Whether Jason Horne-Francis ends up actually requesting a trade out of North Melbourne or not, will he become the highest paid third-year player in the sport’s history?
SEN Chief Reporter Sam Edmund broke the news on Tuesday revealing that the number one draft pick flew home to South Australia for Mother’s Day without the permission of the club a few weeks after revealing that he had put off contract talks with the club.
Kane Cornes, given all the factors, including the club’s deep rebuild and the homesickness factor, believes this presents as a once-in-a-generation opportunity for both Adelaide and Port Adelaide.
“When you add all of these up and you put in Cam Zurhaar (putting contract talks on hold), when you put in the recruiters leaving, when you put in the losses by 50-plus points – Jason Horne-Francis, as competitive as he is, when you put in that North being talked about going to Tassie and they’re playing in front of 13,000 on a Sunday at Marvel,” Cornes told SEN SA Breakfast.
“There’s more than just this one story, it’s been a build-up of events that you would think Adelaide’s offer prior to the draft to get him, it’s a really good opportunity to explore getting a generational player back to a South Australian club.
“It doesn’t happen often. Matthew Pavlich nearly came back to Port, but there hasn’t been many guns that have returned.
“Gavin Wanganeen came back to Port Adelaide from Essendon, if that doesn’t happen there’s no premiership.
“If Adelaide drafted Pavlich instead of Ken McGregor (in 1998), they progress through those preliminary finals in that 2006 era under Neil Craig.
“That’s the difference we’re talking about. If Port Adelaide drafted Pavlich, you go from being the best home-and-away side in the early 2000s to probably snaring one or two more premierships.
“This is the once in a lifetime opportunity that you might have and who knows what Horne-Francis is like in 10 years. Could he be the next Mark Ricciuto? I don’t know.
“This is an opportunity to absolutely prey on a club that is at its lowest ebb.”
How would Adelaide or Port Adelaide actually pull off a trade for someone who would command potentially the most money of any 20-year-old in footy history?
“I think you worry about that later,” Cornes added.
“The first steps are to be in constant contact with his management, which is what Jason Cripps (Port list manager) and Justin Reid (Crows list boss) would be doing right now.
“Checking in, asking how he’s going, encouraging him under no circumstance to extend his contract at North in a subtle way.
“Whatever he does, just let him weigh up all the facts next year and don’t sign a contract because it becomes almost impossible if he signs a contract and then wants to come home.
“It’s not going to hurt him to remain out of contract, it’s only going to increase his price. That’s the first step that Port and the Crows have got to do … and then you worry about it at the end of next year.
“First thing is he has to decide he wants to leave. Once he does that, and it’s very rare for a second year player, but once he says I’m out, very rarely does a player keep a player who is out of contract and says they’re going – it doesn’t happen. I can’t think of one.
“He could be the highest paid third-year player in the history of the AFL. That sounds like a big call, but you think about what the stakes are for North Melbourne.
“Can you imagine if their number one pick, after everything they’ve been through … can you imagine if their greatest prospect walked out? They’re going to have pay him almost whatever he wants.
“He becomes probably the highest paid third-year player in the history of the game. I don’t know what that figure will be, but it’ll be a lot more than he deserves and a lot more than his performance has dictated to that point, I can guarantee you that.”
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