sounds like a bit of make believe to me, how could you not want Wingard? More valuable than Polec in my opinion.
I haven't really had my say on the Wingard saga as of yet but I spose now is as good a time as any.
I don't claim to have more inside info than other supporters but I do have a close friend that works in administration for the club who relays the info he gets to me and I still have a few loose ties to some people I met when I played for the maggies as a U/16/18 who I have a chat with from time to time, make of that what you will.
My take on the Wingard situation is that port very much wanted him to stay on their terms and Chad wanted to stay on his terms, make no mistake that he did not want to be traded, at least in the beginning. He was up for free agency at the end of 2019 and did not want to sign any form of extension as a result of that, approaching deadlines cause desperation in many cases as I'm sure many of us are aware.
Port put what most would think was a fairly generous offer to him and he was advised by his management that he could potentially get a much larger sum if he were to move though free agency at the end of this season, which could spike ports offer. As a result port told him to test his market value and then come back to the table to renegotiate. Ports reasoning was that he had come back at the start of 2018 massively overweight and until he could show he could commit (2019 pre season) they weren't willing to match the numbers being bandied about and Hinkley told him this flat out. If he was worth what him/his managers thought he was there was room for movement on ports side. It was always intended to be a testing of his value, never and actual "go shop yourself around" He took offence to this and that's when it all broke down and the rest played out as it did.
Chad was always a fantastic individual whenever I had the pleasure of talking to
him, did more than his share in regards to community events and such and always seemed genuinely happy to be doing so.
Where he failed was in his investment to the team, had almost no interaction with teammates outside of the club and spend most away games locked in in his room by himself. The importance of that is highly debatable but I think it was hugely overvalued by those in charge. They want complete buy in and with that comes forming relationships with teammates outside of training & game day, which he either tried to do and failed, or didn't try in the first place, either way it doesn't matter. He had no personal connections to his teammates, only forced connections which makes it much easier to pack up and move.
All this talk of Fortnite addiction and such is utter rubbish, what he does in his spare time is his choice and shouldn't have ever been in the media in the first place. You take away normal social opportunities for mid 20s blokes like going for a pint and a punt they need to find other avenues for relaxation. If he wants to play a video game for a few hours a day so be it.
I was so angry at the club with how they let it play out, but at the end of the day footy clubs are businesses and if one of your employees isn't realising their potential, no matter how great, they need to be moved on for someone who will.
I'll still be cheering him on every week bar 2 most years and will always be a port boy to me. I also think once Hinkley is gone there's a very real chance he may come back, as much of a pipe dream that is.
