Why have Port been better at retaining players than the Crows over the years?

[LoBu]

It's not a strong premise, burgoyne, wingard, polec, Harley, and now Houston, Amon just to name a few.

Player movement is 99% dictated by the size of contract first, Port pay their good players well they keep them, same as Adelaide.

 

[Freomaniac]

We've seen how West Coast have been better at retaining players than Fremantle over the years, which isn't a surprise given the Eagles are bigger, more successful and have been around longer.

However, it's a different situation in SA.
You'd think the Crows being bigger, more successful and being around longer than Port would lead to them having better player retention rates than Port but this isn't the case.
Port were really bad in 2011 and 2012 yet they managed to retain Travis Boak despite my own club actively courting him. Clubs also tried to poach John Butcher but he decided to stay at Port.
Crows player losses have been well documented and we've seen Dangerfield, Cameron, Lever and Gunston all become premiership players after leaving the Crows.

I know Port lost Houston recently but this thread topic is about judging the clubs by the collective, rather than just one season.
Crows have had more success (2 flags > 1 flag), have been around longer (1991 > 1997) and have a bigger supporter base, so why have Port been better than the Crows at retaining players over the years?

I swear Ken Hinkley plays a factor

 

[crows dude]

Tippett, Bock, Davis, Betts, Jenkins.
Compare your player retention over the years to that of West Coast, and it's chalk and cheese.

Your club are seen as the SA version of West Coast. A big, powerful, well respected club who represent a proud Australian Football state. Hence why Port having a better player retention rate than the Crows over the years has always surprised me.

OK
But still that was many years ago.
Our recent retention of players has been good.

 

[The 747]

A tiny bit harsh on Gunston. His influence has obviously waned significantly but he still has some influence on games. He's been playing as more a defensive forward on influential defenders and still kicked 7 goals (4 and 3) across 2 games against GWS with both games high pressure and decided by under a goal. He also kicked 4 against Brisbane and 3 against both Carlton and Adelaide. He kicked 5 against the Tigers and got 3 Brownlow votes. He was also top 15 in the whole comp for marks inside 50, despite being sub 5 times (and only playing 13 full games). 40 goals and assists from the little game time he got was nowhere his best but still influential at times.

Or were you thinking he remained delisted? (Cos he was re-drafted and had to be delisted to allow the minimum number of picks at the draft).

Yes, I thought he had finished up. Thanks for the correction.

 

[CrowToon]

Thread a few years too late. The 10s were the low point for this kind of stuff and it probably isn't a coincidence that this is the same decade we suffered our biggest scandals.

Also probably victims of decent development in the early-mid 10s which allowed the sharks to circle with decent deals.

I simply cannot imagine anyone is staying at Port for the history given they change their minds on who and what they are and were every few years and really - does anyone care outside of their fan base? It probably speaks more to the fact that whilst Adelaide were scoring own goal after own goal off the field, Port Adelaide were humming along on mediocrity, winning a fair few games in-season.

 

[FrankDrebin]

It's not a strong premise, burgoyne, wingard, polec, Harley, and now Houston, Amon just to name a few.

Player movement is 99% dictated by the size of contract first, Port pay their good players well they keep them, same as Adelaide.

Tom? That was 27 years ago!

 

[Tarkyn_24]

i would argue mcgovern has never had an influence on any game

Has twice influenced Collingwood games.

2024 was a pisser.

 

[Papa G]

It's not a strong premise, burgoyne, wingard, polec, Harley, and now Houston, Amon just to name a few.

Player movement is 99% dictated by the size of contract first, Port pay their good players well they keep them, same as Adelaide.

Burgoyne and Wingard were both SA boys pushed out of Port (whether warranted is debatable), Polec left because his out of his league bird wanted to go back to Vic and North threw a stupid contract at him, Harley couldn't get a game at Port. Houston, Amon and Impey are about the only ones that asked to leave, with arguably only Houston an A Grader. The Crows have been burnt way harder on good players leaving them, whether this is a cultural problem, they don't get their salary cap right, or they've just been unlucky... who knows?

 

[LoBu]

Burgoyne and Wingard were both SA boys pushed out of Port (whether warranted is debatable), Polec left because his out of his league bird wanted to go back to Vic and North threw a stupid contract at him, Harley couldn't get a game at Port. Houston, Amon and Impey are about the only ones that asked to leave, with arguably only Houston an A Grader. The Crows have been burnt way harder on good players leaving them, whether this is a cultural problem, they don't get their salary cap right, or they've just been unlucky... who knows?

There is always a long tail of reasons why players go, and i could list players from all clubs not just Port, or Adelaide, but my position is its mostly money.
Adelaide for a long time didn't pay the top dollars, and flattened out the mid range players, rightly or wrongly.
But as you point out, sometimes it's good culture to push a high performer out too.

 

[LoBu]

Tom? That was 27 years ago!

Haha, somebody put Davis and Bock on the list, so I thought I could do better

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Current Crows Ins (with Draft Guru rating)
Dawson A
Rankine B+ (will be A)
Keays B+
Hinge B
Cumming B
Neal-Bullen B
Peatling B
Burgess C+

Current Crows Outs
Cameron A
Dangerfield B+ (was A)
Lever B
Gunston B
Himmelberg B
McGovern C+

Now have more Ins than Outs, so looks like we are finally rectifying things.