Carlton have swooped on delisted Port Adelaide free agent, Orazio Fantasia.
The South Australian will return to Victoria to play for his third AFL club, having been traded from Essendon to the Power ahead of the 2021 season.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Carlton set to swoop on axed Port Adelaide forward Orazio Fantasia.
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Mitch Cleary broke the news on 7NEWS Melbourne on Friday night.
“Orazio Fantasia will join the Blues on a two-year deal, reuniting with coach Michael Voss — his old assistant coach at the Power,” Cleary said.
“While Fantasia’s only played four games in the last two years through injury, the Blues see significant upside for a small forward who’s just turned 28, and once kicked 39 goals in a season at Essendon.”
Fantasia had been courted by the GWS Giants in recent weeks, who had offered a spot on their rookie list for the livewire small forward, but the security at the Blues was too good to ignore, as Cleary explained.
“His future has taken a twist in recent weeks” Cleary said.
“First, talks for a one-year deal to potentially stay at the Power, Fantasia then had a medical with GWS who were exploring a rookie contract, only then to be guaranteed two years on the senior list at the Blues, where he’ll move as a delisted free agent.”
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Orazio Fantasia will play at Carlton next year. Credit: Getty Images
The Blues don’t have to give anything up to secure his services because of his delisted free agency status.
Fantasia was becoming one of the premier small forwards in the competition during his peak at Essendon, having kicked 111 goals from his 80 games, but had begun a plague of injuries during his last year at the Bombers, when he managed just five games.
He was traded for a second and future third-round selection at the end of 2020, 12 months after having his first trade request denied by the Bombers, who were keen to keep him in 2019, but relented the following year in a last-minute deal with the Power.
Orazio Fantasia began his career at the Bombers. Credit: Michael Dodge/Getty Images
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The trade went down to the final 15 minutes of the 2020 trade period, but Fantasia eventually got his wish.
He made an immediate impact at Alberton, kicking four goals in his first game wearing new colours, and 23 from 15 games for the season.
And though he was a key member of Port Adelaide’s preliminary final team in 2021, Fantasia still battled recurring knee injuries in what was his best year at the Power — a grim foreshadowing of the injury-cursed next two years he went on to suffer.
Fantasia played just one game in 2022 and three this year — the opening three of the season.
The 28-year-old will now battle for a small forward’s role in Carlton’s front half, which already includes the likes of Matt Cottrell, Lachie Fogarty, Jack Martin and Jesse Motlop, plus Matt Owies, who was dropped for the Blues’ preliminary final loss to Brisbane.
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