Port Adelaide list analysis: Who stays, who goes and who should the Power target?
Where is Port Adelaide’s list at? Find out who is out of contract, who the trade targets are and who rival clubs are chasing in our comprehensive trade report.
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After an 0-5 start, the Power are in the mix to make the eight, but face a tough task to play finals.
So what list moves can the Power make to first get them back into the top eight and secondly back in contention for the flag?
Where they’re are at
The Power have an interesting list. There’s a lot of young talent such as Zak Butters, Connor Rozee, Mitch Georgiades, Xavier Duursma, Lachie Jones, Miles Bergman to name a few and then the older stars such as Travis Boak, Robbie Gray, Charlie Dixon and captain Tom Jonas. Ollie Wines, Aliir Aliir, Dan Houston, Karl Amon, Ryan Burton and Orazio Fantasia lead the 25-27 age group but the Power have focused on adding young talent to the club in recent years.
It has worked for the past couple of years with the Power making two preliminary finals in a row but Ken Hinkley’s side is in a real struggle to make finals this year after a 0-5 start to the season.
This came with Dixon injured and while the Power would have liked him available the upside is that it has allowed Todd Marshall to really emerge as a key forward for Port, justifying Hinkley’s faith in him after some inconsistent years.
The fact that Port Adelaide’s game plan going forward was so dependent on the 31-year-old Dixon wasn’t a great sign in terms of sustainability but in his absence Marshall, Jeremy Finlayson and Georgiades showed some promising signs.
Sam Hayes has stepped up in the absence of Scott Lycett. Rozee and Butters are playing more in the midfield this year, the area that was identified as an area of improvement after the preliminary final loss to the Western Bulldogs, but do the Power need to recruit a ready made on-baller to take them to the next level. Gray (34) and Steven Motlop (31) being closer to the end of their careers mean the Power will soon have a little bit of an issue at small forward, especially with Fantasia’s injury troubles of late.
The Power have plenty of halfbacks, the question will be if they can turn some of them into midfield contributors.
Who is out of contract?
After a signing splurge at the start of the season the Power have significantly cut down who they need to recontract.
There’s still some big names unsigned at Alberton such as Travis Boak, Robbie Gray and Karl Amon to name a few.
Lachie Jones is also still to sign a new deal but is expected to put pen to paper at some point.
Others out of contract at the end of the year include Trent McKenzie, Sam Mayes, Jed McEntee, Martin Frederick, Jackson Mead, Steven Motlop, Taj Schofield, Trent Dumont, Sam Skinner and Jake Pasini.
Pasini recently ruptured his ACL, just when he was in the mix to make his debut at AFL level.
Who is eligible for free agency?
Amon headlines this with speculation over his future at Alberton heating up.
Carlton and St Kilda are understood to be interested in the 26-year-old, who was in the All-Australian squad last year after a career best year.
Boak and Gray are also eligible for free agency, as are the previously delisted Dumont, Mayes, McKenzie and Skinner.
Motlop is also eligible.
Who should the Power target?
Josh Dunkley, Western Bulldogs
There was a bit of talk around whether Dunkley could be lured over to South Australia with his partner playing netball in Adelaide. He would be the elite talent the Power crave and significantly improve their midfield.
Tim Taranto, GWS
Out of contract at the end of the season, it seems like GWS could face a decision between Taranto and teammate Jacob Hopper. Taranto would offer the Power a midfield/forward mix that they arguably currently are lacking.
Jacob Hopper, GWS
Hopper should be the second choice for the Power if it could chose between him and Taranto but he is a handy consolation prize. Would strengthen the Power’s midfield, and do the grunt work while Butters and Rozee shine.
Which Power players are gettable?
Karl Amon
As mentioned before Amon is the one to watch when it comes to contracts at the Power. Port don’t often lose players it wants to keep but the longer this goes on the more likely it seems that Amon will test free agency.
Trent McKenzie
Probably stuck behind Tom Clurey as the Power’s third tall, McKenzie has shown enough over the past two seasons that he can be a handy player for a finals team.
Mitch Georgiades
Won’t be out of the Power team for long, and is right up there in their future plans. But as long as he is out of the team West Coast and Fremantle should be asking about the WA key forward.
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