Bone’s beef: Time is right for the Power to seal the Wingard deal with Hawthorn
PORT Adelaide should not look a gift horse in the month and accept the trade deal offered by Hawthorn for Chad Wingard because it is not going to get much better.
- Power’s nightmare draft
- Star power to the Saints
- Port Adelaide vows to play hardball
- Draft showdown looms
TAKE the deal.
After Chad Wingard made it public Hawthorn was his preferred destination on Thursday — the Power rejected the Hawks offer.
Port Adelaide apparently knocked back Hawthorn’s offer of pick 15 and gun Croweater Ryan Burton but I suggest the Port Adelaide Football Club should accept the deal and move on quickly because it will not get much better.
Yes the Power has time on its side and there is no need to agree immediately, but they must not look this gift horse in the mouth.
Such a trade was once considered unthinkable but it is now a reality and Wingard is set to follow former Power star Shaun Burgoyne and move to the brown and gold in 2019.
This is a good deal for the Power, Ryan Burton is a star in the making.
The athletic 21-year-old has speed to burn, a powerful leg and evasive skills that will only get better with more games.
Burton’s 2018 season was not his best , but there were reasons and if the Power can convince him a move back home is in his best long term interests, they will have secured a 10-year player of great character.
The youngster comes from good South Australian stock.
His father Craig was a quality life saver , dual SANFL Premiership player at North Adelaide and Crows runner.
Burton will fill an immediate hole at the Power following the departures of Jasper Pittard and Jared Polec and add some much needed rebound to a stagnant defence.
There will be understandable hesitation to release Wingard. He is a potential match-winner but he has not produced anywhere near his best for three consecutive seasons.
One poor year is understandable, two is concerning but three is completely unacceptable.
Neither party had any other choice than to part company.
A fourth under-performing season for a high-paid player could have had dire consequences for the entire club. Honestly, there is no other option.
I know fans from both clubs will be disappointed but that will be brief.
Contracts mean little and if players don’t produce the goods, they are disposable.
The Power’s loss of Wingard is no bigger shock than Sydney’s loss of three-time All Australian and premiership hero Dan Hannebery, or the Gold Coast Suns losing Tom Lynch or the looming move of Melbourne’s Jessie Hogan.