Callum Ah Chee’s trade to from Brisbane to Adelaide could go down to the wire
Brisbane and Adelaide refuse to budge on their valuation of Callum Ah Chee, with the Lions confirming they have been ‘pretty clear with Adelaide’ as a deadline day deal looms.
Callum Ah Chee’s move to Adelaide could go down to the wire with neither Brisbane nor the Crows willing to budge on their trade valuations for the dual-premiership player.
Adelaide list manager Justin Reid opened the trade period on Monday with a firm stance that the club’s first round pick – pick 16 – would not be made available for Ah Chee and stood by that when asked again on Friday.
“Obviously we value Cal highly and so does Brisbane and it’s something we just need to work through but … pick 16 or a future (first round pick) is probably not something that is going to be part of that discussion,” Reid told Trade Radio.
Reid confirmed the Crows had put forward a future second round pick to Brisbane in early dealings however that has not been enough to satisfy the Lions who admit they are still exactly sure why Ah Chee had requested a trade.
“It’s a difficult one to get to the bottom of,” said Lions list boss Dom Ambrogio.
“He’s got family links in Queensland, he’s got family links in Western Australia. When I spoke to him as recently as last Wednesday he told me he loved his time at the Lions.
“We’ve found it a little difficult to understand why he is looking to explore his options elsewhere – I think that is a question best directed to him, because for us we love him (and) we would love to retain him because he plays a really important role (for us).
“If it was our situation to dictate, he would certainly stay at the Lions.”
Ambrogio said the club had been “pretty clear with Adelaide” on what they wanted in return for Ah Chee.
“We would like to strengthen our draft hand this year and next year so that is for Adelaide to come up with something that is worthy value for a dual-premiership player who is going to provide five years of great service,” he said.
“We’ve been pretty clear with Adelaide in terms of what is useful to us and we definitely need to be compelled to make a trade.
“Whatever is put forward, it needs to be something that suits our particular situation.”
Reid confirmed there had been initial talks with Port Adelaide around a potential three-team deal that would have sent the Power’s second round pick – pick 29 – to the Lions in exchange for Ah Chee.
Instead, that pick was sent to Gold Coast on Friday in the deal that got Ben Ainsworth to Carlton and Corey Durdin to the Power.
Reid hinted that negotiations could stretch to the end of the trade period, which officially closes at 7:30pm next Wednesday.
“Trade period goes until next Wednesday. We would have loved to have given him a birthday present (on Thursday) but it is something we will continue to work through,” Reid said.
“We’d love to do something certainly earlier than that for Cal and his young family. It’s always a stressful time so we’d like to think … that we can get something done earlier for him.”
While the Crows said they were prepared to be aggressive to improve their list following their straight-sets exit in finals, with improving their midfield a big goal, it is looking increasingly likely that Ah Chee in will be the only piece of business.
“It looks that way, unless something falls out of the sky,” Reid said.
“We have certainly put a lot of work in during the year and we are not just going to trade for the sake of trading guys.
“We have put in a lot of work and are asking questions of guys but we are being very deliberate in what we do and if it doesn’t quite fall our way we will continue to work on that into the future.
“It is not a finished product and we are quite excited about exposing the list even more and we still think there is a lot of growth there.”
But this isn’t through a lack of trying by the Crows.
After throwing the cash at St Kilda’s Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera, the Crows met with Melbourne superstar Christian Petracca before he chose Gold Coast as where he wanted to be traded to.
They considered his teammate Clayton Oliver briefly, and for a second-year in a row asked about the Western Bulldogs’ young gun Ryley Sanders.
Reid said that was fuelled by Sanders’ links to Adelaide, his brother plays for Norwood in the SANFL.
“We certainly asked the question as we do of a lot of players,” he said.
“But he is a contracted player so it was shut down pretty quickly by the Bulldogs.
“That was certainly a consideration in us asking the question.
“He is a 20-year-old, he is contracted, we respect that and certainly that was where the interest has come from.”
Originally published as Callum Ah Chee’s trade to from Brisbane to Adelaide could go down to the wire
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