Port Adelaide tells Hamish Hartlett he could be traded

PORT Adelaide has told vice-captain Hamish Hartlett he could be part of a trade in the off-season, his former teammate and The Advertiser columnist Kane Cornes has revealed.

Port Adelaide vice captain Hamish Hartlett.

PORT Adelaide has told vice-captain Hamish Hartlett he could be part of a trade in the off-season, his former teammate and The Advertiser columnist Kane Cornes has revealed.

Cornes, writing in Friday’s special GameOver Port Adelaide season review, says Hartlett was “clearly disappointed in the club’s decision”.

“In a show of loyalty, the midfielder signed a five-year contract to tie him to Alberton until 2020, ignoring lucrative offers from North Melbourne and Richmond,” Cornes writes.

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“In turning his back on the Melbourne-based clubs, Hartlett was setting himself up to finish his career at the Power, becoming a one-club player.

“But all that changed on Monday when he was told Port Adelaide wants to trade him for an early draft pick — such as the No. 6 in play between Gold Coast and Richmond.

“With four years remaining on a freshly inked contract, Hartlett holds all the power in the unfolding deal. If he wants to stay at Alberton, he can refuse any trade.”

Cornes says Hartlett will weigh up his future in the coming weeks, but that the lure of playing at a club in the “premiership window” would be enticing. “(He) believes he has not reached his potential at the Power,” Cornes says.

Port Adelaide football manager Chris Davies and coach Ken Hinkley have both said this week that nothing was off the table when asked if Hartlett could be involved in a trade. The club has promised to be busy in the off-season, searching for draft picks to restock a list which has disappointed in the past two seasons after showing plenty of promise in Hinkley’s first two years at the helm.

Under the AFL Players Association collective bargaining agreement, contracted players are able to switch clubs, but clubs cannot trade their contracted players — unless the player agrees.

The Power has already told Jay Schulz, John Butcher, Sam Colquhoun and Kane Mitchell their contracts will not be renewed next year.

Full back Alipate Carlile has retired. By virtue of finishing 10th, the Port Adelaide goes into the trade/draft period with the No. 9 selection at the 2016 AFL draft, but the club doesn’t have another pick until No. 45 after giving up its second round draft pick to Gold Coast in last year’s trade to secure Charlie Dixon.

Originally published as Port Adelaide tells Hamish Hartlett he could be traded