Port Adelaide appears to have fired a warning shot at interstate clubs who might be eyeing off the young SA stars in this year’s AFL Draft.
Port Adelaide currently holds pick six, by which time it is expected SA’s best young talents will be gone, but PAFC list manager Jason Cripps sounded an ominous warning on Monday.
“If Lukosius and Rankine end up going to Gold Coast… we’re probably pretty happy to try to get them back in a few years’ time,” Cripps told Trade Radio.
“It’s interesting because then it just becomes a two-horse race between us and the Crows, as opposed to a Victorian kid that wants to come back home whose potentially got 10 options.
“That’s part of the discussion and strategy, but right at the minute we’re really comfortable with pick six.”
Cripps was upbeat about the talent likely to be on offer at pick six — even if it’s from interstate.
“We’re happy with any of the Victorian boys. We’re going to back ourselves in,” he said.
“It’s quite interesting at the moment because we’ve traditionally been really strong with retention, especially with Victorian guys.
“We’ve actually got a little bit of a challenge at the moment. We’re losing some South Australians in Jared Polec and Chad Wingard, which is a little bit unique.”
Port Adelaide have seemingly cautioned Gold Coast against drafting top-five South Australian prospects Jack Lukosius or Izak Rankine. https://t.co/61TMErtL3y
— Real Footy (AFL) (@agerealfooty) October 15, 2018
