Catch up on all the latest wheeling and dealing in the AFL with the Round 11 Moneyball column
With every loss that piles up, the price Essendon has paid for Dylan Shiel rises. But how low will the future pick fall? Plus, get the latest on Shaun Burgoyne’s plan for the future and why one club was shocked with Sydney’s draft selection.
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Shaun Burgoyne has every intention of playing on into 2020 as he chases the 400-game milestone.
The Hawks have moved on a host of four-time premiership players, but Burgoyne’s form remains strong.
Burgoyne has battled hamstring issues in the past 12 months but his six games this year have been at a consistently high standard.
With 364 games under his belt he needs only nine games this year to pass Adam Goodes’ indigenous record of 372 AFL games.
This season is Burgoyne’s tenth at Hawthorn, a remarkable achievement given the club believed he would only see out his initial contract after he arrived with a serious knee injury.
Jarryd Roughead is expected to retire this year, with Nick Riewoldt telling Fox Footy last week how critical it was for the Hawks to send him out the right way.
Grant Birchall is about to hit two years without playing a senior game, the four-time premiership star still listed as indefinite after knee and calf issues.
Ricky Henderson will surely sign his third one-year deal at the club after spectacular early-season form, last week playing his 50th game at the Hawks as a delisted free agent.
DERM: TEX FAILED CAPTAIN COURAGE TEST: DERMIE
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DRAFT LEAVES STATE LEAGUE CLUBS COUNTING COSTS
AFL footy boss Steve Hocking admits the league needs to work with clubs on compensation if they lose players in the mid-season draft.
Some VFL clubs believed they would receive as little as $1500 from the league for losing their best player mid-year.
Five SANFL players left their clubs to move to the AFL.
“Yes, but of those five when you do the numbers a couple are long-term players and genuine talent developed by their clubs and a couple had only been there a short period of time.
“No doubt we do need to do the work with the state leagues and acknowledge what they are giving up. But they are also potentially attracting talent because those competitions are seen as an opportunity to get a list spot at an AFL club.”
WAS THIS A DRAFT NIGHT STEAL?
SYDNEY shocked Essendon by securing SANFL ruckman Michael Knoll in the mid-season draft, with the Dons barely disguising their frustration at missing the former college basketballer.
One of their stated reasons was because of uncertainty over the future of back-up ruckman Sam Naismith, who hasn’t played since rupturing an ACL in March last year.
He required another arthroscope in March this year, but Naismith has finally started putting training sessions together and should be back in the last six weeks of the year.
He played 15 games in 2017 and looked to have spectacular talent but hasn’t written his season off.
VIC CLUBS CLAMOUR FOR STAR SUN
GOLD Coast is desperate to keep out-of-contract midfielder Jack Martin because they know when they turn into a finals contender he will be the cream on the cake.
But Martin isn’t exactly setting the world on fire at 24 as Victorian clubs clamour for his services.
He is happy to put his contract talks on hold for a Suns side that has signed up a long list of players including Peter Wright, Jack Bowes, David Swallow, Touk Miller, Alex Sexton and Jarrod Witts.
He is averaging 20 possessions, has kicked 4.7, and kicks the ball at just 49 per cent efficiency.
The Suns have ample cap space after easing their 2018 cap crisis which included too much money on their early picks and paying overs to keep their stars.
But with their own first-round draft pick and Brisbane’s first-rounder, losing him wouldn’t be a disaster given their successes signing most of their priority players this year.
GIANTS EYE TOP PICK AFTER SHIEL DEAL
GWS were seen to be shafted when they handed over Tom Scully for Hawthorn’s future fourth-round pick currently sitting at pick 64.
But the Giants are sitting pretty with Essendon’s 2019 first-round pick currently at No. 7 courtesy of the Dylan Shiel trade and the Dons’ struggles.
Essendon gave up pick 9 last year and their first-rounder this year, getting back Shiel and a 2019 second-rounder from GWS.
The Giants are flying so that pick is only No. 33 right now, so while Shiel’s best footy is exceptional the Dons would have hoped to give up less by powering into the finals this year.
WHERE IS SAINT DUNSTAN AT?
St Kilda hard nut Luke Dunstan has hit a midseason purple patch as he strives to lock-in a new contract.
The onballer has starred for the Saints over the past three weeks, polling 15 AFL Coaches’ Association votes, the most of any Saint.
He’s also racked up an average 14 contested possessions and eight clearances a game in that time.
Dunstan, 24, has stepped up in the absence of Jack Steven, who has taken time away from the game for a mental health issue.
It’s been a strong response from Dunstan considering he was dumped to the VFL for a month after Round 3, fuelling speculation about a possible fresh start elsewhere.
There was even some talk that the South Australian could head to Essendon last year.
But the ballwinner has bounced back strongly in a crucial season.
With the gun midfielder unsigned beyond this season, his status could attract the attention of rivals in the back half of the year as clubs including Hawthorn and Carlton look to bolster their midfields.
In his sixth season, Dunstan’s best footy is ahead of him, as he looks to round-out a red-hot month against Gold Coast in China.
Star Saint Jack Billings is also out of contract at season’s end but is expected to re-sign.
CHARGERS SET TO DOMINATE DRAFT
THE Oakleigh Chargers are a set for a bumper haul at this year’s national draft.
Incredibly, four of the top-five picks could hail from the NAB League club
Gun midfielders Matt Rowell and Noah Anderson and widely considered the two stand-outs in this year’s talent pool.
But midfield teammate Trent Bianco and key forward Dylan Williams are also rising up draft boards and seem certain to have their names read out in the first half-dozen selections.
Originally published as Catch up on all the latest wheeling and dealing in the AFL with the Round 11 Moneyball column
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