Port Adelaide hits out at ‘external’ criticism over trades, happy to go to the draft
Port Adelaide list manager Jason Cripps has hit out at “external’’ criticism over trades and says the Power is happy to go to the draft for the club’s long-term gain as Sam Gray’s AFL future is clouded.
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Sam Gray has been left in limbo as Port Adelaide brushed aside stinging criticism from club great Kane Cornes and declared it achieved what it wanted from the AFL trade period.
While uncontracted small forward Gray’s future is clouded after he failed to find a new home by Wednesday’s 7pm trade deadline, the Power strongly backed in its list management team after Cornes accused it of having “absolutely buckled’’ in effectively trading key utility Dougal Howard to St Kilda for a late first-round draft pick.
“External people don’t have all the information that we do,’’ list manager Jason Cripps said.
Cornes slammed Port’s decision to offload the contracted Howard “in his absolute prime’’, saying it had “absolutely botched this and been stitched up’’, declaring the 23-year-old could be a future All-Australian.
But Cripps hit back, saying the Power had plenty of tall players and wanted to access a second first round draft selection to continue to build its list.
“We wanted a first-round pick for Dougal, which we were able to get,’’ he said.
“We decided as a club that if we could get a first rounder for Dougal in terms of someone who potentially wasn’t in our best 22 going forward — we think we’ve got a lot of talls on our list who can play at either end — then we were happy to take it into a draft that’s pretty even.
“External people, including our supporters and members, don’t have all the information that we do.
“We need to be aggressive with some of the decisions we make and we are backing that in, that we are making the best decisions for the club long term.’’
Port is hoping to cash in at this year’s national draft, just like it did a year ago.
Last year the Power loaded up with three first-round picks to select blue-chip prospects Connor Rozee (No. 5), Zak Butters (12) and Xavier Duursma (18), who all had fine seasons, with Rozee finishing runner-up in the Rising Star.
After its wheeling and dealing in the past 10 days, Port will take picks 12 — its first selection moved from 10 to 12 as part of the Howard/Paddy Ryder deal — and 18 into next month's draft, giving it five first-round selections in two years.
“It continues our strategy of adding high-end talent through the draft,’’ Power general manager of football Chris Davies said.
Port, which probably needs to make the finals next year for coach Ken Hinkley to keep his job after consecutive misses, did not bring one player in during the exchange period, while shipping out three.
It had been strongly linked to speedy Essendon forward Orazio Fantasia but he opted to stay with the Victorian club.
Howard and 2017 All-Australian ruckman Ryder were sent to the Saints and forward/ruckman Billy Frampton was traded to hometown rival Adelaide.
Howard had been contracted to Port until the end of 2022 but he sought a move after failing to be a regular in its best side this year and being told at the end of the season that the club viewed him more as a forward than a defender.
It is understood his deal with the Saints is worth a whopping $3 million over five years.
The Power, which has delisted Matthew Broadbent, Aidyn Johnson, Jack Trengove, Cam Hewett and Kai Pudney from its 2019 squad, will be armed with seven picks at the draft — 12, 18, 29, 65, 66, 67 and 70.
It plans to draft highly-rated father-son product Jackson Mead, a hard-nosed midfielder who is the son of inaugural Power club champion and triple Magpies SANFL premiership defender Darren Mead.