New Port Adelaide ruckman Ivan Soldo has revealed why he pursued a move to Alberton from Richmond last trade period.
Soldo played 57 games in the yellow and black from 2015 to 2023 - including the 2019 premiership - but was often behind captain Toby Nankervis in the ruck pecking order.
That turned out to be the main reason behind Soldo’s wish to depart the club with the 27-year-old pushing for a chance to be first-choice at Port Adelaide despite Richmond wanting to retain his services.
“It was the decision my management and I decided would be the best move for me considering the circumstances I was under, and Port Adelaide were under,” Soldo explained on SEN Sportsday SA.
“We decided that the move over would be the best thing for my career to hopefully get some success over here.
“It was an interesting point with Richmond, the head coach ‘Dimma’ (Damien Hardwick) had left and there were a few blokes retiring.
“Obviously, there was communication from Richmond throughout the trade period that they wanted to retain me, but with the discussions my manager and I had across the year, we were always looking elsewhere to see if another opportunity could come my way.
“When it eventually came down to it, it was that this would be the best move for me.
“We got to that decision, it took a while, but we got there.”
After joining the Power in October, Soldo has quickly cracked into his first pre-season at the club and the one thing that has really caught his attention is coach Ken Hinkley’s relationship with the playing group.
Soldo says he and Hinkley have begun building a strong relationship and he hopes to play under him at the top level in 2024.
“Everyone trains hard, but from what I can see, the boys really love Kenny,” Soldo said.
“It's good to see that the relationship is so strong there and Kenny loves the team, and the boys love him.
“That's probably one thing I've really noticed, the relationship that Kenny has with all the players.
“He's a hard bloke to hate really because he's got so much passion, he's got so much love and he's a massive family man, which I'm learning pretty quickly.
“We got along pretty quickly, but he's a very caring man and he wants the best out of me.
“Hopefully I can contribute to the team, and I can't wait to play for him in years to come.”
Why Soldo’s move came from him wanting to be a No. 1 ruckman, he’ll have to win that position off fellow trade recruit Jordon Sweet who also left the Bulldogs in hopes of greater opportunity.
Soldo says he and Sweet will try and push each other to get better with Hinkley having the final say on who he wants to be his main man.
“Both of us at the clubs we were at before, unfortunately, we fell behind a preferred ruckman,” Soldo said.
“I had Toby (Nankervis) in front of me, he was preferred, and he (Sweet) also had (Tim) English.
“So, we both know what it's like, but we need to try to get each other better, but it's all honestly up to Kenny and what kind of ruck when he wants.
“We're both very competitive. We both want to play for the team.
“So, we'll see what happens in the trial games.”
Port Adelaide begin their 2024 season with a Round 1 clash against West Coast at the Adelaide Oval on Sunday, March 17.
Photo: @PAFC Twitter.