Port Adelaide will consider trading into top 10 at AFL National Draft for second consecutive year
Recruiting manager Geoff Parker says Port Adelaide is ready to pounce should a club with a top-10 pick be open to trading on draft night next week
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Port Adelaide could have its second top-10 pick in a year with the club considering a draft-night trade that would deliver it one of this year’s premier prospects.
Armed with three first-round selections (12, 16 and 18) for the second consecutive year, national recruiting manager Geoff Parker said the club was open-minded about packaging two picks to move into the top 10.
Parker revealed that list manager Jason Cripps had already sounded out rivals about the possibility of moving up the draft order.
“We wouldn’t be against that,’’ Parker told the The Lowdown AFL Draft Podcast.
“We’ve got multiple picks in the back end of the first round and if, for example, it gets to pick six or seven and we think one or two of the players that we really like are going to get to that next pick, then you can get on the phone to Melbourne and say, ‘we want to do this, are you interested?’
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“Jason has already had some brief discussions with a couple of clubs that are picking in front of us about whether they might be interested (in trading) down the track.
“They might also be thinking the player that they are considering might go a bit further out.
“At the moment everyone is a bit open-minded in terms of what might happen, but I’m pretty sure there will be some movement on that first night in terms of picks.’’
The Power, which have three first-round selections after trading Dougal Howard and Paddy Ryder to St Kilda and picks to Brisbane, last year hit the draft jackpot, taking Rising Star runner-up Connor Rozee (5), exciting small forward Zak Butters (12) and running machine Xavier Duursma (18).
Parker questioned whether this year's top 20 was as strong – “history will say that last year’s draft, not just for us but for a lot of those top 20-30 players, will be one of the better drafts,’’ he said – but expressed confidence in the talent on offer.
“We’re confident we are going to get some really talented kids again,’’ he said.
“It’s been one of the hardest drafts to work through because after you get through that top group – there are six-to-10 really elite players – then they are very even.
“The player we might pick at 12, someone else might like at 30. It’s going to come down a little bit to what clubs are looking for (position-wise) with those picks.’’
Gold Coast will take draft standout Matt Rowell at No. 1 and his Vic Metro teammate Noah Anderson at two.
Ruckman/forward Luke Jackson is favoured to go to the Demons at No. 3.
Port, which Parker said would be targeting midfielders and forwards, would love to get its hands on Norwood star Dylan Stephens, but it might have to move up from 12 to claim him.
Geelong, which holds picks 14, 17 and 24, and the Suns (15 and 20) are other clubs who are in a position to trade multiple picks to move into the top 10.
Originally published as Port Adelaide will consider trading into top 10 at AFL National Draft for second consecutive year