Chief Executive Officer Keith Thomas said: “There is no doubt that the fixture for next season has its share of difficulties for us, but there is also no doubt that as a club we are up to what we welcome as a test of our great resolve to get better.
“The draw has its challenges, but it also has scope for us to prove our commitment to improve both on the field and off of it.
“The Port Adelaide Football Club understands the complexity faced by the AFL when it comes to match scheduling, especially with additional teams in the competition and the priorities required under a valuable broadcast deal.
“The club also understands its own responsibility to do everything in its power to turn around its position and earn the right to higher profile timeslots in the future.”
The Power’s 2012 season kicks off at AAMI Stadium against St Kilda with a 4.10pm twilight clash on Sunday 1 April, one of five Sunday games at home for the year.
Of the six Saturday home games, two are at night including Balfours Showdown XXXIII and the crowd-pulling clash with Carlton. The Round 16 match with Essendon will be another season highlight, with Port hosting the Bombers for the first time since Round 1 2009.
“We are about to launch our 2012 membership drive which will be more than a marketing campaign,” Thomas said.
“It will be a demonstration that the people of Port Adelaide - no one more so than our Members and supporters - come first.
“And they are the people we want with us whenever we play and wherever we play. We understand that means playing an exciting brand of football and being competitive in a way that will bring them out behind us.”
2012 will see Port Adelaide play in every AFL market from the Top End to Tasmania and from Perth to the newest venues against Gold Coast Suns and the GWS Giants. That is on top of five games in Victoria.
“We are everywhere, we play in most time slots and we believe we have plenty to offer our supporters in 2012,” Thomas said.
From a football point of view, Port Adelaide meets two of the 2011 top eight teams twice (Hawthorn and Essendon), but faces reigning Premier Geelong at Simonds Stadium and grand finalist Collingwood at Etihad Stadium.
“We accept that our performance in 2011 was a long way from acceptable, but we are already taking steps to turning that around and we look forward to the challenge of testing ourselves week in and week out against whoever we play,” Thomas said.
Key Features of 2012 Draw for Port Adelaide:
Season opener against St Kilda - 4.10pm Sunday 1 April 6 home games on Saturday and 5 on Sunday, plus away Showdown in Rd 5
Saturday night Balfours Showdown XXXIII (Rd 15) - corresponding home game drew our biggest crowd of 2011, opportunity to build on marquee clash
Saturday night clash with Carlton (Rd 10) - one of our biggest crowd-drawing opponents in great time slot
Away on Easter weekend v Essendon (Rd 2) - opportunity for supporters to travel to see team play in Melbourne
Two games against Adelaide, Essendon, Fremantle, Hawthorn and Richmond
AFL Indigenous Round home clash v North Melbourne (Rd 8) - opportunity to build on Port Adelaide’s major commitment to AFL Indigenous Round
Play in every State of Australia and the Northern Territory, including the AFL’s 2 newest markets against Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney
• 4 x Melbourne (Rd 2, 4, 12, 23)
• Simonds Stadium v Geelong (Rd 14)
• Patersons Stadium v Fremantle (Rd 7)
• Metricon Stadium v Gold Coast Suns (Rd 9)
• Skoda Stadium v GWS Giants (Rd 19)
• Aurora Stadium v Hawthorn (Rd 20)
• TIO Stadium v Melbourne (Rd 17)
Rd 13 bye between two away games (Rd 12 v Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium and Rd 14 v Geelong at Simonds Stadium)
Minor round ends with Rd 23 clash against Richmond at the MCG (date/time TBC)
