From Tom Harley to Nathan Lonie, the worst trade deals in the Power’s history
As the start of the 2019 AFL Trade Period nears, we look back at the top-five trade blunders — and the players, draft picks and people involved — in the Power’s history. HAVE YOUR SAY
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The history of Port Adelaide’s trading in 1996, ahead of its inaugural season in the AFL, is muddied. On record, Scott Cummings made his way to Alberton for picks No. 2 and 28. But, in reality, there were a number of compensation picks — and uncontracted players — which changed hands in a number of complicated deals.
While, overall, they seemed to have learned their lesson along the way and have come out winners more often than not, the Power have had a number of howlers at the trade table — here are the top five.
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1. Tom Harley to Geelong for pick No. 37 — 1998
After making the under-18 All-Australian side, the Norwood junior was listed by Port Adelaide under its zone concessions ahead of the inaugural 1997 season.
He made one senior appearance for the club, sitting on the bench for three-quarters before tallying one goal from one kick, in Round 14, 1998.
At the end of the year, despite touring Sydney’s facilities, Harley was traded to Geelong for pick No. 37 in the draft.
Harley would go on to play 197 more AFL games and captain the Cats in two premierships — one against the Power on that unforgettable day, for all of the wrong reasons, in 2007.
Today, there’s no doubt giving up Harley was a mistake but even Geelong’s recruiting mastermind Stephen Wells admitted there was still some uncertainty when the deal was done.
“At the time, we couldn’t have anticipated he was going to be a brilliant AFL premiership captain,” Wells recalled on the club’s website in 2018.
“He was still making his way trying to find a game in AFL footy.”
But, while trading a fringe player who goes on to flourish with greater opportunity, is hardly uncommon in the football world, what Port Adelaide did with draft pick it received in return, makes the deal look even more unfavourable.
After snaring Josh Carr at No. 7, the Power took young key-position prospect Adam Morgan, who would go on to play just three games for the club, with Geelong’s selection.
The recruiting team picked again at No. 39, securing future premiership player Toby Thurstans.
The player selected in between? Brendan Fevola.
It was also the same year when both South Australian clubs overlooked 17-year-old Woodville-West Torrens star Matthew Pavlich.
After three games in five seasons, Morgan was traded to the Western Bulldogs in exchange for pick No. 34, which was used on Sandringham’s Luke Peel, who failed to play an AFL game.
Whichever way you take the story, it’s not a good ending for Port.
2. Nathan Lonie from Hawthorn for pick No. 14 — 2005
After winning the flag the previous year, Port Adelaide finished eighth in 2005, bowing out in the second week of the finals at the hands of the Crows.
As a result, the Power went hard in the off-season, securing wantaway forward Daniel Motlop from North Melbourne for pick No. 28 and 46.
But it was the trade for Hawthorn left-footer Nathan Lonie which overshadowed the entire period.
The deal was attached in a way to the movement of Motlop, Jonathan Hay (Hawthorn to North Melbourne) and Byron Pickett (Port to Melbourne) but, in isolation, it’s not terrific reading for those at Alberton.
Port Adelaide handed over its first-round selection (No. 14) for Lonie, who played 64 games in five seasons at Hawthorn and was coming off a career-best 16 disposals per game in 2005.
And, at the time, coach Mark Williams had high hopes.
“We have a great history of getting players like Nathan to reach their potential so we’re hoping that he really flourishes in our environment,” Williams said following the close of the 2005 trade period.
Lonie made an impressive start in Williams’ side but failed to play one final in his time at Alberton after being dropped on the eve of the major round in 2007.
At the end of 2008, at just 25 years old, he retired after 40 games for the Power.
In contrast, the Hawks took Grant Birchall with the Power’s selection, while Travis Varcoe and Richard Douglas were taken with the next two picks.
The 31-year-old defender is still on the Hawks list with 248 games and four premierships to his name.
Before trading for Paddy Ryder, Port did not part with a first-round selection between 2005 and 2014.
In 2013, then football operations manager Peter Rohde stated “our philosophy all along has been to keep our early picks and keep developing our own players, then supplement that along the way with some selective trading”.
Maybe the club did — for a while at least — take something out of the deal.
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3. Brent Renouf from Hawthorn for pick No. 33 — 2011
“Brent fits exactly into the age profile that we are building our next premiership team around.”
They are the words of Rohde after the Power closed the deal for Hawthorn ruckman Brent Renouf in 2011.
“Brent is young, has a mature body and has valuable experience we can build on for a long time.”
The first two statements were true.
Renouf was 23 and he had 52 AFL under his belt, including the 2008 grand final when he became a premiership player in just his eighth senior appearance.
Rohde and coach Matthew Primus hoped Renouf could form a “highly successful ruck combination” with Matthew Lobbe.
But the 200cm Renouf’s stay at Alberton wasn’t a long one.
The No. 24 pick from the 2006 draft battled injury in two seasons at the Power before being delisted at the end of 2013.
In a show of faith from Ken Hinkley, who took over from Primus at the end of 2012, Renouf was re-drafted as a rookie in the same off-season.
But after another serious knee injury, Renouf’s time at Port Adelaide came to an end a year later after just 16 games.
There was no first-round selection involved in the deal, keeping to Rohde’s philosophy, but pick No. 33 was still a big price to pay given what the Power eventually received in return.
For further context, pick No. 28 was main part of a deal which saw Brad Ebert return home from West Coast in the same period.
Hawthorn used the selection on wingman Brad Hill, who would leave the Hawks at the end of 2016 a three-time premiership player.
While, in hindsight, it’s easy to suggest Port would’ve done the same thing if they kept the pick but with Saints Jack Newnes and Jimmy Webster the only two players still on AFL lists between No. 33 and the Power’s next selection at No. 45, the end result may not have been any better.
But there’s no argument this trade was a failure.
4. Jay Nash for Pick No. 24 from Essendon as part of Shaun Burgoyne deal — 2009
In the deal for Shaun Burgoyne, Port Adelaide received two first-round draft picks — No. 9 from Hawthorn and No. 16 from Essendon. The later selection came as a result of the Hawks sending sharpshooting forward Mark Williams to the Bombers.
But in the other part of the complex three-way trade, the Power sent its second-round selection (No. 24) to Essendon in exchange for South Australian Jay Nash.
The skilful half-back played 43 games in five seasons on the Bombers’ list after being drafted from Central District with pick No. 28 in the 2003.
And his return home was a long-time coming.
“We have had our eye on Jay since he was drafted and really rate him as a half-back or on-baller,” Rohde told the club’s website after the trade went through.
But 12 months later, it was over almost as quickly as it began with Nash delisted after just eight games at Alberton.
Port Adelaide took John Butcher (8), Andrew Moore (9) and Jasper Pittard (16) with its first three picks in the draft, while the Bombers snapped up Jake Carlise with pick No. 24.
In the next 15 selections, Mitch Duncan, Jack Gunston, Max Gawn, David Astbury and Sam Reid were picked.
Sure, Port Adelaide, who didn’t make another selection in the 2009 draft, had its chance to take all seven of those players, another crack might have been handy.
While the trade cannot be judge in complete isolation, the move to bring Nash to Alberton lessened the Power’s compensation for Burgoyne, who will commence his 19th season in the AFL in 2020, dramatically.
5. Jack Watts for pick No. 31 from Melbourne — 2017
The former No. 1 draft pick’s last full game, against his old side in Round 1 this year, was his most-impressive in Power colours and best for some time.
Just as Watts, who had settled into a new role across half-back, appeared to be in a good spot, he broke his leg and dislocated his ankle in a nasty incident in the final quarter of the Round 2 clash with Carlton.
The facts are, however, Watts was relegated to the SANFL after just 12 matches in his first year at Alberton and he’s played 21 games in two seasons.
But this one is more about Port’s decision, after handing its first pick to Brisbane a year in advance in 2016, to give up its second-round selection in the 2017 draft.
The Power didn’t enter the draft until midway through the third-round, watching on as Melbourne took mature-age gun Bayley Fritsch with No. 31 and Tom McCartin, Charlie Constable, Jack Petruccelle and James Worpel were snapped up in the following 16 selections.
Port were delighted — and rightly so — to snare ruckman Sam Hayes at No. 47 but another young player would be more than handy right now after it conceded on its topping-up approach a year later.
List manager Jason Cripps said he was confident Watts would “make our team better” following the trade.
Can Watts still do so after he recovers from the injury?
The jury is out.
Originally published as From Tom Harley to Nathan Lonie, the worst trade deals in the Power’s history