Port Adelaide have extreme interest in securing the signature of wantaway Sydney winger Jordan Dawson as they sift through the wreckage of their AFL preliminary final “abomination”, football manager Chris Davies says.
Dawson has told the Swans he wants out and requested a trade to his native South Australia, with both the Power and Adelaide preparing their pitches.
Davies says Port are waiting for Dawson to nominate which SA club is his preferred destination.
“He’s certainly a player that we have got extreme interest in … (but) we haven’t entered into any sort of meaningful discussions,” Davies told reporters on Wednesday.
In a wide-ranging media conference, Davies described Port’s 71-point preliminary final loss to the Western Bulldogs as an “abomination”.
“But I think there some should be some optimism on our young players getting better and we should be approaching 2022 with the same expectations that we had this year,” he said, referring to Port’s stated belief of being capable of winning the premiership.
“But ultimately, what we do know is we’re in a position where no one will believe that until we get back to another preliminary final and get the job done.
“No hiding from that. That is just our reality from here.”
Davies said the clock was ticking for Michael Voss to make a decision on his future with the Power’s senior assistant vying for the vacant Carlton head coach role.
“We will allow him to work through that … but there is also a time frame in all of these things,” Davies said.
“I am not the type of person that is going to wait forever and Michael knows that.
“I don’t want to seem too cold here but I can be pretty cold in these situations.
“If we get to a point where we need to make a decision then we will make it and Michael will have to live with that.”
Voss is off-contract at Port, who are already hunting a replacement for assistant Jarrad Schofield who has left the club for West Coast.
The Power delisted leadership group member Hamish Hartlett and four-gamer Joel Garner on Tuesday but expect Riley Bonner and Steven Motlop to sign new contracts.
Davies said Tom Clurey won’t be leaving Port despite rumoured interest from Victorian clubs in the backman who finished the season in the state league.
The Power hadn’t been in talks with North Melbourne’s Trent Dumont or GWS forward Jeremy Finlayson despite speculation to the contrary, Davies said.
But other unnamed Power players who couldn’t secure a regular AFL berth were considering their futures.
“There’s some guys who clearly might want to look at what their alternatives are in terms of more games potentially at other clubs,” Davies said.
AAP
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