PORT ADELAIDE is making no guarantees that it will draft father-son prospects Jackson Mead and Trent Burgoyne at next month’s NAB AFL Draft despite being well-placed to do so with a raft of picks.
Mead is the son of triple premiership Magpie and inaugural Power best and fairest winner Darren Mead, while Trent's father is 2004 AFL premiership star Peter Burgoyne.
The club added to its draft hand during the 2019 Telstra AFL Trade Period on Wednesday evening.
Port acquired another first round draft pick in exchange for Dougal Howard, as the club continues to look to add high-end talent to its list. It follows on from the addition of Ryan Burton and the three first round picks which became Connor Rozee, Zak Butters and Xavier Duursma last season.
Port Adelaide General Manager - Football Chris Davies says the Power have a number of father-son and academy players available in the next couple of years, with Mead and Burgoyne available in this year’s draft.
“Both of those guys are players who are available to us from a father-son perspective,” Davies said at a press conference on Thursday afternoon at Alberton.
“We will have a look at assess where we think they are on our draft board and make decisions on the night.
“You can trade draft selections up until the 22nd of November and then again on the night, so we will continue to make assessments as to where they fit.”
Davies said it is important for the list management team to map out where they believe the two players sit in the draft order, and make decisions on how to best use their picks.
“It’s really important that our list management crew have a good understanding of where those players will be bid on,” he said.
“Without being able to confirm where we think that will be right now, by the time the draft hits, I suggest our people will need to be all across where they think Mead and Burgoyne will be picked.”
According to Davies, the club will be in a similar position next year with a couple of more talented youngers available through its various academies.
“The same applies for next year’s draft,” he said.
“We’ve got Taj Schofield. We’ve got a young lad Lachie Jones who’s a part of our next gen academy.
“We’ve got to have a mind to say, well what types of picks do we have to have in that following year’s draft to make sure we have enough points to be able to capitalise on that.”
Port currently holds picks 12, 18, 29, 66, 67, 71 and 86 for the 2019 NAB AFL Draft.
