Kane Cornes has taken aim at Port Adelaide after a farcical detail was revealed in the club agreed to a “five-player mega trade” that landed Dan Houston at Collingwood.
The deal, involving the Power, Magpies and Gold Coast Suns was dramatically called off by Port Adelaide on Monday night when the club’s board got involved and felt it was getting short changed.
Less than 24 hours later the deal was back on and according to 9News Melbourne chief footy reporter Tom Morris, it was identical to the one that was so adamantly rejected.
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The full details of the three-club trade have been listed in this tweet from AFL.com.au journalist Callum Twomey.
https://twitter.com/CalTwomey/status/1846050374895259721?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
The one detail that is different to the deal that was being reported on Monday night is the addition of pick 50, which the Suns are giving up and the Power are receiving.
However, according to Morris, that component of the deal was already on the table on Monday – the same deal that was rejected by the Power.
https://twitter.com/tommorris32/status/1846057800348455402?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Morris reports that two sources “directly involved” with the trade confirmed to him that pick 50 was part of the rejected deal.
It’s a bizarre twist in the tail of a saga that will leave egg on the face of Port Adelaide’s dealmakers even if the club is ultimately satisfied with its spoils from the negotiation.
On Monday night it seemed as though the Power would give Houston an ultimatum, telling him that to get back to his home state of Victoria he would need to be prepared to go to North Melbourne, where a better offer was brewing.
That was the course of action preferred by Cornes.
“The only option for Port Adelaide is to tell Dan Houston, ‘you are not going to Collingwood’,” Kane Cornes told AFL Trade Radio on Tuesday morning.
“The deal is too hard to get done.
“If you want to get to Victoria, you can go to North Melbourne, or you can stay here.”
However, a deal with the Kangaroos never eventuated with the Magpies seemingly rewarded for holding their ground.
Following the news Houston’s move had been confirmed, Cornes expressed his dismay at the trade on X.
“It’s a disastrous deal for Port Adelaide,” he said.
“You know the scene in Pulp Fiction? Where she says ‘everybody be cool this is a robbery’. That’s what’s happened at Port Adelaide here.
“You’ve essentially traded a dual All-Australian, who you had under contract for three years on good money, favourable money for Port Adelaide, for pick 13 and 29. That’s essentially what you’ve done.
https://twitter.com/kanecornes/status/1846070494749249617?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
“I know there’s some steak knives thrown in. Rory Atkins, can’t work that one out. You’ve actually done Gold Coast a favour and taken his contract off their hands but you get no benefit. Same with Jack Lukosius.
“It says to me Port Adelaide are rebuilding but it’s confusing because if you’re rebuilding you want to finish down the bottom next year. Problem with that is you’ve given away your first pick for Jack Lukosius.
“If Port Adelaide finish bottom six, it could be a very good pick inside the top 10 and you’ve given him six years. Jack Lukosius is a player that needs to be playing on the edge and you’ve given him a six-year contract on huge money so I just don’t get it.”