Port Adelaide’s Hamish Hartlett to meet Victorian clubs this week about possible trade
PORT Adelaide vice-captain Hamish Hartlett this week will decide which of his Victorian suitors can fulfil his AFL dreams.
PORT Adelaide vice-captain Hamish Hartlett this week will decide which of his Victorian suitors can fulfil his AFL dreams.
Hartlett, 26, is by the end of the week expected to tell the Power his AFL club or clubs of preference in the lead-up to the league’s trade talks that open at Etihad Stadium on Monday.
And Port Adelaide’s asking price to close the deal remains a first-round draft pick.
Hartlett’s long-term contract — extended last year to the end of Season 2021 after knocking back significant overtures from Richmond and North Melbourne — is not expected to be the roadblock to a trade, as many suggest.
Hartlett last year sacrificed an extra $200,000 a season for the security of a five-year contract extension at Port Adelaide.
His current value will not command the $800,000 offered by the Tigers and Kangaroos last year but the new auction for his signature among Victorian-based clubs should not leave a significant part of Hartlett’s pay cheque on the Power’s salary cap.
Hartlett, a 127-game player at Alberton, has generated interest across the AFL since Port Adelaide closed its player exit interviews in early September with at least 13 players on notice they could be subject to trade talks.
The talented midfielder-defender this week in Melbourne will measure his interest in the Victorian-based clubs wanting to meet him in the lead-up to the AFL trade period.
So far, the prospect of Hartlett making a great in-town defection to Adelaide remains remote.
The long-standing interest from Gold Coast — to engineer a three-way deal with the Power and Richmond — also is unlikely to close a trade while Hartlett would prefer to play in Melbourne or stay at Port Adelaide.
The Power and Hartlett’s Adelaide-based manager, Michael Doughty, have not been in contact for more than three weeks while Hartlett has decided on his future. Club and player have stayed apart since Hartlett was emotional at the club champion count on September 9.
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Hartlett, who must approve any trade, will be the headline story from Port Adelaide’s trade plays starting on Monday when all 18 AFL clubs meet at Etihad Stadium. The other key notes for the Power will be:
Ruckman Matthew Lobbe, who could draw interest from Richmond as he seeks a club capable of fulfilling his wish to be a No. 1 ruckman.
That role at Alberton is assigned to Patrick Ryder in his return next season after completing his WADA-imposed ban from the Essendon supplements saga.
If Lobbe is traded, Port Adelaide will further consider recruiting Geelong ruckman-forward Nathan Vardy.
Uncontracted defender Cam O’Shea who will either find a club promising him more game time — or be offered a one-year contract extension.
Midfielder Brendon Ah Chee has drawn interest from Gold Coast where his brother Callum was a first-round draftee to the Suns last year.
Contracted defender-midfielder Matthew Broadbent is being considered by rival AFL clubs, but the Power and Broadbent need to be convinced on a trade.
And no option appears beyond discussion at Alberton.
“We go into this trade period with an open mind — and needing to assess how we get better in 2017,” Power football chief Chris Davies told The Advertiser yesterday.
In other list-management decisions, Port Adelaide will hold off closing a new contract with defender Tom Jonas to the end of the trade period; will honour a commitment to retain forward Angus Monfries, the second Power player caught up in the WADA-imposed bans on 34 current and former Essendon players; and most probably elevate defender Nathan Krakouer from the rookie list.