Geelong wants Ollie Lord in Esava Ratogulea deal with Port Adelaide; Brandon Zerk-Thatcher, Xavier Duursma Essendon update

Geelong’s trade request comes just weeks after senior coach Chris Scott told 9News Adelaide he didn’t see a deal getting done between the Cats and Power.

“I’ve been really invested in Esava and my preference is to keep him, so I don’t see a deal getting done at all at the moment,” he said.

“We try to treat every situation on its own merits. There’s obviously comparisons with other situations, but we understand the market for key defenders is really, really strong at the moment, and we’re included in that, so that’s largely why we’d like to keep him.

“Aside from the investment we’ve made in him, players are getting huge offers at the moment and we understand why that (a move to Port) would be attractive (for Ratugolea).”

Ratugolea is one of three rival players to have requested trades to Port Adelaide this summer, joining Essendon’s Brandon Zerk-Thatcher and Bulldogs big man Jordon Sweet.

Power young gun Xavier Duursma is likely to be included in a deal involving Zerk-Thatcher, having requested a trade to the Bombers, with Essendon list boss Adrian Dodoro declaring that the two players’ requests go “hand-in-hand” with each other.

”It’s early days and we’ll have some discussions with Port over the next couple of days I’d imagine,” he told AFL Trade Radio.

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“Port have got a lot on their plate, we’ve got a fair bit on our plate.

“We’ll get to the nitty gritty of that one pretty soon.”