Wantaway Port Adelaide ruck Ivan Soldo regretted his decision to go to the Power just months after making it.
That’s according to AFL Trade Radio’s Sam Edmund, who says the former Richmond big man wanted to leave Alberton before even playing a game in teal.
“You’re going to scoff at this, but I can tell you this is absolutely true. He (Soldo) almost immediately regretted going to Port Adelaide. Before the season started,” Edmund said on Trade Radio on Thursday.
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Soldo has requested a trade from Port Adelaide in the upcoming trade period, with St Kilda his preferred destination.
It comes just a year after the Tigers traded him to Port for an exchange of third-round picks.
Soldo arrived at Port Adelaide hoping to assume their No.1 ruck role, having lived in the shadow of Richmond skipper Toby Nankervis for most of his career.
But he was soon passed by fellow recruit Jordon Sweet, who came from the Western Bulldogs last off-season, and even Dante Visentini later in the season, as he battled injury and form.
“So you think, ‘How can that be? You’re in charge of your own destiny’,” Edmund said of Soldo’s backflip.
“Port did very well to get two rucks in like that (along with Sweet), and thank goodness they did, because Jordon Sweet’s come from nowhere.
“Ivan Soldo, this has been a trade that’s been coming for a long time. It is quite remarkable.”
But his decision to make St Kilda his club of choice has raised some eyebrows, given the Saints already have Rowan Marshall as their dominant No.1 man in the ruck.
But with problems littered in the Saints’ forward line, the move has led 7AFL’s Kane Cornes to ponder some creativity that could be possible with Soldo’s arrival.
“Rowan Marshall isn’t a genuine forward, but has shown that he has capabilities to be a target in the forward line,” Cornes said on Trade Radio.
“Now, I think a lot of his best forward stuff comes from his positioning in the ruck. He’s got clearly a big tank and he gets forward off his opponent, pushes hard forward, and can take a really strong contested mark.
“I don’t see it as much as him playing as a genuine key forward. I see largely his forward craft coming from the ruck.
“So how will this dynamic work? Look, the Saints are going to be quite creative here.
“Clearly, Max (King) needs some help, they’ve been far too reliant on him and he’s been the focal point down there.
“So, can Rowan Marshall play 50, 60, 65 per cent as a key forward, and Ivan ruck? I haven’t seen that combination work very often; two genuine ruckmen and you’re trying to make one of them a forward.”
Cornes has been particularly critical of Fremantle’s ruck dynamic, with Sean Darcy and Luke Jackson both tussling for centre bounce duties.
And with both Dockers big men on massive contracts, it’s become a major problem for Fremantle, according to Cornes, because they’re not getting the best out of either of them.
“We’re seeing that unfold at Fremantle with disastrous effects,” Cornes said of the dynamic that could be mirrored at St Kilda.
“But I’m not going to be critical of it, because you’ll probably get Ivan for not much and they need to do something with that forward line, and Rowan Marshall is probably the best option to do that.
“Then you’ve got Cooper Sharman supporting him, I think he’s going to have a lot of upside, and we’ll see what happens with (Tim) Membrey.
“But I don’t mind the creative thinking from the Saints, as long as Rowan Marshall is not going to do a Max Gawn and Brodie Grundy, and spit the dummy 10 weeks into the season, and go, ‘I don’t want to play forward, I’m a ruckman’.”