ESSENDON wants any of Hamish Hartlett, Ollie Wines or Chad Wingard as a “fair-trade” return from Port Adelaide for ruckman-forward Paddy Ryder.

The Bombers’ first preference is midfielder Hartlett who, as a contracted player, can block any trade.

The Bombers delivered this super list to the Power at the opening of AFL trade talks at Etihad Stadium with Essendon list manager Adrian Dodoro telling The Advertiser: “Paddy finished seventh in our best-and-fairest count. So we will take Port Adelaide’s seventh, eighth or ninth best ... we’ll take Hamish Hartlett.

“But they don’t want to talk about anyone in their best 22. We want a quality player.”

WRAP: FULL TRADE NEWS

The Power’s reaction to handing up a first-choice player such 24-year-old Hartlett in return for 26-year-old Ryder was a predictable reluctance to even consider such a trade. This highlights, as Port Adelaide has feared, that trade talks with the notoriously stubborn Bombers will be extremely difficult until the trade deadline next Friday.

Port Adelaide list manager Jason Cripps was firm on refusing to put any Power player on the trade table.

“Our offer is our first draft pick (No. 16) and we will not be discussing any players,” Cripps told The Advertiser.

“We categorically won’t be talking about players in that bracket (of Hartlett, Wines and Wingard). So we will keep progressing with Essendon to work a trade knowing that Paddy Ryder wants to be at Port Adelaide.”

Dodoro rejected the Power’s first-round draft pick — currently No. 16 — was a fair deal.

“We want what is fair,” he said. “We want apples for apples; not apples for a bag of peanuts.

“Port Adelaide know what we are after. We want a quality player in return — so the ball is back in their court.”

Ryder quit Essendon a fortnight ago — despite having still two years on his contract at Windy Hill — and last week chose the Power as his preferred club for a trade after also considering Brisbane. He answers two of Port Adelaide’s major needs — a ruckman to support the overworked Matthew Lobbe and a forward to work in partnership with Jay Schulz and Justin Westhoff.

But Dodoro is refusing to concede Ryder was lost to the Bombers — and was not fearing an AFL grievance committee casting Ryder as a “free agent” if he makes a “duty of care” claim against Essendon based on welfare issues from the supplement saga that has embroiled the Victorian club in deep controversy. Such a move carries the risk of Essendon losing Ryder without compensation.

“Regardless of those scenarios, we’re worried about our list-management right now in this trade period,” Dodoro said. “And there is no guarantee anything will happen after this (trade period) anyway.

“Paddy still has two years to go with us. He is a much-loved player. We want to keep him. Obviously, Port Adelaide has expressed a strong interest in Paddy but we still have to work through it. Nothing has happened. It is up to Port Adelaide — or any other interested parties (as a third player in a potential draft).”

Such a third party may be Sydney and its midfielder Daniel Hannebery who continues to be mentioned in trades that link him back to his home city of Melbourne or the Western Bulldogs.

Port’s search for another ruckman, Gold Coast’s South Australian draftee Daniel Gorringe, also is complicated but not without the chance of becoming a trade, particularly if the Suns secure Sydney premiership defender Nick Malceski as a free agent.

Suns football chief Marcus Ashcroft said his club would continue talks with both the Power and Adelaide “but it will need to be a good offer” to trade away Gorringe.

“Daniel is a required player, he is contracted for next year and we signed him because we wanted him as part of our core group going forward,” Ashcroft said.