Port Adelaide football department chief Chris Davies said the club hadn’t ruled out trading players in exchange for Horne-Francis.
“But right now our preference would be to deal from a draft capital perspective ... but you never say never through this period. You’ve got to keep your eyes open to all of the possibilities,” Davies said.
The Kangaroos could ask for Josh Sinn,Zak Butters,Xavier Duursma or Miles Bergman as part of a deal,although Butters alone would be closer to the value of Horne-Francis.
Horne-Francis is contracted to the Kangaroos next season,with Rawlings declaring he is welcome to return should a deal not eventuate.
In addition to Adelaide’s offer – which would have sent two top-six picks to North – Richmond also offered a major deal for the rights to pick one. The Crows’ top selections this year are picks five and 23,the first of which is slated to go to the Gold Coast Suns for Izak Rankine.
Horne-Francis met with the Power and Crows last week. Crows list chief Justin Reid said on Monday his club was interested in Horne-Francis,but the priority was Rankine.
Horne-Francis’s stepfather is former Port Adelaide player Fabian Francis.
Jason Horne-Francis wants to be back among his family in Adelaide for season 2023.Credit:AFL Photos
“It was disappointing when the request came through,no doubt. We have invested a lot into this player. Pick one last year,we knocked back obviously a lot of currency to take him with pick one,so we really hoped he wanted to serve out his career with North Melbourne,” Rawlings said.
“It’s not to be. He has requested to go back to South Australia. I think the pull home is really strong. He has got different family situations and I think the pull home for Jason has been too strong.”
Horne-Francis played 17 games in his rookie season,but was controversially dropped ahead of a late-season game against the Crows in Adelaide,while his commitment was also questioned,particularly when he flew home to Adelaide for Mother’s Day after the round-eight loss to Fremantle in Perth,having initially flown home to Melbourne with his teammates.
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Horne-Francis’ decision caps a tumultuous season for the Kangaroos. Coach David Noble was sacked,they finished at the bottom again,and cannot say if and when new coach Alastair Clarkson will begin at Arden St given the expected delay from an imminent investigation into allegations of mistreatment of First Nations players,as alleged by players and their then partners in Hawthorn’s cultural safety review.
Noble,speaking on AFL Trade Radio,said the Kangaroos had done all they could to retain Horne-Francis.
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“We actually spoke to the family about moving here and whether there was an option to continue to support[him]. But there were no alarm bells in regards to him departing or asking for a trade.”
Rawlings said he did not know if Clarkson’s uncertain future with the club had played a role in Horne-Francis’ decision. Clarkson has delayed his start at North Melbourne,originally slated for November 1.
“We certainly haven’t heard that through his management,but it’s probably not a question for me,” Rawlings said.
Clarkson has strongly denied any wrongdoing and vowed to defend himself in an independent investigation that is being set up by the AFL.