We've put a 4-year offer on the table for Chaplin ...
So easy for free agents at Port and Crows to walk away Michelangelo Rucci
From: The Advertiser
August 01, 2012 FREE agents Troy Chaplin at Port Adelaide and Chris Knights at the Crows will have easy paths to new AFL clubs next year.
Chaplin's exit from the Power is almost confirmed.
The 26-year-old defender has a four-year offer from Richmond and Port will not match it. This means that Chaplin can walk to Tigerland in October without any roadblocks.He is a "restricted" free agent. He is compelled to stay at Alberton only if the Power matches any offer from a rival AFL club.
In return for Chaplin's loss to Richmond, Port will be compensated with draft picks.
Knights is an "unrestricted" free agent. He can leave West Lakes regardless of how any contract offer from a rival club matches up with a deal from Adelaide. So far, Knights has no contract to consider from the Crows.
Beyond contracts, Knights may now feel his chances of finding a regular place in an AFL line-up are elsewhere.
He has played just 20 of a possible 39 games since 2010 when the midfielder-forward signed with Adelaide despite attention from other clubs.
Adelaide football operations chief Phil Harper said yesterday: "We have spoken to Chris' manager and have decided to leave it until the end of the year.
"That does not mean we will not offer Chris an extension.
"But in the end, as a free agent, it is Chris' call."
This is the SA landscape of the first round of free agency that changes how players move between AFL clubs.
Eight SA-based players are among the game's 62 free agents - two at Adelaide and six at the Power.
At Port, there is Chaplin, captain Dom Cassisi, midfielders Danyle Pearce and Steven Salopek, defender Jacob Surjan and forward Brett Ebert.
Cassisi has been taken out of the free-agency market by signing a two-year extension.
There is unlikely to be any rush on Pearce, Salopek, Surjan or Ebert. The long-anticipated passage of Pearce to expansion franchise Greater Western Sydney as an "uncontracted" wildcard recruit has reached a dead end with his form lapse.
At Adelaide, there is Knights and veteran defender Michael Doughty who is most likely to retire at season's end.
Chaplin is said to have as many as five AFL clubs prepared to chase him. None is as bullish as Richmond where his currency is being enhanced by three former Port identities - coach Damien Hardwick, assistant coach Brendan Lade and recruiting manager Blair Hartley.
The other major contender will be St Kilda after coach Scott Watters confirmed his club's search for a mature-age defender in the free-agent market.
Chaplin's status at Port - at least among the supporter group - is shaky after his recent turnover kicks in defence have become too costly.
He is unlikely to have been placed in the "must keep" column in Port's recent review of its player list.
And with the Power reluctant to test Chaplin as a forward, the 139-game player is on an unstoppable path to Richmond.
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