Port Adelaide ‘disappointed’ with AFL over top-up player refusal

Port Adelaide says it’s ‘disappointed’ with the AFL’s decision to not grant it top-up players for this season.

Power duo Paddy Ryder and Angus Monfries are both sidelined for 12 months after being banned for their part in the 2012 Essendon supplement saga.

St Kilda, Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs also have players affected by the doping ban, but only Essendon has been granted permission to sign top-up players.

‘I find it really difficult to understand,’ Port Adelaide CEO Keith Thomas told 3AW’s Sports Today.

The club is even more stumped by the decision to not allow a replacement for Monfries, given he joined the Power before the supplement program became public.

Thomas pointed out Port Adelaide would have one less player on its list than Essendon going into the season as a result of the AFL’s decision.

‘But none of this is going to be an excuse for our performance or where we finish,’ he said.

‘It was really just the principle of being disadvantaged by a situation not caused by our own doing.’

Click PLAY below to hear Keith Thomas on Sports Today.