Port Adelaide have put a line through chasing Essendon free agent Mason Redman.Credit:AFL Photos
The Power,who pulled offan enormous coup by landing 2021 pick No.1 Jason Horne-Francis last October,still hopes to lure Ratugolea,but will not pursue Redman,despite his talents,according to a football department source. In Port’s view,the Essendon free agent doesn’t redress a specific need.
Ratugolea requested a trade to Port last October,but the Cats opted to retain the former forward,who had one year to run on his contract and is coming out of contract this year. Initially a forward and sometimes ruckman,Ratugolea has been recast as a key position defender and shown significant promise in that role.
Redman is on the radar of the Crows,but a football industry source suggested they were not super-aggressive in their pursuit. The strong defender recently told SEN that,even though he is from South Australia,his home town of Millicent in SA’s east is close to an equal distance between Melbourne and Adelaide and that he would not be coming home,per se,if he opted to leave the Bombers for his home state. He is reportedly in negotiations with the Bombers,along with Parish.
Port’s view is that they are developing intercepting or rebounding defenders in the talented Dan Houston,Miles Bergman and Lachie Jones,while they have a clear need for a tall back to support Aliir Aliir and Trent McKenzie,the undersized McKenzie having often been asked to man much bigger opponents such as Geelong’s Tom Hawkins.
Port have made Bergman a priority signing,the out of contract former Sandringham Dragon being in the sights of several Victorian clubs.
While Redman is the more established player and with a more consistent career to date – Ratugolea has played only 70 games since his debut in 2018 (he was drafted in 2016) – Port’s prioritising of a Victorian key position player over a South Australian native (albeit from Millicent) is a measure of how clubs increasingly place specific need over a bigger name.