Adelaide General Manager of List Management and Strategy Justin Reid provides NAB AFL Trade Radio with an update at the halfway mark of the trade period.

On the result of the Jake Lever deal …

“It’s always disappointing to lose a quality player like Jake, but we wish him and his family all the best. He was pick No.14 back in 2014, so to turn him into round one draft picks was a great result from the footy club.”

On the Club’s approach to contract negotiations with Lever throughout the year …

“We’re really clear where the offers sat with regards to benchmarking. What was reported out there, I can be really clear that there was no ‘lowballing’. But we also have a list that’s sitting top four at the moment. We need to be fair and reasonable to that list to try and keep the group together. That was the decision we made. Obviously, Jake made his decision with his management and now we all move on.

“Absolutely, you want to keep your core (players) but the consideration is actually across the whole squad. We’ve got a team-first approach. We’re big about retention and trying to build from within, that’s the approach we take.

“We know the offer we put on the table was very, very strong but Melbourne saw an opportunity and I guess put a huge value on his head to wedge him out. He decided to come home and good luck to Jake and his family.”

On the Club’s approach to Free Agent Steven Motlop …

“The deadline for Free Agency comes Sunday. I know Steven will work through that with his management. He’s back up in Darwin at the moment and he’s got a decision to make.

“We are hearing that he may be keen to move to Adelaide given the family connections that he has here, but I also know Geelong would still be keen to keep him at the football club as well.

“We spent a fair bit of time with him earlier in the week. We think he’d really add to our program. We’ve shown in the past with the likes of Eddie Betts, Sam Jacobs and Tom Lynch that we can bring guys like that into our program and even help them take their footy to a new level.

“Hopefully, we’re in a good position there but we’ll find out more in the next 24 – 48 hours.”

On Charlie Cameron’s request to be traded to the Brisbane Lions …

“We’ve had clear conversation with Charlie and his management. We understand his situation, but he is certainly clear on our position being a contracted player. (If we were successful in) Bringing Steven in and having Jake Lever move on, you take one out of the backline where we think we’ve got some depth with Tommy Doedee, Alex Keath and Andy Otten and the like.

“We think we’ve got some coverage there in the backline, so what we’d be doing is adding to, hopefully, that midfield/forward part of the field.”

On speculation about the Club pursuing Bryce Gibbs again …

“I think I was pretty clear when I came out and spoke on Monday. He’s a contracted player at the Carlton Football Club, so I think it would be wrong of me to talking about a contracted player like Bryce.

“My understanding is he’s very happy where he is.”

On whether the Club has changed it approach to Gibbs after being unable to facilitate a trade last year …

“It all happened very quickly and late last year, so it probably took us by surprise as well. You do learn your lessons.

“I’ve actually got a really good relationship with ‘SOS’ (GM List Management and Strategy) Stephen Silvagni and the Carlton footy club, so we’ll work through the next seven days and see how things play out.

“I couldn’t tell you (what Gibbs’ stance is), I haven’t spoken to Bryce.”

On Essendon utility Aaron Francis requesting a trade home to South Australia …

“He (Francis) is a contracted player at Essendon. I’ve heard the noise there as well, but I haven’t spoken to Aaron myself. I’ve spoken to (List Manager) Adrian Dodoro at the Essendon footy club and my understanding is that he (Francis) is a required player.

“He’s only two years into the system. He’s a pick No.6 and he’s still developing within their program. We certainly tracked him for 2-3 three years leading into his draft year, so we know a lot about Aaron. He went at pick No.6 and we got Wayne Milera at about pick No.11. We know a lot about him as an individual and his football. He’s a lovely kid, so we’ll see where things play out.”

On whether the Club is seeking future (2018) picks to improve its position in the strong 2018 draft …

“I think it’s been a factor for most clubs. Trying to get future round one picks or a future pick in general, everyone is holding them tightly. In South Australia, there are probably 3-4 (players of) high-end talent that we think are coming through. If we ever get the opportunity to keep the South Australians home, then we’ll certainly look to do that.

“First and foremost we’ve got a trade period to get through and we’ve still got another AFL season to get through (before the 2018 draft). My job at the moment is to try and improve the list to give us every opportunity to get back to the last day in September.”

On whether the Club is committed to using pick No.10 – received from Melbourne as part of the deal for Jake Lever – in next month’s AFL National Draft …

“We’ll have to see how that plays out, there’s a bit to work through. We’ve got pick No.10 and No.16 at the moment. A lot of things can change between now and 2pm next Thursday. I need to get back in front of my whiteboard today just to see what opportunities are there!”

On player retention at the Adelaide Football Club …

“You have to treat each situation individually. A couple of them were certainly to do with the new expansion sides. It’s probably a little bit unlucky to cop two (players leave) with two new clubs. I think the Western Bulldogs were the other club that had that as well with (Callan) Ward and (Jarrod) Harbrow.

“I know our program and I know being on the other side of the fence (as a player manager) how other clubs do things. Unfortunately, we’re probably a little bit close to Victoria and 60 per cent of the draft comes out of Victoria. 

"We know that when we bring players into our football club, we’ll make it the best learning environment and we’ve got great welfare to try and support them. At times, there’s just things out of your control and they make those decisions for those reasons.

“I think if we actually sit down and look through every club at players coming and going, you’ll find that it’s quite even across the competition. I think it just might be highlighted a bit more because of the quality of players that have left the Adelaide footy club, which is a credit to Don Pyke and the development team down at the Club (in being able to develop that talent).”