Reality has hit home for unwanted Port Adelaide ruck Scott Lycett with the conclusion of the AFL trade period.
Lycett’s five-year deal, signed after winning the 2018 premiership with West Coast, has expired and the 146-gamer was not offered an extension at Alberton.
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Instead, he watched on as the club signed Richmond’s Ivan Soldo and Western Bulldogs’ Jordon Sweet on deadline day.
The two new talls will automatically be shunted ahead of Lycett in the club’s ruck race, with Soldo looming as Port’s No.1 tap gun in 2024.
As the trades went down, Lycett boarded a plane and jetted off to a friend’s wedding.
Speaking on Trade Radio, his manager Colin Young revealed that Lycett, 31, may have stayed at Port if not for the Soldo move.
Young also said other clubs were showing interest in the ruck, but retirement remained a strong option.
“Scotty probably would’ve stayed on at Port … now he’s obviously available if he chooses to play on,” Young said.
“He’s on a plane interstate to catch up with a mate for his wedding and he’ll give it some thought over the weekend, whether he’ll have a chat to a few more clubs next week or retire.
“He has had a few medicals over the last 10 days and he’s fully fit and ready to go, but it’s just been a tiring year for him, so he’s going to have a few days to think about whether he will take a few offers up next week, or retire.”
At the end of the season, Port’s football manager Chris Davies said Lycett was “banged-up”.
“Scott right now is more thinking about whether he wants to continue to play,” Davies said.
“He’s in a position where he’s had a pretty injury-interrupted last few years and the poor bugger right now, as big of a warrior as he has been, he’s really banged-up.
“A guy who was able to get back at the end of the year, probably earlier than we thought he might be, has worked hard.
“But he’s spending some time away now just to think about what he wants in the future, first and foremost.”
Lycett’s past two seasons – in which he’s managed four and 14 games respectively – have been restricted by injury.
Sweet, a 25-year-old South Australian, has played 11 AFL games for the Dogs since being drafted as a rookie in 2019.
Soldo has played 57 games for Richmond, including the 2019 grand final which turned him into a premiership player.
– With AAP
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