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Cornes: Port Adelaide must “move on” from what’s holding them back
SEN • November 11th, 2025 6:00 pm
Port Adelaide carries a storied footballing history, winning 36 SANFL premierships in the infamous prison bars before their promotion to the AFL in 1997... but is it time to let go of the past?That’s the view of Power legend and premiership player Kane Cornes, who believes that the constant referencing of the club’s past success does nothing to address their current state.
Since joining the AFL, Port Adelaide has won one premiership back in 2004, led by the likes of the Cornes brothers, Peter Burgoyne, Gavin Wanganeen and Norm Smith Medallist Byron Pickett.
However, since their triumph 21 years ago, the Power have made it to the final day of September just once, losing to Geelong by a record 119 points in 2007 – the biggest defeat in Grand Final history.
Under Ken Hinkley, the Power certainly enjoyed a period of top football, making finals in seven of his 13 years at the helm, and now, with Josh Carr officially taking the reins, the club has a chance to reset with a clean slate.
“Everyone in this room is really clear in the direction we want to head to as a football club, but a part of that is actually understanding where we’ve come from,” Carr said in his first club address on Monday morning.
“We understand for over 155 years, we’ve won so many premierships, but every one of those premierships was off the back of a build, and that’s where we are at right now.
“We are going to build something really special, and every time we come into these meetings, there is purpose behind it. There is intent on where we want to get to.
“For us, right from now, when we walk out this door, it is about us getting better.”
While their SANFL history certainly stands up, Cornes believes that it is time for the club to stop looking back, and to start building a new legacy rather than living off the successes of the past.
“I am urging Josh and the Port Adelaide footy club to move on from the past,” Cornes said.
“I think the past has held that footy club back so much that they need to move on. You walk through the Port Adelaide change rooms, and I’m not sure if this is the case now because they just renovated the facility, but all of the pictures from Port Adelaide’s 36 premierships are across the walls.
“Everyone wants to tell you about the history and the success of the Port Adelaide footy club. Everyone wants to tell you about the premierships that they won.
“I’m almost certain that an 18-year-old walking into play AFL footy for Port Adelaide in the AFL does not give a stuff about Port Adelaide Magpies winning the premiership in 1939, in a SANFL team that had seven or eight teams. It just doesn’t compare to the now.
“Adem Yze ripped down all the recent premiership evidence at Richmond recently. I thought that was a good move. Let’s move on – and that’s recent, that’s AFL success in the last five, six years at Richmond.
“Port Adelaide keep going back and harping on the 36 premierships that they’ve won and the history of 150 years. The history is fine – it’s what your club has been built on and born on.
“I am just urging Josh, I am urging Port Adelaide, and I am urging the supporters – it’s not about what’s been done in the past when you played SANFL footy against seven teams and won the premiership every second year.
“It doesn’t have any bearing on the success that you are hoping to have on the future. I just hope that that is the last time that any poor 18-year-old that’s walking into the Port Adelaide footy club has to hear about a premiership that they won in 1939. He just couldn’t care about it.”
Beyond the lack of relevance that Cornes references, he also believes that the continuous reminders surrounding the club's SANFL success has held the club back in their AFL venture.
“Honestly, they need to move on, and I reckon it is significantly holding the club back,” he continued.
“The expectation is that Port Adelaide just win... it is not the case.
“Port Adelaide have won one premiership in the AFL; it’s been a long long time. Now it is about moving forward and creating your own legacies and your own success – stop looking back to the past, which they do far too much!
“They are obsessed, and this isn’t a crack at Josh, the footy club as a whole is obsessed by the past, and they have got to move forward. That has got to the top. It has got to come from board level down right though the footy club.
“They’ve got to move on and stop looking in the rear-view mirror about the past from 100 years ago.”
While passionate that club leaders must address the here and the now, Cornes does suggest that the history should not simply be wiped from memory, however, the club needs to stop the constant call backs to SANFL premierships as a piece of relevant history.
“In the museum, no worries,” he said.
“It’s across the oval, you’ve got all the history there and you can walk through… but as you walk into the AFL facility, it is about the now.
“I never hear Sam Mitchell speak about the four premierships he won. When has Sam Mitchell ever spoken about 2008? Never! When has Chris Scott ever spoken about 2007? Never! In fact, I don’t think he’s ever referenced it, let alone premierships that they’d won in the ‘50s.
“It must be the only club that continually harp on and are obsessed with the past. It has set them back; it’s raised expectations far too high that Port Adelaide just win… that was the case when it was a little bit easier.
“It’s pretty hard to win them now, and it just has no bearing or relevance on what you’re going to do in the future. This isn’t a crack at Josh, of course you can reference the history briefly, but it is honestly time to move on.”
