Esava Ratugolea Power, Brandon Zerk-Thatcher draft, Chris Davies interview

Port Adelaide football boss Chris Davies says his club is prepared to take Essendon’s Brandon Zerk-Thatcher and Geelong’s Esava Ratugolea to the draft if necessary, but he hopes to reach agreements by the end of the commercial period.

The Power face a crucial 36 hours ahead as the team most under pressure to complete multiple deals before Wednesday night’s deadline. This includes Port’s bid to land Zerk-Thatcher, Ratugolea, Western Bulldogs ruckman Jordon Sweet and potentially Tigers ruckman Ivan Soldo, as well as facilitating Xavier Duursma’s trade request to Essendon.

AFL Media has reported that Zerk-Thatcher, who could be involved in a deal for Duursma – potentially a straight swap – is himself set to join the Power via the pre-season draft as he looks to return to Australia- Southern despite a three-year contract. offer on the Bombers table.

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Given Duursma is under contract, a straight swap for Zerk-Thatcher is unlikely, with the Power hoping to get something to sweeten the deal.

Speaking on AFL Commercial RadioDavies said the Power were open-minded about how they could land Zerk-Thatcher.

“Zerk-Thatcher wants to come home for family reasons. The reality will be for us that if we fail to reach an agreement in the next period, then the pre-season draft or the national draft becomes a real option,” the Port Adelaide football boss said of of the defender.

“We’re going to have to look at all the options we have.”

As for Ratugolea, the Power and Cats are at an impasse after Port’s initial offer of Pick 24 (now Pick 25) was rejected to create tension between the clubs.

A deal that should be done, Davies was confident would eventually be done.

“So far we have not managed to break the impasse with Geelong and we have 36 hours to do so,” he said.

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“If worse comes to worse and we fail to reach an agreement in the next period, then this (bringing Ratugolea to the draft) would become a real option.

“I am still hopeful that we will reach an agreement in a short period of time. What has become clear during the trade period is that Esava wants to leave Geelong and he wants to play for Port Adelaide.

“At the end of the day, it’s not necessarily about relationships, it’s more about being able to make a deal at the end of the day, whether you like each other or not. That’s where we need to get to over the next few 36 hours.

Davies admitted Soldo would be harder to land given he is under contract with the Tigers and because of their reluctance to trade him.

“Richmond have been quite firm since the start of the period and didn’t want to lose him. Obviously it makes things a lot more difficult when a player is under contract,” he said.

“But Ivan is in a situation where he wants to get his career back on track, he wants to be number one somewhere and he’s 27 years old.

“It’s probably time for him to become the number one ruck at a club, it’s unlikely to be at Richmond in the short term.

“He wants to leave Richmond, but we also know they are holding hands in the sense that he is a contracted player.”