Bryce Gibbs wants to go home to SA, meaning a bad first day for Carlton in the AFL trade period.
Compounding the Blues’ woes, defender Zach Tuohy also confirmed on Monday that he is rejecting their offer of a three-year deal and would rather head to Geelong.
Adelaide list manager Justin Reid dropped the first bombshell of the trade period when he confirmed weeks of speculation about Gibbs’ intentions.
“We will have discussions behind the scenes and work through it,” Reid said.
“Bryce and his management have said he has a strong desire to get home.
“It’s early days. As I’ve said, he’s a contracted player, so I probably don’t want to get too much into it right now.”
The 2006 No.1 draft pick signed a five-year deal with the Blues in 2014 and is contracted to them until the end of the 2019 season.
“Whilst the club acknowledges the personal reasons behind Bryce’s request, he is a contracted player and we intend to work through those matters with both him and his management,” Blues football boss Andrew McKay said in a club statement.
Adelaide’s top draft pick at No.13 will undoubtedly be on the table as they try to thrash out a deal for Gibbs.
The 2014 Carlton best and fairest winner finished fourth in the award this season and has played 209 games for the Blues.
Adelaide protested when their request to recruit Gibbs back in 2006 as a father-son selection was knocked back.
His father Ross played 253 games for SANFL team Glenelg.
But under AFL rules at the time, Ross Gibbs had not played enough games in a certain time period.
Tuohy is out of contract and North Melbourne have also expressed interest in him, but he wants to join the Cats.
On a busy opening day of the AFL trade period:
* Richmond star Brett Deledio has expressed an interest in joining Geelong
* The Tigers said any deal with Geelong will not involve Cats forward Steven Motlop
* Sydney midfielder Tom Mitchell confirmed he wants to join Hawthorn
* North Melbourne’s free agent Daniel Wells has rejected a two-year offer and is set to join Collingwood on a three-year deal
* Hawthorn confirmed they had signed Richmond free agent Ty Vickery on a two-year contract
* According to Gold Coast football manager Marcus Ashcroft, six to eight unnamed Hawthorn players are on the table as the two clubs negotiate a trade for Suns midfielder Jaeger O’Meara
* Earlier on Monday, the Hawks denied Luke Breust would leave the club and similarly talked down the prospect of James Sicily being traded
* Michael Barlow’s manager has confirmed the Fremantle midfielder could leave the club
* The Dockers, like Hawthorn, will be major players in the trade period – their shopping list includes Cam McCarthy (GWS), Shane Kersten (Geelong), Joel Hamling (Western Bulldogs) and Bradley Hill (Hawthorn)
* Fremantle hope to keep Hayden Ballantyne, but are set to lose Chris Mayne to Collingwood.
