Boak shows the way at Port Adelaide training. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe Source: News Limited

Captain Travis Boak and second-year utility Karl Amon also ran strongly.

Star Essendon recruit Paddy Ryder joined in full training with his new teammates for the first time.

Paddy Ryder at Port Adelaide training. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe Source: News Limited

Delisted defender Tom Logan trained with Port with the promise of being selected in Wednesday's rookie draft.

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Port not satisfied with getting close

Captain Travis Boak shows the way at Port Adelaide training. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe Source: News Limited

"CLOSE is not good enough''.

That was Port Adelaide captain Travis Boak's strong message to his teammates yesterday as the full playing squad trained for the first time since the heartbreaking preliminary final defeat to eventual premier Hawthorn 72 days ago.

Rather than put the Power's three-point loss down to some bad luck, Boak put the heat on the playing squad to improve in a sure-fire sign that Port will accept nothing less than a premiership next season.

Kane Cornes and Travis Boak after the Power's 3km time-trial. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe Source: News Limited

"Close is not good enough, we don't want to be a kick away (from a grand final),'' Boak said after the club's oldest player Kane Cornes again dominated the 3km time trial.

"The simple fact is we know we weren't good enough to play in a grand final and we weren't good enough to go right to the end.

"So we have to make sure that next year we are good enough to go all the way and right now that starts with pre-season training and pushing each other to make sure we improve."

The Power traded for what many pundits believe will be the missing link in its bid for a second AFL premiership and first since 2004 by securing ruckman/forward Paddy Ryder from Essendon.

Recruit Paddy Ryder at Port Adelaide training. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe Source: News Limited

Boak talked Ryder up as being "a fantastic player and great person'' who will add potency to the attack and help give Port's midfielders an armchair ride with his ruckwork.

But he said Ryder alone would not get the Power over the premiership hump.

"Every individual has to make sure they get better and that includes me, whether it's my captaincy or my own game,'' Boak said.

Boak praised Cornes for setting the example at the first training session for the entire playing group this off-season yesterday when, at age 31, he set a new personal best for the 3km time trial to blitz the field.

"He's the oldest player on our list and he continued to improve himself," said Boak, whose team heads to Dubai on Friday for a two-week training camp.

Brad Ebert and Justin Westhoff at training at the Adelaide Uni loop. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe Source: News Limited

Young defender Tom Clurey and running half-back Sam Colquhoun — on the comeback trail from a knee reconstruction — finished second and third and Boak said many players set personal best times.

"When we finished last season we had a chat and said we have to come back in really good shape because we weren't good enough last year, Hawthorn was too good for us, and that if we are fair dinkum we have to go to another level again,'' he said.

"We have to keep driving each other to improve, whether it's fitness, skills or competitiveness, all that sort of stuff has just got to go to another step and it was good to see the boys come back in such good shape.''

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