Gavin Wanganeen looks on during a photo opportunity in the 1997 pre-season. Image: AFL Photos.

BRIAN CUNNINGHAM'S proudest note in his recruiting file for Port Adelaide's inaugural AFL squad is not only bringing home Gavin Wanganeen - but doing so without ever being caught in the act.

"All was done under cover ... we just could not have put Gavin at risk (to a media frenzy while he was contracted and playing at Essendon)," Cunningham says. "If anything had become public, imagine what the Essendon supporters would have been thinking ... and his Essendon team-mates. It was a covert operation."

And it was 1996. Well before free agency and today's reality that AFL players will meet potential suitors while even carrying two years on their contract.

Cunningham even flew Western Bulldogs future captain Chris Grant to Alberton Oval to tour the Port Adelaide Football Club without the rendezvous leaked to the media - a theme that two decades later became a hot topic when Western Bulldogs midfielder Lin Jong surveyed Collingwood's facilities.

In 2025 - with free agency well established and a new AFL team from Tasmania to start its chase for experienced talent - the question of when and how an AFL player can meet a rival club is still a divisive topic, as noted with West Coast co-captain Oscar Allen after his chat with Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell.

Thirty years ago Port Adelaide was finally holding its AFL licence (albeit through a "partnership" with the SANFL). As with previous new entries to the expanding national league, there would be the opportunity to claim players from established AFL clubs.

"Those recruiting concessions kept being watered down to finish up giving us access to four uncontracted players," Cunningham recalls. "In 1995 we were waiting for the confirmation of our entry date to the AFL (that was pushed out from 1996 to 1997). And we were not going to sit on our hands doing nothing while we waited ..."

Gavin Wanganeen's recruitment was a covert operation. Image: AFL Photos.

Cunningham hired noted North Melbourne administrator, Sydney recruiting guru and player agent Ron Joseph to consult Port Adelaide on available talent for the inaugural squad.

"We spent 12 months going around Australia with Ron opening the door to every player manager ... and a few players," Cunningham said.

The Port Adelaide hit list of target had as many as 30 names on it.

"And to this day," says Cunningham, "most of the players on our interview list have never been identified. We kept it all very much under cover ... "

Three big names became very public - Wanganeen, his Port Adelaide SANFL premiership team-mate Nathan Buckley and Grant, after that famous letter from a Footscray fan attaching the last 20 cents in his piggy bank to appeal against any move to Alberton.

"We first went through the managers, but we did meet privately with players," Cunningham said. "Sometimes in their homes. 

"Nathan Buckley was never going to leave Collingwood, but we needed to ask the question of him. Money was never going to win him over when he was so keen to play for Collingwood and had proved that by his move after being drafted by Brisbane.

"Gavin loved Essendon. But the ace in our cards is we knew he wanted to come home."

Cunningham asked the question of SANFL Premiership winning Magpie Nathan Buckley.

And the deal to be at Port Adelaide - as the club's inaugural AFL captain - was done without the oft-quoted bonus of a fast-food franchise on a West Terrace.

"Where were we going to get the money to buy a McDonald's?," says Cunningham.

As well known as Port Adelaide's intent with Wanganeen was, Cunningham still left many to guess - rather than know for certain - of Port Adelaide's play for the Brownlow Medallist.

"Every meeting was clandestine - and every meeting was set up through Gavin's manager, David Keyes," Cunningham recalled. "We were very careful to not embarrass Gavin. We could never put him at that risk.

"When we met at hotels in Melbourne, we made sure we were never seen in the foyer together. We met in a hotel room with no-one ever seeing us in the same place at the same time. It was all covert operations. 

"Same with Chris Grant who we were able to fly to Adelaide without anyone ever knowing he was touring the club at Alberton. Then there was that letter from the Bulldogs fan with the 20 cents ...

"Chris did send us a nice, humble letter when he chose to stay with the Bulldogs. He did express his gratitude for our interest and said he had enjoyed meeting us. But in the end it was just too hard for him to leave the Bulldogs."

As Cunningham and Joseph criss-crossed the nation to meet with as many as 30 players in 1995, there was a notable reaction: "They knew who we were at Port Adelaide," Cunningham said.

Matthew Primus proved to be an important recruitment from Fitzroy. Image: AFL Photos.

"We were going to be the new team in the AFL, but they knew we were a long-established club and they knew our history. They certainly were not buying the predictions made by Leigh Matthews and others that we would struggle to win a game once we started in the AFL."

Port Adelaide's inaugural list included 12 from other AFL clubs - Wanganeen, 1997 All-Australian Adam Heuskes from Sydney, Ian Downsborough from West Coast and future captain Matthew Primus from Fitzroy under the concessions for uncontracted players at rival clubs; and Shane Bond in a come-home deal from West Coast, Shayne Breuer (Geelong), David Brown, Scott Cummings (Essendon), Paul Geister (North Melbourne), Brent Heaver (Carlton), Scott Hodges (Adelaide) and Brayden Lyle (West Coast).

Today, while Australian football continues to fall behind other professional sports that have in-season announcements on player movement, Cunningham defends the players' rights to engage with willing suitors.

"It is a fact of life," Cunningham says. "AFL players have a short time to make their careers count. If they have someone chase their services, they get the chance to measure their worth. That is the reality of professional sport.

"Just because you meet with a rival does not mean you do not love or care for your club. You are learning how others value you."