Port Adelaide’s vice-captain Hamish Hartlett may be at a new AFL club next year after former Port player Kane Cornes wrote on The Advertiser that Hartlett had been told by the club that they are look to trade him.
Hartlett had a number of suitors last year late in the season with both North Melbourne and Richmond offering long-term, lucrative deals to try and lure him to Victoria.
However he rejected both these offers and signed a contract with Port Adelaide that extended him out until the end of the 2020 season.
He was also named Port Adelaide’s new vice-captain under Travis Boak before the season began.
That’s not the kind of story that usually ends in a player being on the trade table less than a year later but, here we are.
The notable thing with Port Adelaide is that they haven’t had a pick inside the first round of the draft in three years and as a result are very low on young talent coming through at the moment.
In 2013, they traded away their first round pick to secure Jared Polec. In 2014 they spent both their first and second round picks on Paddy Ryder. In 2015, they spent their first rounder and their 2016 second rounder on Charlie Dixon, and shuffled down their 2015 second round pick to get Jimmy Toumpas.
None of those four recruits could be considered a success at this point in time. That might change in time. It might not.
Jarman Impey and Riley Bonner are the only two players they have recruited inside the first two rounds of the draft across a three year period. That’s it. And they’re already short their second round pick in this year’s draft.
This has left them without that fresh wave of young talent coming through that would be considered necessary to allow the team to continually improve. While there are no doubt many factors behind them not making finals over the past two years, that is probably at least one of them.
In a purely economic sense, trading away a senior player who they don’t believe is essential to future success for a high pick is a smart move. But there is a lot more to footy than economics.
It’s deplorable. What ever happened to “Never tear us apart”? Hartlett made the admirable decision last year to remain loyal to the club that drafted him. Now they’re making the decision not to remain loyal to him.
A player who wants to do the right thing and stick by his club shouldn’t have to bear the bad fruit of the list management team’s stuff-ups.
It’s not hard to see why the Power have seemed to lack passion on the field this year if this is the way they view their players and I suspect that trading Hartlett away would only worsen those issues.
Cornes mentioned in his article that Hartlett is now weighing up his options and that the chance to play for a club in flag contention would probably be the most likely avenue for him to leave by.
However, Cornes also intimated that Port’s design would be to get involved in the impending deal being made between Gold Coast and Richmond over Dion Prestia.
Prestia officially confirmed that he wants to move to the Tigers earlier in the week and the mooted trade is that Richmond will give up pick 6 for him.
However the Suns would prefer to get in mature players rather than more draft picks and that is where Port likely see themselves stepping in – making a deal that would see Richmond gain Prestia, Gold Coast gain Hartlett, and Port gain pick 6.
I suspect though that Hartlett would be pretty hard to convince on that one. If he does decide to move you’d think it’s probably to Victoria. As a North fan, I can tell you I’d be ecstatic to have him.
Travis Cloke
We talked a bit about Travis Cloke earlier in the week and it now looks like he’s following my advice and looking to the Western Bulldogs as his preferred destination for a trade.
Cloke wants to reinvent himself as a player and be part of a winning culture and of the clubs said to be interested there’s no better place to do that than with the Bulldogs.
However the really interesting part of this situation is just how the move might be made.
Our own Ryan Buckland picked up this interesting little screencap on the Collingwood website earlier this week…
However the Pies actually haven’t released Cloke, they’ve just stated that he has requested a release, and said they’re open to trading him. The image above is no longer on the Collingwood website.
If they were to release him from his contract it’s possible that he might be considered a free agent and allowed to move via that method – likely netting Collingwod a compensation pick of some sort.
However, the rules of free agency don’t make it clear at this stage whether or not the system works like that.
It’d be a very dangerous precedent for the AFL to set if it does, because it might make the process of releasing players and taking compo picks rather than seeking to trade them commonplace – and that could lead to the draft being seriously unbalanced.
Speaking of making the draft unbalanced, AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan suggested during the week that Brisbane will probably receive a priority pick in this year’s draft.
That’ll likely be an end-of-first-round pick, which would give them three picks inside the first 21 – 2, 19, and 21 – before any trading, compensation or bidding takes place.
Personally I believe priority picks should be used only for extreme situations where clubs have been robbed of talent due to non-football-related circumstances.
When the reason a football club is ailing is because they’re not very good at being a football club, giving them priority picks is the equivalent of giving someone a cholera vaccine to fix their gunshot wound.
Jaeger O’Meara is another story we’re following pretty closely and there’s been some murmuring that North Melbourne have officially ruled out recruiting him on the basis of his medical report.
Damian Barrett claimed as much on the Trade Radio podcast, and named Collingwood, Carlton, Essendon and St Kilda as the clubs leading the chase for O’Meara.
Hawthorn are in with some interest as well but their key focus at the moment is reportedly on securing Tom Mitchell from Sydney, and it’s also believed that they will sign Tyrone Vickery as a free agent.
If the Hawks recruit both Mitchell and Vickery this off-season it’s unlikely that they’ll have either the salary cap room or the trade capital to make a serious play for O’Meara.
Round-up of trade news
In other news this week we have some players both mature and young who have declared or hinted at their desire to seek trades this off-season.
Michael Barlow is set to talk about the future with Fremantle this week but he is out of contract and with Fremantle looking to rebuild, seems likely to move to a Victorian club.
Nathan Brown is eligible to move as a free agent this off-season and despite having an offer on the table to re-sign with Collingwood, has reportedly attracted interest from North Melbourne.
Young highly-rated key defender prospect Caleb Marchbank has officially requested a trade away from GWS with Carlton believed to be the club leading the race for his services, with several others interested.
Marchbank was a top ten draft pick for the Giants and has played seven AFL games. Like a lot of GWS youngsters, there just doesn’t seem to be a lot of immediate opportunity for him on the horizon.
Ben Lennon, a first-round draft pick, is also set to request a trade away from Richmond, after playing just a handful of game this year.
Lennon was inexplicably dropped by the Tigers on the eve of finals last year and being out of contract when that occurred took his time to agree to a new deal with the Tigers.
Given little game time despite Richmond’s poor season and youth focus in the latter half of the year, he’s now looking to move somewhere where he’ll get greater opportunity to play at senior level.
That’s a pretty big blow for the Tigers to lose what was a highly-rated talent given the criticisms that have been made of their list this season.
However, Lennon – or the draft pick they receive for him in a trade – could prove to be valuable in other negotiations.
Paul D
Roar Guru
Why is it an average look? More average than Brisbane winning 10 games in 3 years? Being the laughing stock of the competition? A whole city basically telling the AFL to get stuffed, sort your product out, and then we'll start spending our money on it again? Not sure where you're going with the Dees comparison - none of our players who are leaving are worth that. We will get the money to help fund the new training facilities, to assist with recruiting new coaches and a priority pick this off-season. It still won't be enough to stop the Lions finishing bottom 2 next season, but it will be a start.
Paul D
Roar Guru
Not just the fact that we're 16-18, but the fact we seem to be permanently welded there as we're basically functioning as a training ground/refuse dump for the other clubs. They take all our young draftees and recycle back 26-28 year old fringe players who are just grateful to be getting a game. And we take them, because they're the best we can get/afford. And I agree, the Lions need a priority pick. To replace Justin Clarke as much as anything else, as I said above. That was a player we had invested a few years into as a key defender, not the easiest role to train. Pick 19 would be ideal, not too high but high enough we can get another quality player.
Adam Daunt
Roar Guru
I don't think the AFL will give a priority pick officially, it's an average look especially after the compromised drafts for the Gold Coast and GWS. I think it may be something more along the lines of the situation of James Frawley at Melbourne which saw the Dees get pick 3 but rejected for a priority pick. Before someone says it's contract based, I'd argue that Buddy Franklin would have been in a similar bracket of pay respective to their teams as James Frawley and the Hawks got pick 19 for Buddy. I agree they need assistance I just can't see it coming through a priority pick. Perhaps extra money for a training ground upgrade and assistance to pay out coaches or probably a CEO in the Peter Jackson mould.
David C
Guest
Just pick 22.
TomC
Roar Guru
Yeah, you're probably right that its the execution rather than the strategy that has failed the two Queensland team. They're damned either way, really. If they're going to keep losing their early draft selections to other clubs then it makes sense to trade aggressively, but the more they trade the more likely they are to be sold a lemon.
SportsFanGC
Roar Guru
TomC the sell of being an AFL player based in QLD is a tough gig. Probably the toughest in the AFL and I doubt many would of seen Western Sydney as a more desirable location than SEQ 5-6 years ago! I think the Suns have a slight advantage over the Lions for location but this advantage becomes even bigger when the Carrara Sports Precinct comes online in 2017. It unfortunately leaves the Lions well behind all other 17 Clubs and it will be at least another 2-3 years even if the AFL can flex some muscle and get a commitment for the Brisbane Airport Facility to become reality. Professional athletes want the best of everything and all Clubs aside from the Lions will be able to offer this from 2017 onwards. Some of the trading of both the Lions and Suns in recent years has been nothing short of deplorable. To add your list of Lions trades above consider that the Suns picked up Hallahan from the Hawks to big wraps, Malceski, Rosa, Grant, Currie etc who are not offering anything to that Club. The main reason I think the QLD clubs should at least look at GWS is the age profile of those guys are all pretty young so they have some time on their side.
TomC
Roar Guru
Well, Zorko has tripped on that path if that's the case. Not at all necessary to say the Lions don't need a priority pick this morning. I'm sure the Lions do actually target GWS, like every other club. Last year they were apparently chasing Nathan Wilson before he re-signed. I believe they were one of the clubs interested in Josh Bruce before he went to the Saints. It's just a difficult sell for a struggling Queensland team. The problem with attracting fringe players from other clubs is that there's a very good chance whatever has held them back to this point will continue to do so. Sometimes this strategy is successful - like with Robinson and Martin - but sometimes you just end up filling list spots with limited players - such as Paine, Jansen, Walker and McGuane in recent years.
SportsFanGC
Roar Guru
TomC and PaulD Interesting times for the QLD Clubs ahead. The Rockliff scenario will be the big talking point until something is announced regarding the Captaincy at the Lions. FWIW I think Zorko is presently taking the path taught at AFLHQ about Press Conferences - Say nothing controversial and trot out a nice cliche". I suspect he will become the Captain over the summer break. The Lions need to be creative to secure players in the Trade Period and GWS seem to have this endless list of guys swinging between the NEAFL and AFL and they need to shed players to bring their list size into line with the other AFL Clubs. One or two of those players listed might just think to himself "I want an AFL career where I am actually playing regular AFL not playing reserves in the NEAFL" and the Lions gives them the best chance to do this. Others will rightly think "No way". Bewick and Lester being given new contracts, Taylor and Green thinking they could hold the Club to ransom on the value of their deals shows how far off the pace the Lions are presently. The Suns should also look through the GWS list and see if there is a player or two (Finlayson from a defence perspective, Steele from a midfield perspective) that could be enticed with more regular senior action and they probably have the easier sell of location/training facility/prospect of short to medium success.
Paul D
Roar Guru
If Rockliff does wind up leaving it will be because he and the club’s relationship is utterly dead. He doesn’t want to leave. Interesting that Zorko came out and publicly backed Rockliff to remain as captain. It’s an interesting conundrum in terms of player power for the club. Let’s say they complete their review and decide that Rockliff isn’t the right man for the job. One of the leading candidates to replace him would undeniably be Zorko who’s now won two consecutive best and fairest medals. Makes it hard to swing the axe. But then again, these guys are professionals and maybe Rockliff and Zorko are just saying what they know they have to say. Either way, I think if Rockliff isn’t skipper next year I reckon he’s almost certain to leave. Too many bridges will have been burnt in the wake of that coming to pass. But Rich won’t go, he just got resigned to a 5 year deal, and I don’t see the Lions pushing Pearce out while his brother Cian remains a rookie lister with potential. I like your idea of approaching quality depth players from other clubs and offering them first team football every week at the Gabba. We have a number of guys on our list who aren’t AFL standard but are retained because we can’t get anyone else. My barometer marking for the Lions list returning to health is when Bewick and Lester aren’t offered new contracts.
TomC
Roar Guru
I think the narrative around Rich getting tagged out of games has gotten out of hand. He's a damaging mid-tier player who at a better team wouldn't have to think about copping a tag. And even as things are he should get much more help from his teammates than he does. Little by little the small concerns about Rockliff are accumulating into something meaningful. I don't know how much of it is because as the captain he's in the firing line more than his teammates, and how much is because of his personality, but either way as you suggest it seems more realistic with time that they might think about moving him on. Hanley might be in a similar boat. These guys are all in their mid 20s, now moving into their late 20s. Along with Redden and Leuenberger, the main reason it seemed mad to trade them is because two years ago they formed what appeared to be a pretty strong core of a team who had plenty of footy left - and Beams, Robinson, Christensen and Zorko are still remaining from that core. But Leppitsch has been so hopeless at getting the most out of these players that now it's impossible to imagine a scenario where these guys play finals at Brisbane. What a waste.
Macca
Guest
Interesting news on Tomlinson Sportsfan - most had him going to the blues as a done deal. Marchbank Plowman and Weitering would be a very solid 3 tall defenders, I would like them all to be a couple of centimetres taller though as 200cm forwards seem to becoming more prevalent., and Docherty joining them makes a pretty handy 4. Tuohy has been pretty good taking the small forward and providing run and is only 26 so he gives us some cover for a while and the likes of Buckley and Byrne will be looking to replace Simpson longer term - so I am reasonably happy with the long term outlook for the backline. The forward line needs work but the 3 players we took last year will solve a lot of problems as the develop - so I think this years priority in the draft would be a Darcy Parish type mid.
SportsFanGC
Roar Guru
PaulD - If the AFL decides not to award the Lions a priority pick this year then we can safely assume that the priority pick policy is officially dead and buried. This Club has issues that no club in Vic, SA or WA will ever understand, or ever have to deal with, and if the AFL is serious about having a presence in South East Queensland they need to the Lions to be relevant and competitive. They cannot simply be filling positions 16-18 every year as cannon fodder for teams looking to boost their percentage.
SportsFanGC
Roar Guru
Macca - I think if the Blues can land Marchbank to play and develop alongside Weitering and Plowman they have the makings of a core back three for the next decade, along with Docherty running off the half back flank. If they can find a player to be their elite small defender they cover most bases in defence, which allows them to start working on the forward line and their lack of scoring potency. O'Meara is a big risk and all the rumours up here is that he wants to get to Hawthorn - how that happens will be very interesting to see unfold. Also I note that Tomlinson was in the papers just yesterday saying that he is committing to GWS after finding himself in the Seniors the past six weeks,who I know was a long time target of the Blues also.
SportsFanGC
Roar Guru
The Suns will be very active in the upcoming trade period due to the O’Meara and Prestia trades. I saw the story about the potential Hartlett to Suns, Prestia to Richmond and Pick 6 to Port. The unlikely aspect of this trade would be Hartlett wanting to come to the Gold Coast, much more likely to head to Victoria, however the proposed trade as above would satisfy the outward requirements of the three Clubs (Suns need mature bodies, Port need low picks and the Tigers want Prestia). If Hartlett did come to the Suns it instantly adds a solid body to the midfield that they desperately need and if they can push him forward he could be good for 20 goals a season. The O’Meara trade is the one that looks like it will be very convoluted. The Hawks are his preferred destination (according to everyone) so it will be fascinating to see what the Hawks can manufacture to get this deal done. A player and a pick looks a likely scenario (the Suns have a truckload of picks already at 4, 9, 21, 22, 25, 28) but what quality player from the Hawks will leave that machine of an organization to move to the Gold Coast? It will need the hard sell of a great lifestyle/location to live and work, an Elite Training and Administration Facility ready to roll in 2017 and playing in a fantastic stadium every second week and the potential of being part of the list that took the Suns to their first finals appearance. The Lions on the other hand have very little trade capital due to the lack of talent on the list and also do not have a plethora of picks in the draft (currently picks 2, 20, 24). The request for a priority pick is yet to be determined but one suspects that IF the AFL grant one it comes at the end of the first round at pick 19. Do they consider putting one of Rockliff, Rich or Hanley on the trade table to try and obtain another early pick? A year ago that suggestion would have been ludicrous but if you look back in 2016 maybe it is now in the realms of possibility. The Rockliff rumours of a fractured playing group won’t go away, Rich only ever turns up against the worst teams in the League and is routinely tagged out of games against middle/top teams and Hanley looked disinterested this year. A fresh start where any one of those players needs to earn the respect of a new playing group may be the best thing for their careers as none of them will be playing finals with the Lions. The Lions also need to look for players that are not getting playing time in the AFL at other clubs. At the moment they do not have the ability to attract quality star players (Dayne Beams aside) due to their current lack of prospect of success in the short term, lack of an elite training facility and being based squarely in the middle of Broncos territory. Any of the following GWS NEAFL regulars should at least be contacted about the possibility of regular AFL game time at the Gabba: Jack Steele, Matthew Kennedy, Harrison Himmelberg, Jake Barrett, Jeremy Finlayson, Will Hoskin-Elliot, James Stewart, Jarrod Pickett, Tom Downie and Daniel Lloyd. Granted some of those players have been linked to other Victorian Clubs, the Lions need to at least enquire and have a crack if there is a possibility someone is keen.
Freo As
Guest
If Hartlett gets the 6 pick, then Mickey B's value surely soars into a top 10 bracket also.
Freo As
Guest
Where have we got pick 22 from?
johno
Guest
Trade bait - to a team needing a bit more defence in their forward line, or a tagger.
johno
Guest
No way would I give up pick 22 for Hill, nor throw in another player. Why give the Hawks anything. Wait 12 months and get him for nothing
johno
Guest
No no no no Ballantyne and pick 22 for B Hill - waaaaaay overs.
johno
Guest
f Pickett is on the move from GWS he'd surely be on Freo or West Coasts radar. West Coast need to replace Le Cras and Hill, while Freo need to replace Ballantyne and Mayne. Yarran looks the goods but Pickett would be ideal