Melbourne swingman Harrison Petty is reportedly in the sights of Adelaide once again, following a failed attempt to make the switch during the 2023 AFL Trade Period.
Petty - who is contracted at the Demons until the end of 2025 - has hinted at a return to his home state, South Australia, despite the club's reluctance to let him go.
The 24-year-old grew up in Wudinna, SA, and admitted late last year that at "some stage" he'd like to head back home.
“The decision has kind of been made now by Melbourne, which I'm totally fine with, I'm happy I'm on an AFL list still,” Petty said in October.
“I suppose at some stage I'd be open to a move back (home)… it is tough at times but my family are lucky enough, they can come over and see me a bit there. It is tough at times though.”
However, the premiership defender will be highly sought after by the Crows once again, with Channel 7 reporter Theo Doropolous breaking the news during Friday night's coverage of Carlton and Richmond.
.@TheoDrop with an update on:
- Harrison Petty's future.
- Rory Sloane, who has "a call on whether he plays on" due to an eye injury.Details: https://t.co/LRQCouWlJD pic.twitter.com/4gTGKgi7oh
— 7AFL (@7AFL) March 14, 2024
"They were going to make him an Adelaide player (last year) on a deal that was going to start at $1 million a year," Doropolous said.
"He is an under-contract player... the Demons put their foot down over this deal.
"But make no mistake, the Crows will come even harder, so much so, there is growing belief out of West Lakes that he will certainly wear an Adelaide Football Club jumper in 2025."
Adelaide CEO Tim Silvers admitted that the club will look to be active in this year's trade period, adding to the acquisitions of Jordan Dawson (Sydney), Izak Rankine (Gold Coast) and Chris Burgess (Gold Coast) in recent years.
“We look at all players who are going to improve our list,” Silvers told SEN in February.
“Harrison Petty was another player that we certainly looked at, but we didn't want to make trades for the sake of trades.
“We were able to bring in a couple of real talented players over the last couple of years in Izak Rankine and Jordan Dawson.
“We've got some terrific young players. We've got some kids who are developing and we hope they can take the next step and hopefully hurdle us towards finals.
“We got Chris Burgess in as a bit of key position depth and we'll be aggressive over the next 12 months and hopefully top up our list."
The Crows were unlucky not to feature in September last year, falling victim to a score-review decision gone wrong.
Attempting to put the sour taste behind them, Adelaide will kick off their 2024 season against the Gold Coast Suns on Saturday.
