Esava Ratugolea Power, Brandon Zerk-Thatcher draft, Chris Davies interview\u060c<\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
AFL Media has reported that Zerk-Thatcher, who could be involved in a deal for Duursma \u2013 potentially a straight swap \u2013 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. <\/p>\n
Watch every match of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup live on Kayo Sports. <\/i><\/b>Join Kayo now and start<\/a> streaming instantly ><\/b><\/i><\/p>\n Given Duursma is under contract, a straight swap for Zerk-Thatcher is unlikely, with the Power hoping to get something to sweeten the deal.<\/p>\n Speaking on AFL Commercial Radio<\/i>Davies said the Power were open-minded about how they could land Zerk-Thatcher.<\/p>\n \u201cZerk-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,\u201d the Port Adelaide football<\/a> boss said of of the defender. <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to have to look at all the options we have.\u201d<\/p>\n 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. <\/p>\n A deal that should be done, Davies was confident would eventually be done.<\/p>\n \u201cSo far we have not managed to break the impasse with Geelong and we have 36 hours to do so,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n NEW FOX FOOTY PODCAST \u2013 Winners and losers from the first trading period; who doesn’t move?<\/b><\/p>\n Listen below or subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify<\/i><\/p>\n \u201cIf 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.<\/p>\n