It is not just the Bombers dealing with the aftermath of the 12-month suspension handed down by the WADA in the wake of the Essendon Football Club’s penalty for the 2012 involvement in an illegal supplements scandal.
Essendon actually got to do something the other teams that acquired Bombers from the 2012 were prohibited from doing: topping-up to supply replacements for the senior list.
Port Adelaide was one of the affected teams. Forward Angus Monfries was banned for the season, as was Paddy Ryder.
Ryder took a five-year deal when he joined Port in 2014, so he will be with the club when the first bounce of the 2017 season takes place, but Monfries is out of contract. He will be 30 when the next season starts, which has already led to speculation about his future, both with Port and with the AFL.
Current Port Adelaide Coach Ken Hinkley has indicated a desire to reach an agreement to secure Monfries’ service in 2017 and he was rather insistent that a formal agreement could be reached.
Hinkley, predictably, thinks his side can regroup and return to the brand of footy that made them a side with which to be reckoned in 2014, even though their fortunes declined in 2015, leaving them ninth on the ladder and home for the finals.
