Trade talk: Port Adelaide urged to “bite the bullet” with list build

Port Adelaide has been urged to “bite the bullet” and start a full rebuild sooner than later.

It comes on the back of former Power assistant Chad Cornes’ comments regarding Mitch Georgiades who he expects to head home to Western Australia, specifically West Coast, at the end of 2027.

The Power are in a tricky spot given they have a new head coach in Josh Carr, a largely inexperienced list and the fact their best player Zak Butters could be up and gone at season’s end.

The situation suggests to Garry Lyon that perhaps it’s time for Port to offload their stars and stockpile quality youth before Tasmania enters the competition in 2028.

“You start to think that if Butters goes - which I think most people believe - and that's just with no knowledge,” Lyon begun on SEN Breakfast.

“But if he does, should they just bite the bullet, ship them both off, load up before Tassie come in and start again?”

Co-host Tim Watson believes the Eagles might be a nice place for Georgiades to end up.

“That would be enticing though in another 12 months wouldn't it, at the end of 2027 we're talking about,” Watson said.

“So you look at the development of the West Coast Eagles team in the last sort of six months, where they're headed over the next 12 months, and then at the end next year yeah he turns up in 2028 and they might be ready to contend somewhere.”

Lyon added: “That’s the other thing in all of this, the go-home factor is strong.”

SEN’s Sam Edmund spoke of Georgiades who was a target for the Eagles and Fremantle when he was last out of contract a few years back.

“When he was last out in 2023 and he was dealing with that knee reconstruction, both West Australian clubs came really hard for him,” Edmund said.

“He gave some serious thought to it too, but he stayed on a four-year deal that expires in 2027. So he'll be 26 years of age then and a free agent.

“Now, if Zak Butters goes, you wonder what the fallout, legacy, the flow-on effect from that might be, and whether it will prompt Port Adelaide or prompt individuals at that club to maybe get out.”

But he says it’s not necessarily a fait accompli that the 24-year-old leaves Alberton, using Miles Bergman’s recent contract as a positive reference point.

“Miles Bergman was gone, and many at Port Adelaide were of that opinion that he would return home to Victoria. There was a resignation in some offices at Alberton that he would leave,” Edmund added.

“But then he received a huge offer to stay, a huge offer, clearly north of $1 million, comfortably north of $1 million a season to stay at Port until the end of 2027.

“Now, he wasn't banging down the door to leave, but money kept him the first time. Will it keep him the next time if Zak Butters is already gone by then and Mitch Georgaides (too)?

“So this is a really intriguing juncture where Port Adelaide is at.

“The 2027 draft will be the first of the really compromised ones. That's picks 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 for the Devils. And then the next year they get 5 and 9. They've got to trade five but we think they'll finish bottom 10.

“So the 2026 draft is the last chance that they get a crack at it.”

The whole situation at the Power promoted a conversation between Lyon, Watson and Edmund.

Lyon: “Maybe now is when you bite the bullet.”

Edmund: “They've got a lot coming in. They've got two NGA kids, Zemes Pilot and Dougie Cochrane, who's injured at the moment but he's coming in and might even be the nominal number one pick.

“Then they've got Louis Salopek, the father/son as well. So they've already got some mechanisms there but add that to the natural draft pool and it's a chance to do a Richmond maybe and fast-track it now.”

Lyon: “If Georgiades stays, and maybe even if Butter stays, can you see them contending with that list there?”

Edmund: “Not in the short-term.”

Lyon: “Another two or three years on, then they're older, you've missed your window, Tassie have come in. It's easy for us to say as it's not our footy club, but maybe now is the time to bite the bullet.”

Edmund: “It’ll be interesting, if they don't pull the trigger on that this year. Next year, 2027, Georgiades is out, and obviously Miles Bergman as well, and they are in demand, that pair.

Watson: “It's not as if they've just found out that Tasmania are coming into the competition though. You’d think that they have been doing some planning behind the scenes there at Port Adelaide.

“They would have done the whole scenario thing where, okay, Butters goes, maybe Georgiades, we can't keep him, okay, what's our plan B. They would have done all that sort of stuff.”

Lyon: “100% they would.”

Edmund: “Of course they would have.”