West Coast recruiter Rohan O'Brien admits orchestrating a trade with Port Adelaide for contracted midfielder Sam Powell-Pepper will be “hard to get done”.
Powell-Pepper, who is contracted for 2022 and 2023, has been linked with a move to the Eagles due to a lack of midfield opportunities at the Power.
The 23-year-old was dropped for the final two games of the season and was the medical sub during Port’s finals campaign.
O’Brien and the Eagles have spoken briefly with the Power about Powell-Pepper, but that’s as far as it’s gone.
“We only really became aware this week that there was any sort of possibility that Sam was available, so we haven’t really done any work on that,” O’Brien told AFL Trade Radio’s The Late Trade.
“We touched base with Port to get some clarity, but our priority was Sam Petrevski-Seton, so we really needed to work through that first.
“We’ll have some discussions internally … Sam is a good player and I’m sure he would be attractive to a few clubs.
“My gut feel is that will be hard to get done this year.”
Powell-Pepper was mostly used as a forward this year instead of his preferred role as an inside midfielder.
Power list boss Jason Cripps recently told Sportsday: “We had some open discussions at the end of the year.
“He thinks his best footy is as an inside mid … we’ve got a little bit of depth with those inside mids.
“‘Pep’ found himself playing more forward than he would have liked as opposed to centre square.”
Powell-Pepper has played 92 games for Port Adelaide.