Moneyball: Stephen Hill looms as key free agent as Pie Ben Reid waits to learn his AFL future
MONEYBALL: Rookie ruckman Sam Draper is yet to play a senior game but the Bombers may need to improve their offer to keep him. Plus news on Ben Reid, Scott Thompson and more.
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Collingwood will make an end-of-season call on the future of Ben Reid.
The luckless swingman has suffered another calf setback and faces a stint on the sidelines.
Reid, 30, forced his way into the senior team on the back of some strong VFL form and was the Pies’ best-performed player in the win over the Bulldogs before he went down against North Melbourne.
Reid signed a one-year deal at the end of last season and will push for a contract extension as a versatile key position player. But any extension will likely be heavily incentivised.
The premiership Magpie has played 149 games across 13 seasons and was kept to only six matches last year because of his recurring soft-tissue issues.
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Stephen Hill has emerged as the second-best midfield target in this year’s free agency pool.
And with Dockers ruckman Sean Darcy dropped again, his future remains up for grabs with a potential move to Victoria.
The wingman has suffered a dreaded injury-run this year and remains unsigned beyond this season, with rivals keeping a close eye on the 29-year-old.
As an unrestricted free agent, he could walk to the club of his choice if he is not happy with Fremantle’s final offer.
St Kilda and Gold Coast could both do with his outside running power, while Hawthorn could also swoop in trademark fashion depending on how their cards fall at season’s end.
Brad Hill’s partner will return to Melbourne next year and the only question is whether the Dockers relent and allow him to return this year or next to be with her.
The Hawks are into Stephen Coniglio but Stephen Hill has emerged as the next best free agent midfield option.
The Hawks don’t have the picks to secure Brad Hill but as a free agent Stephen has more appeal.
Sydney is another club with some salary cap room and has plans to revamp its engine room.
But Hill’s soft-tissue problems are mounting up and will likely result in a pay cut if he remains in the west at the end of the year.
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Hill has played only two games in his 11th season and remains two weeks away with his latest hamstring issue.
It is the second-straight year Hill has endured some soft-tissue problems after managing only 13 matches last year beforeundergoing surgery on his left quad.
His manager, Colin Young, caught up with Fremantle officials in Melbourne this week at the national championships.
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Gold Coast Suns are expected to again ask the AFL for some extra draft assistance if their young side fails to add to their win tally in any meaningful way.
Ideally the AFL would hand the struggling Suns a draft pick — even one they had to trade — after ignoring requests for a priority picklast year.
Instead the Suns were handed access to three-state league players.
The Suns haven’t officially asked for help yet but given CEO Mark Evans is lobbying the league for help to rise up the ladder quickly, it will happen with only three wins.
The pond for state league players has been fished out given the mid-season draft but there are still some players of AFL quality there across the country.
The league could hand the Suns access again or even just bite the bullet and give them a pick.
Last year they won four games, with six wins in 2017, six in 2016, four in 2015.
Time for the AFL to get real and give them some meaningful help.
Zac Smith is out of contract at the Cats this year, with some speculation he could return to the Suns as a back-up ruckman to Jarrod Witts given he wants to return to the area to live.
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Essendon will have to up its offer for Bombers rookie Sam Draper if it has any chance of keeping the injured ruckman.
St Kilda has come hard to prise him out of Windy Hill, offering $1.4 million guaranteed over four years with bonuses to get him up to $1.8 million.
Given the Dons’ offer is nowhere near that they have a decision to make on his future — upping their offer or securing a trade.
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GWS could still find a way to get three picks within 20 — and a Stephen Coniglio replacement — if they lose their vice-captain.
GWS has academy star Tom Green as an inside bull and likely top-10 pick after starring in the Under-18 championships.
They also have Essendon’s first-round pick and would get a first-round compensation pick if Coniglio departed as a free agent.
Green dropped 8kg to turn into a more athletic midfielder more in the Tim Taranto mould and will be taken inside the top 10.
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Peter Sumich could return to AFL coaching circles next season.
Sumich was this week named the under-18 national champions All-Australian coach after guiding Western Australia to the titles.
Sumich fell out with Ross Lyon before departing Fremantle in 2016, but could be tempted to re-enter club land for the right role.
Former Carlton coach Brendon Bolton was this week linked to a move to Melbourne.
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North Melbourne veteran Scott Thompson is mounting a case to play on into a 13th season next year.
Thompson signed a last-minute deal last year to play on and has had another strong season, helping hold together the Roos’ defence.
The 33-year-old could finish top-10 in the Roos’ best and fairest in 2019.
But complicating his future is the return of key defender Majak Daw who will play his first game of the year in the VFL on Sunday.
The Roos are also keen to accelerate the development of young talls Ben McKay and Sam Durdin.
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West Coast won’t elevate one of its recruiting team as a list manager, content ex-Suns recruiter and recruiting manager Rohan O’Brien can fill the hole left by Brady Rawlings.
Part of their agenda will be signing Jack Darling, who is keen to stay and should broker a deal in the next month despitebeing a free agent next season.
Rawlings is on gardening leave until December after leaving the Eagles and joining North Melbourne.
Eagles footy boss Craig Vozzo does many of the club’s contracts, with the Eagles somehow having cap space to secure Tim Kelly if he wants to come home.
The Eagles have signed up Nic Naitanui, Brad Shepperd, Andrew Gaff and Jeremy McGovern in the last year, with Naitanui’s pay cut at least handing them some wiggle room.
Originally published as Moneyball: Stephen Hill looms as key free agent as Pie Ben Reid waits to learn his AFL future
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