Port Adelaide Coach Ken Hinkley with players Jay Schulz, Jake Neade, Hamish Hartlett, Brad Ebert and Travis Boak at Adelaide Oval. Source: Simon Cross / News Limited
PORT Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley spoke plainly when asked why the club moved to extend the contract of five players this week: it is about backing his players in.
And Hinkley has taken an active role in pushing for a record membership; Port has set an ambitious target of having 50,000 members for their first season at Adelaide Oval.
Over five days, the Power announced it had signed long-term deals with Jay Schulz, Jake Neade, Hamish Hartlett, vice-captain Brad Ebert and captain Travis Boak.
Boak, who had a fine season as captain, was the longest after he added four seasons to the year he had remaining on his contract. He's locked in until the end of 2018, Ebert the end of 2017.
"All the ones we've signed we've signed, maybe expect for Schulzy, they're all incredibly young so they have long futures ahead of them,'' Hinkley said. "And being part of a footy club, we know how important it is to keep your list together.
"I think we've got a group now that's really committed to what we're still trying to build.
"They see that as a really important part of their future and for us, clearly, we think they're massive to what we're trying to build.''
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Hinkley concedes there is a risk to long-term contracts, but it is likely to become more common as clubs seek to stave off the threat of free agency and players being chased by other clubs.
The signings come as Sydney signed Lance "Buddy'' Franklin to a nine-year deal and Gold Coast handed Jack Martin a five-year contract to begin his AFL career.
"There's always an injury risk, I think, for everyone,'' Hinkley said. "But I think you back your players in and you support them. They train the way they train and Hamish I think is on top his body conditioning stuff now.
"We've got Brad, who's fool proof; Travis is the same - they'll play a lot of games. Shulzy's the same. Jake in his first year ... I think they were pretty easy decisions to make.
"If they're in a position now that they're happy and they want to commit to the footy club for the long term ... I think a lot of football clubs would like to have the foundations of their footy club already locked away.
"I think it happens regularly to players you know are going to be around for a long time. Even the franchise clubs - we've seen the Gold Coast offer Jack Martin a five-year deal, even before he's played a game of AFL football.
"Is there risk involved? Yeah, there's some risk involved. But you back your people to perform to their level and at their best and that's what we've done.''
Hinkley has also been heavily involved in the club's membership drive. It is not for him to sit back and say that his role is just to coach the team: his philosophy is that in a club, everybody helps out where they can.
He recognised the target was ambitious, but didn't think it was unrealistic.
"It's what you have to be (bold and ambitious),'' Hinkley said. "We understand that we're in a two-team city and Adelaide has got big numbers.
"We know that for us to be successful on the field we have to be successful off the field. That means our fans and our members, they need to join up and be part of what we're trying to do.
"Last year they were fantastic; they came in big numbers.
"Hopefully they felt like we delivered on the field for them and that we can actually continue to get better.
"And here at the Adelaide Oval, to fill it with Port people would be fantastic.''
ON THE WAY UP
Port Adelaide membership and crowds
Year Members Avg home crowd
2004 36,340 29,877
2005 36,834 32,911
2006 35,648 28,546
2007 34,073 27,870
2008 34,185 22,126
2009 30,605 24,349
2010 31,388 24,256
2011 36,624 23,066
2012 37,627 19,911
2013 41,010 26,915
2014 33,282
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