Why ace Port Adelaide recruit Ryan Burton didn’t dig his heels in to stay at Hawthorn

Ace Port Adelaide recruit Ryan Burton says his Hawthorn papers were stamped the moment the club offered him as trade bait for Chad Wingard.

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Ace Port Adelaide recruit Ryan Burton says his Hawthorn papers were stamped the moment the club offered him as trade bait for Chad Wingard.

Admitting he was "shocked and shattered’’ to be put on the trade block with two years left on his contract, the 2017 AFL Rising Star runner-up said he was left with little choice but to leave after feeling unwanted by the Hawks.

“Being contracted obviously I had a choice but once you get put up on the trading block you don’t really feel comfortable going back,’’ said Burton after training with the full Power squad for the first time at Alberton Oval on Monday.

Ryan Burton. Picture: Tait Schmaal

“Port was on the other end and was the club that was always in the back of my mind to go to maybe down the track, it was the club I grew up loving, so it made it a lot easier (to make the move.’’

North Adelaide product Burton, 21, was on an end-of-season holiday in the United States when his manager Marty Pask rang to tell him Hawthorn has offered him as trade bait for dual Port All-Australian Wingard.

The news floored him and while he was initially reluctant to leave a powerhouse club that he loved and had drafted him at pick 19 at the 2015 national draft, a phone conversation with four-times premiership coach Alastair Clarkson sealed his fate.

“I won’t get into details about what he said but we spoke about my playing future and that

Port was a good fit,’’ Burton said.

“I think he had been chasing Chad for a while and the fact that I am an Adelaide boy, the two sort of met up.

“I was a bit shocked at the time and was looking forward to seeing my contract out but to get to come home to a club I did grow up loving made it easier.’’

The Hawks traded Burton, draft picks 15 and 35 and a future fourth-round selection for Wingard and a future third-round pick.

Burton, who was drafted while he was recovering from a shocking broken leg and dislocated kneecap suffered in a school football match for Sacred Heart which saw him spiral down the draft order, played 47 games and kicked five goals for Hawthorn in three years on the list.

Recruited as a forward after playing his junior football as a midfielder, the 191cm Burton spent most of his time at the Hawks as a playmaking halfback.

Agile and skilful, he averaged 18.2 disposals, 4.9 marks and 2.2 tackles and was so popular among the fans that they started an online petition to keep him at the club when he was mentioned as trade bait.

His dad Craig played for West Adelaide and North Adelaide, winning premierships with the Roosters in 1987 and 1991.

Burton said his first goal at Port is to earn the respect of the playing group but he has thrown his hat into the ring to play in the midfield, where the club needs an injection of class.

“I’m happy to fulfil any role required but I’d love to push into the midfield in the next few years,’’ he said.

The Power’s other major off-season acquisition, West Coast premiership ruckman Scott Lycett, also began training at the club on Monday.

Former Brisbane Lion Sam Mayes hit the track with his new teammates for the first time last week.

Originally published as Why ace Port Adelaide recruit Ryan Burton didn’t dig his heels in to stay at Hawthorn