PORT Adelaide has fired a warning shot at Gold Coast, declaring it would back itself to lure highly rated draftees Jack Lukosius or Izak Rankine back home if the Suns recruit either of them. 

Gold Coast holds pick No.2 and No.3 in this year's NAB AFL Draft and the South Australian pair was rated in those positions in Cal Twomey's latest Phantom Draft. 

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Port list manager Jason Cripps effectively cautioned the Suns against taking either of them when speaking to NAB AFL Trade Radio on Monday.

"If Lukosius and Rankine end up going to Gold Coast, we're probably pretty happy to try to get them back in a few years' time," Cripps said.

"It's interesting, because then it just becomes a two-horse race between us and the Crows, as opposed to a Victorian kid that wants to come back home, who has potentially got 10 options.

"That's part of the discussion and strategy, but right at the minute, we're really comfortable with pick six."

Gold Coast has struggled retaining players with former co-captain Tom Lynch (Richmond) was the latest big name to depart, joining the likes of Gary Ablett (Geelong), Jaeger O'Meara (Hawthorn) and Dion Prestia (Richmond).

But the Power are confident of not facing a similar problem and won't be concerned about choosing a Victorian with pick No.6, pointing to their record of keeping stars such as Ollie Wines and Travis Boak.

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"We're happy with any of the Victorian boys. We're going to back ourselves in," Cripps said.

"It's quite interesting at the moment because we've traditionally been really strong with retention, particularly with Victorian guys.

"We've actually got a little bit of a challenge at the moment, losing some South Australians in Jared Polec and Chad Wingard, which is a little bit unique."