PORT ADELAIDE footy boss Chris Davies says the club won’t make any more list management decisions until after the finals campaign ends, laughing off trade links to several players.
Port has been linked to a move for Adelaide free agent Brad Crouch and Essendon’s Orazio Fantasia but neither have requested a move to Alberton.
Davies said with an important month of football ahead, trading in players was the furthest thing from his mind.
“We have an interest in where players are going to go this time of year,” he explained in a press conference on Tuesday, specifically addressing a question about the club’s interest in Crouch.
“Knowledge is power at this time of year and knowing where players are going to end up becomes a competitive advantage when deals are there to be done.
“Right now, we have a finals campaign which we are totally invested in.
“If you need information on trades, you’re probably better off asking the Crows right now.
“We’ve got bigger fish to fry and that is the upcoming finals campaign.”
On Crouch’s future, Davies said the 2019 Adelaide Best and Fairest winner may remain with the Crows.
He said it was unfair to say the club was interested in Crouch when its focus was on premiership success.
“I think Brad Crouch is a best and fairest winner. Whoever gets him, if it’s not Adelaide – let’s make that clear, he may well stay there,” Davies said.
“Whoever gets him is going to get a good player, just as we have traded players in good players previously.
“And there’ll be other players who move across the competition in the remainder of the year who’ll be good players who we’ll have an interest in where they’ll end up.
“But to suggest that we have interest in X or Y player right now when we’ve got four weeks of finals ahead of us is probably a stretch.”
The General Manager – Football, also laughed off reports linking the club to Essendon’s Orazio Fantasia for the second year in a row.
“I’ve never spoken more about a guy who I’ve never actually spoken to in my life,” Davies joked.
“With respect to this across the board, Orazio is an Essendon football player and until he suggests that’s any different Port Adelaide won’t be talking any more about Orazio Fantasia, whether he’s got a golf membership wherever, whether he’s got a local DVD store membership, if those still exist.
“Let’s just put it on the table that we have an interest in any good South Australian player who wants to come home, but until those tell us that they want to come home, I’m done talking about those prospective people whilst we’ve got a really important four weeks to come in finals.”
Like Fantasia, there appears to be a yearly fascination with the future of Port vice-captain Ollie Wines, who has two years remaining on his contract at Alberton.
Wines has publicly declared his love for the club and want to stay in the long-term, and Davies said he had no reason to believe anything to the contrary.
“As it was when we signed him a couple of years ago when we signed him to a long-term deal, (his future) is at Port Adelaide,” Davies said.
“The idea that Ollie is going to be contemplating leaving right now is just so contrary to everything that he has said publicly in the last period of time so I’m taking very much on face value that Ollie Wines wants to stay with this group.
“I think his last comments to the media was that the club has set up the list extremely well for the next five to ten years and he wants to be part of that success so I understand why people’s names continue to come up, because it drives eyeballs and all those types of things, but that’s just not one that we’re contemplating now.”
Port Adelaide gets its finals campaign underway with a huge Qualifying Final against Geelong at Adelaide Oval from 7:10pm ACST on Thursday 1 October.
Tickets for the match are available to members on a priority basis from Friday morning.
