How should Port Adelaide attack a mid-season trade and draft period if it was happening this year?

PORT Adelaide is charging towards a top two spot and could be just a couple of months from the club’s second flag. But if the club could add the finishing touches to its list right now, what would they do?

What moves should Ken Hinkley and the Power make? Picture: AAP Images

THE countdown is on. Forget the ‘if’, it is now a matter of ‘when’ a mid-season trade period is introduced into the AFL season.

While it won’t be in 2018, there is no doubt clubs are already planning how they will wheel and deal their way through it.

In anticipation of what will be one of the biggest changes in recent AFL history, the SuperFooty team are jumping on the front foot to analyse how key clubs should attack a mid-season trade period if it was happening this year.

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From the deals that could catapult each club up the ladder to the players who could be shipped out, here is your guide for Port Adelaide.

1. WOULD PORT BE BUYERS OR SELLERS IN A MID-SEASON TRADE?

Top four is on the agenda and the Power is in the running for a top-two spot. With the sixth-oldest list in the comp and 16 players in the 25-29 age bracket (third-most in the AFL), they are smack bang in the premiership window, and they could pinch a flag this year with a run of hot form and the right player to top off their list. They are the perfect candidate to go shopping.

2. WHAT DOES THE CLUB HAVE TO WORK WITH?

Plenty. Port has its own first and second round draft picks (currently 14 and 32) plus St Kilda’s second-rounder (currently 21) and two third-round selections — its own and North Melbourne’s. Very enticing for a rival team that wants to invest heavily in the draft.

Do the Power need to get Robbie Gray some help? Picture: Getty Images

3. SO WHAT DO THEY NEED?

Port ticks all the boxes so far, now it gets trickier. They have talent across most lines but could use another silky A-grader to help Robbie Gray and to use the ball on the outside after bulls Ollie Wines, Tom Rockliff and Sam Powell-Pepper win it inside. In terms of positional needs, a nippy small forward to get under the feet of Charlie Dixon could give them a boost and last year recruiting guru Gary Buckenara suggested they chase a Ty Vickery type to provide support to Paddy Ryder in the ruck and Charlie Dixon in front of goal.

4. ARE THOSE PLAYERS ALREADY ON THE LIST?

Port’s issue is that it has players who could fill these roles — Steven Motlop and Jack Watts arrived in last year’s trade period — but they just don’t produce on a consistent basis. Is that player out there or is it too risky, bringing in someone new that will only make selection decisions more complicated? If it can get you a flag, it could be worth the risk. Meanwhile, Jack Trengove has only just broken into the side and Dom Barry is running around in the twos.

5. WHICH CLUBS SHOULD THEY DEAL WITH?

If they could steal a top-liner from another contender it boosts their chance and weakens their rival — which is exactly why no other club in that part of the ladder would even think about talking trades with Port mid-season. That means prying someone from one of the bottom six — Fremantle, Western Bulldogs, Gold Coast, St Kilda, Brisbane and Carlton.

6. WHO IS ON THE TABLE?

Carlton has a surplus of tall forwards and would welcome more draft picks, which could make them open to a Levi Casboult trade. But how much will he help Port? You could ask the same question about Jordan Roughead, who could be gettable from the Bulldogs (that equation would change if Paddy Ryder succumbs to injury again).

Would Levi Casboult be a good fit at the Power? Picture: Getty Images

7. DO THEY NEED TO GET CREATIVE?

There are other players out there who you would be mad to chase in October but perfectly illustrate the benefits of a mid-season trade period — it’s all about right now. Brendon Goddard has been incredibly loyal to his second club, but Essendon isn’t going to play finals this year, and he might not play in 2019. He came agonisingly close to a flag at the Saints, could he go one better in black and teal if he made a short-term move? Charlie Dixon would love his spearing kicks inside 50. Thinking even more out of the box, Fremantle veterans Aaron Sandilands and Hayden Ballantyne are also coming out of contract with uncertain futures. They are both playing out time at the Dockers but could have two months of elite footy left in a very specific role, and you wouldn’t have to give up much to get them so Port wouldn’t be mortgaging its future.

Would Port Adelaide be a better side with Brendon Goddard? Picture: Getty Images

8. IS THERE A STATE LEAGUE GEM OUT THERE?

If a mid-season draft or trade period allowed AFL clubs to recruit state league players, there are a few candidates under Port’s nose in the SANFL. Mitch Grigg never really got a go at Adelaide but returned to Norwood and won last year’s Magarey Medal, and is on track to go back-to-back this season. He would add some polish through the middle, but can he cut it at the top level? Former Sun Keegan Brooksby is dominating in the ruck for South Adelaide and could be an in-case-of-emergency-break-glass option if Ryder went down.

9. COULD ANY PORT PLAYERS BE UP FOR TRADE?

Ollie Wines has re-signed so all the top-liners are locked away with the exception of Jared Polec and free agent Justin Westhoff. The 31-year-old is in talks with the club about another one-year extension. There are a number of players going around in the SANFL who don’t have deals for next year, could a player like Joe Atley or Cameron Hewett be part of a Logan Austin-style swap — or steak knives in a bigger deal?

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