AFL contract news: Hawk Will Day delays talks, while new deal for Peter Wright seems some way off
Promising Hawk Will Day will rely on a return to form this year, while Bomber spearhead Peter Wright will put forward his outstanding form last season as they look to secure new deals.
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Hawthorn utility Will Day will delay contract talks until the back-end of the season at earliest as he seeks to return to the form of his brilliant debut season.
Day is out of contract in October and after a solid summer is hoping to again showcase the form that saw him register a top-five result in the 2020 Rising Star award.
While Day played 17 games last year after recovering from a broken ankle that decimated his second season he finished only 19th in the club’s best-and-fairest.
The club’s trialled him as an inside and outside midfielder before settling him down in defence in the last month of the season.
Now he is hoping to again showcase his silky skills and penetrating kicking for coach Sam Mitchell before considering a deal in the back-end of the season.
His manager Anthony McConville told the Herald Sun Day was excited to build on his first three seasons but unlikely to consider a contract until well into the season.
“We expect big things from Will this year as I am sure he does. He played 17 games and was hampered by a few niggles and knocks but it was nothing to do with conditioning. The club is hoping he is going to get some luck in the running,” he said.
“All things going well we would like to see where it lands come the end of the year. We don’t have any strict timelines on what we are doing but there will be nothing in the immediate period.
“He has got a huge amount of potential and it’s about giving him every opportunity to show that potential and a bit of luck is required with that.”
Hawthorn has vast cap space open after moving on Jaeger O’Meara and Tom Mitchell and losing Ben McEvoy and Jack Gunston but will hope to use that cap space prudently.
Already Jai Newcombe and Dylan Moore have re-signed in recent months at a club with an extremely young playing list that is energised by Mitchell’s direction and strategies.
McConville is attempting to broker a new deal for Essendon’s best-and-fairest winner Peter Wright but at this stage is some way off securing that new contract.
Gold Coast paid a chunk of Wright’s 2021-22 salary but this year Essendon will pay all of what is still a ridiculously modest deal given his 53 goals in 2022.
“We are having conversations with Essendon with Peter,” McConville said.
“It is taking a bit of time. Clearly he’s coming off a career-best season and top five in the Coleman with a best-and-fairest. It is getting to what his true value is. He hasn’t come at a huge cost to Essendon and Peter backed him in and now it’s for Essendon to consider what his value is and they know that.”
The four forwards ahead of Wright in the 2022 Coleman Medal have all secured lucrative deals across their careers in Charlie Curnow, Peter Wright, Jeremy Cameron and Tom Hawkins.
Round 1 bolter? Electrifying trial thrusts raw kid into picture
- Jay Clark
St Kilda has turned to raw key forward Anthony Caminiti to help plug the holes in its attacking set-up this season after an electrifying intra-club performance.
The 196cm Caminiti will be unveiled at the club this week after impressing new coach Ross Lyon and list boss Stephen Silvagni with his marking power in a scratch match on Friday.
The Heidelberg product briefly trained at Carlton over the preseason but was lured across to Moorabbin where he could help cover injured star spearhead Max King and back-up tall Jack Hayes.
Caminiti, 19, has been picked up under the supplemental selection period rules, joining former Blue Liam Stocker at the Saints’ to help kick-off Lyon’s second stint as coach.
Caminiti played for Northern Knights in the NAB League last year and showed promise as a developing forward but was struck down by an ankle injury, hampering his draft chances.
But in one of the preseason’s biggest surprises he starred in match simulation on Friday at Moorabbin to seal the list spot and put himself in the running for early-season selection.
The Saints will likely give him the chance to showcase his wares in the two preseason games against Melbourne and Essendon over the next three weeks.
The injuries to spearhead King (shoulder) and ruckman Hayes (foot) have dealt a huge blow to the Saints who have spent this preseason bedding down a new game style designed to capitalise on the team’s running power for 2023.
While Caminiti will continue to build his fitness, he is considered a natural forward who could provide a strong marking target at the top level.
The club has also been impressed with top draft pick Mattaes Phillipou, who will push strongly for an early debut in the midfield, while playmaker Marcus Windhager has also shone over summer.
The Saints take on Fremantle in Round 1 at Marvel Stadium.
Blues pull SSP shock after Pies’ Markov swifty
- Jay Clark
Collingwood has thwarted a challenge from Carlton to sign former Richmond defender Oleg Markov.
The Magpies had a vacant list spot after losing luckless defender Charlie Dean to a foot fracture last week, continuing the mature-age pickup’s nightmare run of injuries to his right foot.
Markov, 26, has trained with Collingwood over summer but briefly switched camps to Carlton this week after Zac Williams tore his ACL.
The Blues were considering Markov as a straight replacement for Williams on a back flank.
But the rug was pulled out from beneath the Blues when the Magpies swooped late on Thursday, signing Markov under the supplemental selection period rules.
Collingwood football manager Graham Wright said Markov would inject some legspeed to Collingwood.
“Oleg adds depth at a position of need – he has speed and running power – and he is a quality young man who impressed us during his time with us over the preseason,” Wright said.
“We look forward to welcoming Oleg back to our program in the coming days as we continue our preparations for the 2023 season.”
Carlton instead signed developing 202cm ruckman Hudson O’Keeffe from Oakleigh Chargers under the supplemental selection rules.
O’Keeffe, who led the ruck for Vic Metro last year, had been training at Essendon over summer, but has officially joined Carlton.
The Blues have one more list spot open which they could use on VFL defender Alex Cincotta or take to the midseason draft.
Carlton has one more spot available because midfielder Sam Philp was moved to the inactive list due to his foot injury.
Markov was delisted from the Suns after 28 games across two seasons up north and will be ready to go for the Magpies from Round 1.
But he will face competition on a back flank from Will Hoskin-Elliott who has been shifted from the front half to the back half this preseason.
Champion former captain Scott Pendlebury is also set to play in defence this year.
Wright said the club would fully support Dean who played only two VFL games for the Pies last year amid his shocking foot injuries.
Dean’s latest blow came when he copped a knock at training last week.
“We are disappointed for Charlie who has had unfortunate luck with his foot over the past year,” Wright said.
“While Charlie is an extremely resilient footballer, we empathise with him after being so dedicated during a lengthy rehab last season and over the summer break.
“Our program will wrap our arms around Charlie and ensure he is well supported as he recovers.”
Could be some sliding doors moments to come from this SSP window. Blues sign Hudson O’Keefe, who had a training opportunity at Essendon. Oleg Markov joins Collingwood after a very brief stint at Princes Park.
— Mitchell Keating (@MitchKeat) February 10, 2023
Key free agency targets wait to test contract waters
-Jon Ralph
High-profile free agents Ben McKay and Harry Himmelberg will wait until the season is underway before assessing their futures in a free agency pool desperately short of key-position talent.
The free agency list has already lost much of its quality with Carlton forwards Harry McKay and Charlie Curnow among the key-position players to relinquish free agency status in exchange for long-term contract extensions.
McKay and Himmelberg are joined on the 2023 list by players including Essendon’s Darcy Parish, Western Bulldogs extractor Tom Liberatore, Richmond flanker Nathan Broad and Eagles star Jeremy McGovern.
The free agency status of Hawthorn’s Dylan Moore and Western Bulldogs defender Ryan Gardner helped them both sign three-year deals to 2026 in recent days.
North Melbourne defender McKay will not turn his mind to a contract extension until after the season is underway given the significant changes at Arden St.
McKay has a new coach in Alastair Clarkson and a new-look backline that includes ex-Fremantle defender Griffin Logue, who should release him to dominate in 2023.
McKay’s free agency is perfectly timed given the expected rise in total player payments, with AFL pay talks under way and the trend towards paying intercept defenders vast sums.
Collingwood’s Darcy Moore signed a six-year free agency deal last year that took into account his elite intercept ability and rebounding capacity.
McKay is only 25 and can expect to sign a similar deal at the Roos or elsewhere if he can put together a complete season after only 15 games in 2022.
GWS swingman Harry Himmelberg will also wait until during the season before considering his future.
Repurposed as an intercept defender by interim coach Mark McVeigh last season, he performed strongly and still kicked 22 goals for the season playing in multiple positions.
In his past five seasons he has goal tallies of 38, 36 and 29, all higher than the 28-goal career-best tally of Dan McStay, who secured a five-year, $3 million deal at Collingwood this year.
Himmelberg is in the top 10 for goalkicking accuracy among active players across his career, kicking 22.6 last year and 38.12 in 2019.
McGovern finishes his long-term contract this season, having taken a significant pay cut in the past two years on a deal that is still worth around $1 million a season.
He declared recently he was in career-best shape and while he turns 31 in April, he still has multiple years ahead of him.
If West Coast felt the need to rebuild at the end of 2023 there would be multiple suitors who would believe he could round out their teams, so his progress through the season will be intriguing.
Parish is another free agent with a new coach in Brad Scott who will have his contract well-scrutinised given his brilliant best is of All-Australian calibre.
He won his All-Australian blazer in 2021, but after an injury-hampered season with only 16 games last year finished ninth in the best-and-fairest won by Peter Wright.
Parish is understood to believe Essendon has already taken significant steps forward under Scott.
When he signed his most recent contract extension in 2021 he said it was an easy decision to stay and that the club was building something special at the Hangar.
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