Port Adelaide concedes offer from North Melbourne for wingman Jared Polec too big to match

PORT Adelaide will not get into a bidding war over Jared Polec — and has all but conceded the skilful outside midfielder is on his way to a Melbourne club as coach Ken Hinkley tells of “brutal” few days.

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PORT Adelaide appears resigned to losing Jared Polec after declining to match a bid from interstate.

Polec has had his exit interview and is now weighing up a reported $700,000 a year deal over five years from North Melbourne — more than Port has offered — and football manager Chris Davies said Polec now had a choice to make.

Port’s offer is understood to have offered less money and only a three-year contract by Port Adelaide and as much as Poled has expressed his love for the Power the offer from the Kangaroos may just be too good to refuse.

Davies denied the club had been frustrated by the ongoing saga, saying it was just part of the football cycle.

“We’ve had our exit meeting with Jared,” Davies said. “And I think we’ve been really clear on the fact that he’s got offers from other clubs.

“I think the longer this goes the more likely he is to be leaving the club.

“But he’s also been absolutely categoric in saying that he loves the club; he wants to stay.

“But I think the reality is going to be that the offer elsewhere is going to be too big for him to pass up at this point.

“We put an offer to Jared previously that he knows exactly what it is and he’s got to make some decisions over the next period of time now.”

Coach Ken Hinkley on Wednesday morning singled out Polec and West Coast’s Andrew Gaff as the best two outside midfielders in the competition.

Hinkley refused to be drawn on individual players but conceded that the club would consider all options at the trade table.

“(The thought is) not so much to aggressively trade any of our players, but we’ll certainly look at all options as that’s something you have to do when you’re stuck in that middle pack — you’ve got to be prepared to look at all options,” Hinkley told SEN radio.

Port’s Jared Polec, right, looks to have played his last game for the Power. Picture: Sarah Reed

“We’ll certainly be prepared to look.”

Port Adelaide is also scouring the market for assistant coaches after Matthew Nicks, Aaron Greaves have departed.

Nicks has gone to GWS to be a senior assistant coach and Lade will coach the midfield at St Kilda under Alan Richardson.

It has not ruled out approaching favourite son Josh Francou, who has cut ties with the Crows after just one year and previously served as an assistant coach with Sydney.

“I’ve known Josh for a long time,” Davies said. “We’re looking for a couple of spots.

“We’ll look around Australia to fill those and the people who are available we’ll talk to.

“But it was interesting to see Josh leaving after a short period of time.”

Hinkley described the fallout from the Power’s late-season form slump as “brutal”.

“They’ve been a brutal few days, to be fair, as bad as it’s been,” Hinkley said.

“After the game ….it’s as bad as it can get in football when things go as bad as they have for us in the last six or seven weeks. It’s been pretty brutal.

“We were 11-4 and doing a lot of things right.

“Unfortunately we got into that pack of chasing and trying to hold ground, and then we became vulnerable and we let it slip.

“What we have done in the six years has been OK but not good enough. “We want to break through that. We need to break through that fifth to 10th position. We’ve got a need to work at that and find better solutions because the currently ones haven’t got it done.

“Solutions involve change. In the AFL industry there’s always change and this year will be no different for us. We’ll look really closely at what that change looks like.”

Originally published as Port Adelaide concedes offer from North Melbourne for wingman Jared Polec too big to match