Primus joins Suns staff

Updated September 26, 2012 22:06:38

Former Port Adelaide coach Matthew Primus has joined Gold Coast to work as an assistant to Guy McKenna.

Primus will act as the midfield coach with the Suns, taking over the role from Shane O'Bree, and also take on a brief to work with the club's ruckman - the position he excelled in during his playing career at the Power.

"We are thrilled to confirm that Matthew has accepted an assistant coaching role," Suns general manager Marcus Ashcroft said.

"He brings considerable experience and we believe he has a significant amount to offer our club.

"Matthew's ability to educate and develop our ruckmen and key position players, as well as working with our midfield group ensures our playing group will benefit from the best possible tuition as we continue to develop our list."

Primus said he was looking forward to heading north to continue his coaching career.

“It was great to have the Gold Coast SUNS show interest in having me join their coaching staff and looking at their list," he said.

"It’s clear they have a great bunch of young players and I am certainly looking forward to working with them when preseason training gets under way, everyone who knows me knows I love coaching and I love teaching, so this is a great opportunity.”

The appointment follows the Power's sacking of Primus after their round 19 loss to Greater Western Sydney last month.

He guided the Power for 47 matches, having taken over from Mark Williams during the 2010 season.

Tags: sport, australian-football-league, carrara-4211

First posted September 26, 2012 12:20:20

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Primus gone as Port Adelaide coach

Updated August 08, 2012 13:37:05

Port Adelaide Football Club has decided not to proceed with an optional third year on the contract of senior coach Matthew Primus.

Primus will not coach for the rest of the current season.

The longest-serving of the assistant coaches, Garry Hocking, will be caretaker coach for the last four rounds and the club is starting the search for Primus' replacement.

Primus, 37, said he was disappointed but accepted the unanimous decision of the Power's board.

"I thank the Port Adelaide Football Club for the opportunity to play and to coach," he said.

"It hasn't worked out the way I wanted. I had a plan to become a successful team and I won't get the opportunity to see it through. I love the club and I love the game and while I won't get the opportunity to see that through with Port Adelaide I hope that I will somewhere else.

"I maintain that this club is on an exciting journey, full of promise and with a group of players willing to be good players and [who] want to be a lot better than what they are now."

Primus urged the football club's fans to stick with it through the ups and downs, insisting there would be a brighter future.

He said he had been given the option of coaching out the 2012 season.

"You know, I had the choice to coach the next four games but I don't think I'd have the passion or the substance," he said.

The club has also announced Brett Duncanson is standing down as president, having held the job since 2009.

"We're in a very competitive industry and things don't always go the way we want them to, despite the best efforts of everybody involved," Duncanson said.

"I have supported Port Adelaide all my life and it's been an honour to serve as a director and president.

"I am particularly proud of the role I have played in reuniting the club, in making plans for AFL at Adelaide Oval and in reducing the club's debt, but this is a chance for a fresh set of eyes and a new energy."

Player Travis Boak refused to make any comment when he arrived at the club earlier.

Boak is out of contract and close to Primus.

He refused to say if the coaching decision would affect his future at Port.

There was a meeting of the senior players just before the formal announcement was made by the club.

Primus played 137 games for Port from the time it joined the AFL in 1997.

He retired as a player in 2005, then became an assistant to Mark Williams in the coaching team.

Primus stepped in as interim coach in 2010 when Williams was sacked and, with some early wins under his leadership, he became senior coach soon after, winning the job ahead of Chris Scott, who went to Geelong instead and took the Cats to a premiership in his first season.

Port has struggled under Primus as coach, managing just five wins this season.

The Power's CEO Keith Thomas said the club was taking some difficult decisions now with a longer-term view to being a highly-competitive AFL force once its home games moved to Adelaide Oval from 2014.

He denied suggestions the club was in crisis.

Tags: australian-football-league, sport, sa, port-adelaide-5015, adelaide-5000, australia

First posted August 06, 2012 10:52:44

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North tough talk means nothing: Primus

Updated May 18, 2012 17:09:17

North Melbourne's week of tough talk will count for nothing when their players meet Port Adelaide on Saturday, according to Power coach Matthew Primus.

North coach Brad Scott has been scathing of his players' effort in their three-goal loss to the lowly Western Bulldogs last weekend.

But Primus has warned Scott to expect Port to follow the Bulldogs' winning blueprint when the two teams meet at Football Park.

"Their coach has certainly been saying a lot of things in the press," Primus said.

"But it's how your players come out and want to play."

Primus said Port, seeking to end a six-game losing streak, would topple North if Power players repeated the pressure the Bulldogs put on the Kangaroos.

"We know exactly how they're going to play," Primus said of the Kangaroos.

"Their form in the first four games of the year was pretty good.

"They were disappointing last week but I thought the Bulldogs brought pressure to them - and if we can replicate that, I'm sure we will get the same result as the Bulldogs did.

"A key is putting a fair bit of pressure on them."

Primus made five changes to Port's side, with only one forced by injury.

Those dumped included midfielder David Rodan, who was omitted for the second time this season despite being highly regarded by rival clubs.

Rodan collected 18, 16 and 17 disposals since being recalled in round five - but Primus said that was not enough.

"We're excited by what David can do but he has got to keep continuing to work on what he's struggling to do," Primus said.

"And we're struggling to find a lot of onballers who find a lot of the ball, and David hasn't been able to do that.

"We're just not generating enough of the ball.

"Our top possession winners are 25 or 23 possessions and there's one or two midfielders getting that - not three or four of them.

"We need three or four of them standing up and, if we do that, we will get a result."

AAP

Tags: sport, australian-football-league, alberton-5014, north-melbourne-3051, sa, vic, australia

First posted May 18, 2012 14:43:39

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Primus on the edge at Port

Updated May 07, 2012 12:47:30

Port Adelaide coach Matthew Primus' position comes under renewed pressure this week after his side's demoralising loss to Richmond.

Just two weeks after an encouraging performance in defeat to Collingwood, a loss in the Showdown to the Crows and 37-point drubbing by the Tigers has sapped any hopes Power fans had for this season.

Adelaide Advertiser writer Michelangelo Rucci feels it is "only a matter of time" until Primus loses his job but puts the blame on the club and players who he says have "betrayed" the popular ex-captain.

Primus has won just four times in the 28 matches he has been in charge since replacing Mark Williams in Round 15 of the 2010 season and understands there will be unwelcome focus on him.

"I'm feeling the heat that we haven't won, no doubt, and that we haven't got the rewards for what we think we've been able to do over the last month, but that comes with the job," Primus said after the match.

"I'm the coach of the club, our performances haven't been great so no worries, I expect to be under the spotlight.

"We'll get bashed this week and so be it, our performance dictates that."

Performance-wise, Port Adelaide has struggled to recover from the team's record 119-point loss to Geelong in the 2007 Grand Final.

Since then, the Power has finished 13th, 10th, 10th and 16th.

The sequence is set to continue, with the Richmond loss leaving Port Adelaide in 15th position, with a worse defensive record than every side bar the two expansion clubs - Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney - and Melbourne.
Primus insists he sees improvement in some of his players but concedes they have to show this on the field if he is to keep his position long-term.

"It will come down to how quickly we develop, that's all it is," he said.

"That will be what it will be - but I'm fully committed to developing this group as quickly as we can.

"We got exposed for where we're at - we're behind where Richmond are at the moment.

"I can see development by individuals, I can see development at periods of the time when we play, so yeah I've got full belief in the path we're heading down."

Tags: sport, australian-football-league, australia, sa, alberton-5014

First posted May 07, 2012 11:17:05

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Pressure key for Port: Primus

Updated April 29, 2012 11:12:13

Matthew Primus believes Port Adelaide will triumph over the Crows in the Showdown if his side plays with the right intensity.

The Power have won just one of four games so far this season, though performed encouraging in defeat to Collingwood last week.

Primus believed the "simple things" could deliver Port a triumph.

"The amount of pressure we place upon Adelaide - we have got to be able to place more than we have been able to in the last month," he said.

"And we think if we can do that, attacking-wise and being able to score when we need to will look after itself."

Primus said the intense rivalry with the Crows was just one part of the picture this week for Port, with the team frustrated at not putting together a consistent performance for a whole match yet this season.

"Playing Adelaide adds a bit of spice to it," Primus said.

"But we're sick of playing three quarters, three quarters and a bit, and having 20 minutes of footy cost us.

"We think we are capable of winning games of footy if we can just stick at it a little bit longer ... we are desperate for a win - as much as we were last week and the week before."

Primus admitted Port have to play a diferent way without Robbie Gray who suffered a season-ending knee injury last week.

"Robbie is unique," Primus said.

"We don't have anyone who can do what he can do forward and we have probably a couple of guys who can do what he can do on-ball.

"He's a unique player for us, we can't go like for like with him.

"But we have to keep looking at what is the best balance for us to generate enough ball and be dangerous for us up forward too."

Adelaide coach Brenton Sanderson says the Crows must improve despite lying in fifth position with three victories and a loss.

Sanderson acknowledged the football jury remain uncertain about his club, given they're yet to beat a finalist from last season.

"We have still got a long way to go and we're still improving, we're certainly not playing our best footy yet," Sanderson said.

"We can't keep playing the way we are and having wins.

"We need to improve.

"So we have addressed some issues this week, as we have right from our first NAB Cup game - little things that we need to keep improving on.

"We feel like we're making small improvements but we can't keep standing still."

Sanderson has recalled Ian Callinan for the derby after the goalsneak recovered from a calf complaint.

AAP

Tags: sport, australian-football-league, adelaide-5000

First posted April 29, 2012 08:29:14

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Media Call: Matthew Primus

Published:Friday, June 3, 2011 2:48 AESTExpires:Thursday, September 1, 2011 2:48 AEST

Port Adelaide coach Matthew Primus admits the club's dire financial position is affecting his players.

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Port's win all about persistence: Primus

Posted May 29, 2011 15:19:00

Port Adelaide coach Matthew Primus says his team's drought-breaking AFL win over Richmond in Darwin reinforces what the Power can do when they fight out an entire match.

Despite some early dominance in general play the Power trailed by nine points at half-time but showed the type of character that has been too rarely evident this season to win 13.11 (89) to 10.14 (74).

It was the club's first win in six games and just its second for the year, but Primus said the hard-fought victory over in-form opposition should build belief.

"I think moreso (it will create) belief and confidence amongst each other about how we want to play and how we want to go about our football," he said.

"It's only our second win for the year, but by no means are we getting carried away with it.

"For the players it shows they have a bit of resilience. It's been a difficult six weeks, but they've kept on backing up and proving how they want go about their footy.

"We played against a pretty good opposition, who've had a good bit of form in the last couple of months and they got their just deserts, the players."

Primus said Port had previously only produced the intensity it needed for parts of games.

He said his team's ability to maintain it for a full match against the Tigers vindicated the coaching staff's belief that the issue had been mental, rather than physical.

"We've always been of the view it's our concentration and our ability to keep sticking towards our game plan rather than anything else, and we've been drumming that into the guys," he said.

He said the challenge was now to repeat that effort at home to Carlton next weekend.

"We'd like to build on it for sure. It's a tough competition, and we've got to back up," he said.

"All it does is show the players the (value of our) beliefs on how we want to play ... we'll bounce back and look forward to Carlton."

- AAP

Tags: sport, australian-football-league, australia, nt, darwin-0800, sa, adelaide-5000, port-adelaide-5015, vic, richmond-3121

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Primus admits Power is struggling

Port Adelaide coach Matthew Primus has called on supporters for help after admitting the AFL club is wrestling with a $2 million debt.

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Tags: australian-football-league, port-adelaide-5015

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Media Call: Matthew Primus

Published:Saturday, May 21, 2011 6:27 AESTExpires:Friday, August 19, 2011 6:27 AEST

Port Adelaide coach Matthew Primus said the club will not waver from its youth and development policies and asked for Power fans' understanding as their young players find their feet in the AFL.

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Media Call: Matthew Primus

Published:Friday, May 20, 2011 8:18 AESTExpires:Thursday, August 18, 2011 8:18 AEST

Port Adelaide coach Matthew Primus said he hopes both Alipate Carlile and Jay Schulz will take on Fremantle at Football Park on Saturday.

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Media Call: Matthew Primus

Published:Saturday, April 23, 2011 7:04 AESTExpires:Friday, July 22, 2011 7:04 AEST

Port Adelaide coach Matthew Primus agreed that the Power's upset loss to the Gold Coast Suns at Football Park makes his club the laughing stock of the AFL and that the result was the most challenging point of his short coaching career.

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Powerful win won't repair Port: Primus

Port Adelaide coach Matthew Primus says a stirring comeback triumph over Adelaide has not repaired his AFL club's battered brand.

Port Adelaide coach Matthew Primus says a stirring comeback triumph over Adelaide has not repaired his AFL club's battered brand.

"All it says is what level we need to play at to be competitive," Primus says.

"It doesn't help our brand significantly, but if we play like that for the next 18 weeks of the season then we will get something out of it."

Port had been pilloried after three consecutive losses to start its season, but shocked the Crows in the latest instalment of the bitter rivalry between the South Australian clubs.

Trailing by 34 points midway through the second quarter at AAMI Stadium, Port was on the brink - no club has made the finals after four consecutive losses to open a season.

But the Power responded brilliantly, kicking 12 of the next 13 goals on their way to a comprehensive 32-point victory.

"We have got to learn from that," Primus said.

"We have got an ability to play like that next week and by round 18, if we're playing in a similar way, we'll be a pretty good footy club if we learn.

"We have got to learn, our players have got to learn - as a coaching group we'll keep ramming it down their throats ... that is the attitude and intensity we need to play at.

"If we do, we play a good brand of football and we're difficult to beat."

Primus was adamant the victory over Port's arch rival would count for little if not matched next week against Gold Coast.

"We can't be a team that gets up for Adelaide or whatever other teams we have rivalry against," he said.

"We have got to do it week in, week out.

"And it's a great test for us next Saturday - Gold Coast, on a Saturday afternoon here - it's a team everybody expects us to beat and we have got to come out with that mentality."

Primus said the reason for the turnaround in fortunes against an Adelaide outfit now with two losses from three starts was simple.

"There is a lot that goes on in AFL footy and a lot gets talked about with zones and pressure and press up," he said.

"But we just won the ball."

Meanwhile Crows coach Neil Craig said many of his players are just trying to survive, rather than thrive.

Craig is hopeful of regaining three experienced players for Adelaide's away trip to face Carlton on Saturday night.

Defenders Scott Stevens (illness), Richard Tambling (ankle) and Michael Doughty (leg) could all return against the Blues.

Some seven regulars have been sidelined since the Crows' round one win over Hawthorn, with Craig forced to explore his club's callow depth.

"At the moment our capacity to maintain for four quarters is a fair way off," he said.

"And it is the composition of our side at the moment.

"You're asking a lot of guys to play hardened AFL footy when some of them are just trying to survive."

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Primus plans not sinking in: Brogan

Posted April 12, 2011 17:17:00

Port Adelaide players are taking longer than expected to grasp the philosophies of new coach Matthew Primus, ruckman Dean Brogan says.

But Brogan says morale remains high despite three losses to start the season, including away thrashings to Collingwood and Geelong.

Primus was wary of deflating his young group with harsh critiques, Brogan said.

"Having a new coach on board and all the things that happened in the off-season, it just takes time," he said on Tuesday.

"Matty's philosophies are taking a lot longer (to grasp) than what we really wanted to.

"We have got 19 games to go ... you don't want to deflate the group too much, he (Primus) has been very positive but he just keeps selling the same message and eventually it's going to happen."

But Brogan said feedback from their loss in Geelong on Sunday had been honest.

"You can't hide from the fact that we got smacked by 79 points in Geelong," he said.

"And to be fair, our last quarter, we may as well have not even been there, you can't sugar coat that, you can't hide.

"But at the same time you have got to look at how we played in the first quarter and really take that away from the game - as well as the bad stuff, take the positives more than the negatives."

Brogan, who has been acting captain in the absence of the injured Dom Cassisi, said Port's challenge was to sustain their efforts.

"We all know it hasn't been a great start for us but it hasn't been all doom and gloom," he said.

"We have actually played some really good footy at times, the biggest thing for us is being able to sustain that over four quarters."

- AAP

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