‘Disappointed’: Footy legend Dermott Brereton has concerns for Power young gun

In every measurable facet there is, the jury is still out on Port Adelaide young gun Jason Horne-Francis and a footy legend is concerned.

OCTOBER 11, 2022: New Port Power recruit Jason Horne-Francis at Alberton. Picture: Brenton Edwards

In every measurable facet there is, the jury is still out on Port Adelaide young gun Jason Horne-Francis and footy legend Dermott Brereton is concerned.

The 19-year-old was this month traded to the Power from North Melbourne after requesting a release just one season into his AFL career, having been snapped up by the Kangaroos with the No. 1 pick last year.

His request sent shockwaves throughout the league and triggered an extraordinary four-team trade that allowed him to join Port Adelaide after a miserable season with the Kangaroos.

Horne-Francis was reported to have been disgruntled towards the end of the season and was reported to have butted heads with senior figures in the playing group.

It leaves the footy world divided on which club cut the better deal with Port Adelaide rolling the dice to pick up the super-talented teenager, while North Melbourne also handed over a first round pick in order to leave the 2022 Trade Period with Pick 2 and Pick 3.

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Horne-Francis has signed a six-year contract extension with Port until 2028.

Premiership-winning Port Adelaide player Kane Cornes, who’s normally critical of long-term deals, endorsed his former team’s decision to lock away the young gun.

Horne-Francis’ professionalism and character have been called into question in recent months and Brereton now says the questions are reasonable to ask.

New Port Power recruit Jason Horne-Francis at Alberton. Picture: Brenton Edwards

He told SEN on Saturday: “I was a little disappointed in Jason Horne-Francis, I had hoped he might have stuck it out a bit.

“(Players) know where we go, if you’re playing basketball, you get drafted, you go overseas. He’s only travelled 600 (kilometres from home).

“He’s still a young man but that’s the world you enter into… to me it says he’s probably going to take the odd shortcut along the way if that’s his mindset.”

Brereton said he believes North Melbourne could have demanded more from Port Adelaide in the trade, but believes the Power has taken the bigger gamble.

“You’re trying to get kids into your club so that when they’re hardcore, adult footballers they will win you a premiership,” he said.

“You need to see a complete and utter buy-in of club and culture.

Out the door. Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images.

“It’s still a lottery because Horne-Francis now is 19, you’re still trying to predict what he or his like will be at 23 years of age.”

Horne-Francis received caution for failing to follow club protocols for flying back to South Australia to see his mum on Mother’s Day.

The youngster was also visibly frustrated on the field throughout the Kangaroos’ dire two-win season including getting in a heated exchange with veteran teammate Todd Goldstein during the club’s Round 13 clash with GWS, while late in the campaign he was dropped to the VFL for disciplinary reasons.

And in June the former Kangaroo turned heads when he, ironically, liked a social media media mock trade post that involved him getting traded to Port Adelaide.

In the aftermath of the trade, North Melbourne legend David King was left “extremely frustrated” in hitting out at the club’s decision to let go both Horne-Francis and Pick 1, saying it’d been “dudded.”

King and Cornes clashed over the saga with the former Kangaroos premiership player saying Horne-Francis wasn’t up for the fight”.

“He’s a first-year player that spent a lot of time whinging and sooking,” he said recently on SEN.

“I’ve never seen it before. I’ve never seen a first-year player not engage in the fight like that.”

Originally published as ‘Disappointed’: Footy legend Dermott Brereton has concerns for Power young gun