REPLACING the departing Charlie Dixon with another tall forward is not on the agenda for the Gold Coast Suns.

Instead a smaller forward and rebounding defender are on the Suns shopping list as the club prepares to make the biggest changes to the team in their short history.

Dixon, 24, has requested a trade after five AFL seasons at the Gold Coast, with Port Adelaide his preferred destination leading into next month’s trade period.

It is understood the Power are prepared to swoop with a $3 million-plus deal.

The talented goalkicker has been a big cog in the Suns forward line but coach Rodney Eade said he was comfortable with his current stocks including spearhead Tom Lynch and the likes of Sam Day and rising prospect Peter Wright.

“I think we will probably look for guys that can run like a medium-type forward who take a mark and has that aerobic capacity,” Eade said.

“Not as tall as a (Tom) Lynch but bigger than a (Jack) Martin.

“That is the type of player and we wouldn’t mind a ­medium-size defender.”

Eade said securing ready-made senior players aged between 22 and 27 would help the club’s push towards the finals and complement the current young squad.

“In tough, tight games those experienced players tend to help and we want to be able to go forward next year and push up the ladder,” Eade said.

Hawthorn’s premiership defender Matthew Suckling, 27, fits the criteria, along with fellow unrestricted free agent and West Coast utility Patrick McGinnity, 26.

Adelaide Crows midfielder Patrick Dangerfield, 25, would be a dream signing but an unrealistic one while Melbourne defender Colin Garland, 27, also fits the bill.

A teary-eyed Dixon, the first player signed by the Sun, told teammates of his decision at the hotel following their loss to the Sydney Swans on Saturday night.

Dixon, who kicked 94 goals in his career for the Suns, said leaving the club was the toughest decision of his career so far.

“To leave the Suns is the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” Dixon said.

“The club has been a massive part of my life and I appreciate enormously the opportunity they gave me to play in the AFL.

“It’s been a decision that has weighed heavily on my mind in recent times and it was not taken lightly.

“But I just feel a fresh start is the best thing right now for my football career.”

Dixon will leave the club having made his mark as a strong forward and an accurate and long-range goal kicker who never quite reached his potential. Injury problems largely limited him to only 65 starts from a potential 110 games, while he also responded well after being stood down earlier this season for breaching a team-imposed drinking ban.

The Suns have traditionally been quiet during the trade period in their first five years in the AFL. But the Suns list requirements and a perceived lack of quality in the draft will change all that.

Eade predicted it to be the most active trade period of the club and the AFL’s history.

“No doubt and it will be the biggest trade period ever for the AFL itself,” he said.

“Certainly from our point of view we will be heavily investing in the trade period.

“There are a few people saying the draft isn’t very strong and I think clubs will want to get better and that’s what I’m hearing from around the traps that clubs are looking at trading a fair bit.

“It doesn’t make it harder and will only be positive.”