Power play for Roo

‘Fair’ offer for No.1 pick

PORT Adelaide believes its offer of the No.8 selection and a future first-rounder for departing North Melbourne No. 1 pick Jason Horne-Francis is a huge investment equal to the trade value of Melbourne’s Luke Jackson.

North Melbourne on Monday made clear they would broker a trade for HorneFrancis despite their shock and dismay at his official request over the weekend to move to Port Adelaide.

Horne-Francis’s teammate Tarryn Thomas endured a similarly turbulent year but it is understood he is unlikely to request a trade away from the Roos.

Gold Coast is interested in Thomas, a former No.8 draft pick, but he is contracted for the next two years on as much as $700,000 a season.

Clubs including Sydney, where he has close family, expressed interest over the season and see him as a player of immense value.

But his salary and the difficulty in extracting him from Arden Street means he is more likely to remain despite his challenging year and openness to a fresh start.

No.1 overall pick HorneFrancis only wants to move to the Power, who made clear they believed two first-round picks was a fair trade for the dynamic mid-forward.

But North Melbourne list boss Brady Rawlings said that offer would not be enough to satisfy the Roos.

“I would have thought so. We have knocked back better than that in the past so I can’t see why we would take that as an option,” he said.

Asked if the Roos wanted three first-rounders he said: “I didn’t say that, I just said it would have to be better.”

Adelaide offered its No.4 pick and two 2022 first-rounders for Horne-Francis last year, but one of those picks was linked to Melbourne and the Roos would have had to hand over their second-round pick.

It means their offer was not vastly better than the current Power deal.

Port believes its offer for Horne-Francis is similar to what Melbourne are asking for the more impressive Luke Jackson, which is two firstround picks with one of them within the top 10 selections.

Port Adelaide list boss Chris Davies made clear the Power were not prepared to trade Victorian top-20 picks Josh Sinn or Miles Bergman to the Roos, saying both were contracted and required.

Bergman is keen to get home at some stage but whether he would be prepared to leave for the Roos, uncertain over who will coach them next year, is an open question.

Rawlings said the club was adamant Alastair Clarkson would have no role in the trade period given the investigation into allegations regarding his time at Hawthorn.

“We need the process to unfold. The process has to play out with Alastair and you know that,” he said.