The Dan Houston trade saga could prove to be a line-in-the-sand moment for clubs that have increasingly lost ground to players since free agency was introduced.

Longer-term contracts in the free agency age have gifted star footballers incredible security, yet they have still been able to force their way out of contracts to get to their club of choice.

In this case, Houston is contracted for four more seasons at Port Adelaide, as this masthead revealed in July.

The back-to-back All-Australian defender wants to play for Collingwood and not North Melbourne, which is the sticking point in this situation.

The Kangaroos are desperate to bring Houston in, to deliver their first big-name recruit in more than a decade, and have better assets to do it than the Pies.

The Power are happy to accommodate Houston’s request to play in black and white, as long as the deal is commensurate to his value.

Houston’s original suitors Melbourne were willing to hand over this year’s first-round pick and their future one in preliminary discussions between the clubs, at a time the Demons were still on track to play finals.

Houston had a change of heart on joining the Demons after Christian Petracca’s grievances with the club were played out publicly.

The reason the three-way deal with Gold Coast, Collingwood and Port Adelaide broke down on Monday night was because the Power see Houston’s return as effectively picks 13 and 29, which they do not think is fair.

The Power privately accept that the Suns’ pick 23 will be part of the deal that reunites Daniel Rioli with his former coach Damien Hardwick on the Gold Coast, but something will have to give if Houston is to become a Magpie.

At least one of picks 13 or 29 will almost certainly need to be improved upon for Houston to change clubs, unless he is willing to head to Arden Street to play for North under Alastair Clarkson.