RECENTLY delisted defender Jimmy Toumpas says he hasn’t given up on finding a third AFL club, admitting he knew it would be tough to retain his spot on the Port Adelaide list before the 2018 season.

Toumpas was last week told his Power contract would not be renewed for next season along with fellow defender Emmanuel Irra.

The former Melbourne player told Adelaide radio station FIVEaa the news wasn’t unexpected.

“It’s a bit of a shame it came to an end the way it did but I had a few conversations with Ken (Hinkley) throughout the year and it wasn’t a complete surprise when it happened,” Toumpas said.

“They have liked (my SANFL form) as well, it’s not like I have performed poorly and haven’t warranted a spot in that aspect but there were players ahead of me in Dan Houston and Riley Bonner who performed quite well throughout the year.

“I was a realist at the start of the year and I knew it was going to be tough to get ahead of them and I couldn’t quite manage to do that in 2018.”

Toumpas was one of Port Adelaide’s most reliable and consistent performers at SANFL level in a difficult year.

With a number of experienced players leaving or being traded out in the off-season and a young and inexperienced team taking its place, the side went from narrowly losing the grand final in 2017 to missing the finals completely in 2018.

“This year’s been quite different with a lot of the boys moving on for their opportunity with other SANFL clubs, which is fair enough because a lot of them warranted playing league football,” Toumpas said.

“We got an influx of younger boys who came in and hadn’t played league footy and were exposed to a level they probably weren’t up to at this level in their career.

“For me personally it was a really good opportunity to work on my leadership but from a team perspective we didn’t get the wins on the board and that was what we strive to do.”

The 24-year-old played 10 AFL games in three seasons since returning home to Adelaide.

Initially drafted from Woodville-West Torrens with pick 4 in the 2012 National Draft by Melbourne, he managed 27 games with the Demons before being traded to Alberton in 2015.

Toumpas said he was going away on a holiday soon and planned to consider his next career step after that, not ruling out a return to the Eagles at SANFL level if an AFL offer didn’t come.

“I’m definitely not giving up the dream,” he said of playing at AFL level again.

“I still feel very confident in my ability and have for the last few years so I guess I’ll look to that when the time comes.

“At the moment I’m just trying to get away from footy as a lot of the boys are trying to do so I’ll just try enjoy the time and then when the time is right I’ll meet up with my manager and see if there’s any interest there and hopefully there is because I still feel like I have a lot to give.

“It’d be tough though if I don’t get an opportunity at AFL level and it’d be even tougher then to say no to the Eags.”

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