Rohde said Power officials met with several clubs on day two, with the Power hopeful of completing deals by Thursday or Friday.
“We’ve been working on three or four ruckmen over the past few weeks,” Rohde said. “Griffin was the one we got furthest down the track with, but the change of coach at Freo seems to have changed the landscape.
“We’re trying to get a resolution there with a definite yes or no and then move on quickly to the others we’ve been talking to because we don’t want to get tied up in the Mitch Clark deal as that could go on all week.”
The club remains committed to young ruckman Matthew Lobbe leading the ruck, but Rohde says he needs support in the short term.
“Lobbe developed really well in the second half of the year. He played some good games but he was carrying a majority of the load himself so by three quarter time he’d get overrun a bit.
“So we’re really keen to get a mature bodied ruckman to support him. There’s an obvious need there for us and I wouldn’t be surprised if clubs start playing two ruckman again next year.”
Rohde confirmed the club had spoken to Crow Ivan Maric, but said the Victorian was keen to get to a club where he could be the number one ruckman.
“We’re openly supporting Matthew Lobbe to be our number one ruckman.”
Media speculation surrounding a possible trade involving Danyle Pearce was quickly quashed by Rohde.
Pearce, 25, has played 134 games since bursting onto the scene as a rookie in 2005 and winning the Rising Star Award in 2006, and Rohde insisted he was an important part of the club’s future.
“He’s a very talented player and we’re very keen to keep him and he’s contracted for next year so he won’t be going anywhere. We see him as an important part of our future.”
Trade week continues until the cut-off at 1.30pm on Monday 17 October.
Audio courtesy of Trade Week Radio
