Port Adelaide keen to test Chad Wingard’s value before he gains AFL free agency
PORT Adelaide is open-minded on trading dual All-Australian midfielder/forward Chad Wingard as the AFL landscape changes with free agency moves.
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PORT Adelaide will listen to trade offers for dual All-Australian Chad Wingard rather than put the “untouchable” tag on its enigmatic midfielder-forward next month.
The Power’s open stand on Wingard — launched with club president David Koch declaring “no-one is off the trade table” — signals a massive shift from AFL clubs on free agents.
Port Adelaide is ready to measure all offers on Wingard in next month’s AFL trade period rather than be stung with an inferior deal with a compensation pick from league headquarters should Wingard be picked off next year as a free agent with a “godfather offer” — as uncontracted wingman Jared Polec will be by North Melbourne.
The Power is in the same frame as Fremantle with contracted midfielder Lachie Neale (courted by Brisbane) and Greater Western Sydney with playmaker Dylan Shiel (St Kilda). All three clubs need to consider the merit — and advantages — of trading these stars at the end of their seventh seasons before they become free agents next year.
All three would command early draft picks in trades — a reward not guaranteed with free-agency compensation.
Port Adelaide’s temptation to consider trading 25-year-old Wingard should be advanced by the eagerness of low-order clubs carrying huge salary space to make massive bid for AFL stars before they are courted as a free agents by the league’s pacesetters.
So far — despite reports of clubs moving to secure Wingard’s medical records — Port Adelaide has had no approach from an AFL rival for Wingard. The first moves will be to Wingard’s manager Tom Petroro, who is publicly declaring his client is contracted to Port Adelaide for Season 2019 and has no eagerness to be traded.
This inevitably will change if Wingard is presented with a long-term, $1 million-a-season contract offer.
Port Adelaide’s list-management call in the next month is decide how Wingard fits into its premiership program — and how a trade on the eve of free agency plays to the Power’s long-term advantage.
This equation is uncertain while there is no trade offer for Wingard — and no encouraging certainty with his recent form line.
Wingard has played 147 games with Port Adelaide since he was a first-round call (No. 6) in the 2011 AFL national draft. But the great promise from Wingard’s first 50 games in 2012-13 — that were celebrate with the John Cahill Medal as club champion and All-Australian honours in 2013 — has not always held up in recent years.
After a career-high 53 goals in 2015 — his other All-Australian season — Wingard’s return on the scoreboard has fallen to 38 goals in 18 games in 2016, 24 from 19 last year and 22 from 21 this season when his form sharpened with a move to the midfield after drawing much criticism about his laconic form in attack.
Port Adelaide defence coach Nathan Bassett underlined the open thinking at Alberton this week by saying: “Chad’s a very good player. But we’ll do what’s best for Port Adelaide.
“If it’s best for Chad to stay, which we hope it is, then he’ll stay. If it isn’t, then I guess he doesn’t.”
Debate on trading Wingard does divide Port Adelaide fans as much as the game’s experts. Hall of Fame Legend Malcolm Blight last month drew comparisons between Wingard and Richmond premiership midfielder and Brownlow Medallist Dustin Martin noting Martin also was considered trade bait before his standout season last year when he was courted as a free agent by North Melbourne.
Port Adelaide’s trade basket certainly will have Polec as the Power recognises not even extending its current three-year offer to four seasons will suitably bridge the financial gap on North Melbourne’s $3.5 million offer to the South Australian.
The significant depth the Power has in its defensive stock will put Jasper Pittard, Jack Hombsch and Matthew Broadbent on the trade list when the player market opens at Etihad Stadium on Monday October 8.
michelangelo.rucci@news.com.au