Port Adelaide have pulled out on a proposed three-club mega-trade that was set to drastically impact the remaining days of the 2024 AFL Trade Period.
As first reported by Nine‘s Tom Morris, the Power were involved in negotiations with Gold Coast and Collingwood that would have unlocked several of the trade period’s biggest player moves, including dual All-Australian Dan Houston’s desired move to the Magpies, Pie John Noble to the Suns and Jack Lukosius to the Power themselves.
As part of the mega-trade, the Power would have received Lukosius, Magpie Joe Richards, the Suns’ much-clamoured-for pick 13, and – most surprisingly of all – fringe Sun Rory Atkins, who has managed just 37 games in four years at the club after signing a five-year contract to leave Adelaide at the end of 2020.
They would, however, have lost Houston to the Magpies, as well as their 2025 first-round draft pick and picks 39 and 58.
The Magpies, meanwhile, would have offloaded Noble to the Suns, Richards to the Power and their first-round draft pick next season.
Never one for hiding what he really thinks, media pundit – and Power great – Kane Cornes immediately expressed his opposition to the deal on X, taking particular umbrage to Atkins’ involvement.
“Rory Atkins is still on a list? Pass,” he wrote, before adding in a subsequent post that the Power must be ‘trading to try and win the SANFL premiership’.
“Somewhere and somehow @PAFC fans will blame this on Ken,” he added.
However, Cornes’ disappointment was short-lived, with the Power reportedly rejecting the deal several hours later to once again leave Houston – as well as Lukosius, Noble and Atkins – in trade limbo.
According to Morris’, the Power’s case of cold feet was down to simply feeling that Houston’s loss wasn’t being fairly compensated for as part of the deal, with the dual All-Australian defender still under contract and reportedly happy to remain at Port Adelaide if a deal can’t be struck.
“To put it simply, Port Adelaide backed out of the mega trade this evening because it didn’t believe it was receiving the value required to let Houston go,” Morris wrote on X.
“The Pies believed it was as good as done.
“For all the posturing in trade period, Port’s position on Houston hasn’t wavered.
“And this is precisely the reason North has hung around, hoping Houston’s desperation to get to Victoria will see him open his mind to the Roos.”
Unsurprisingly, Cornes couldn’t resist weighing in again, cheekily writing that ‘Port’s 37th SANFL flag is on hold’.
The deal’s rejection leaves Houston – and the Pies – fast running out of time to work through a deal before the trade period ends on Wednesday at 7:30pm (AEDT).
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