Can Collingwood afford to keep superstar ruckman Brodie Grundy?
Brodie Grundy is keen to secure a seven-year, but the Pies don’t want to commit a year out. A trio of star ruckmen have differing opinions on whether Collingwood should offer a bumper contract.
Collingwood
Don't miss out on the headlines from Collingwood. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Dustin Martin was in the final weeks of the 2016 season, in which he would win the Jack Dyer Medal, and he wanted to get paid.
A year out from his impending free agency, Martin was determined to gain a lucrative long-term contract and yet it never came.
CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE SACKED PODCAST
Just on 12 months later, amid footy’s greatest individual season, he backed the truck up.
Richmond would hand him a seven-year deal at around $1.25 million a season, and must have wondered why they never locked him away the previous season for a figure well south of $1 million.
Tonight, Brodie Grundy will run out for Collingwood as the competition’s best ruckman, facing almost identical circumstances to Martin three years ago.
Collingwood can pay the price now — even on a lucrative seven-year deal — or wait until he becomes a free agent next year and lose control of the process.
He could reasonably expect long-term, $10 million offers.
Adelaide team of the century member Andrew Jarman was the latest to join the chorus for Grundy’s services yesterday, urging the Crows to offer the Magpie superstar $1.5 million a year to lure him back across the border.
Grundy, for his part, loves the club, wants to stay, and could not be more committed.
But the Magpies are baulking at the length of time, worried about a ruckman’s longevity and needing to squirrel away cap space for their array of stars.
It is not hard to make a case for a seven-year deal: he turns 26 in April, might still be hitting his peak, barely misses through injury — having played 110 of Collingwood’s last 113 games — and would play full seasons at 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31 and 32.
STEPHENSON: THE CASE AGAINST VFL LOOPHOLE
‘DISGRACE’: PIES GREAT SLAMS STEPHENSON RETURN
MEDAL: CAN BRODIE WIN THE BROWNLOW?
A number of retired big men have mixed views on a seven-year deal for a ruckman.
Corey McKernan, who played 237 games to 30 years of age with North Melbourne and Carlton, said Grundy was in Collingwood’s best three players and the could not afford to lose him.
“If you have got a great ruckman, why flirt with it?” McKernan said.
“Even Buddy Franklin’s deal at nine years, in the end it’s not a bad deal.
“If he (Grundy) was 27 or 28 and wanted seven years I would say no.
“At 25 I can’t see why you wouldn’t. It’s a risk, but it’s a risk worth taking.”
Live stream the 2019 Toyota AFL Premiership Season on KAYO SPORTS. Every match of every round. Live & anytime on your TV or favourite device. Get your 14 day free trial >
Paul Salmon, who played 324 games with Essendon and Hawthorn until 37 years of age, said he was not a believer in long-term contracts.
“I did it myself at 28 and I regretted it because it meant I couldn’t get out of my contract when I wanted to,” he said.
“I lost control of my career into my 30s and when I asked to leave I couldn’t get out.
“I got out (to Hawthorn) a year later after asking Kevin Sheedy but it cost me a year of my career in terms of my emotional and physical state.
“I applaud Brodie for the way he plays the game and what he represents for the rucking fraternity and if it’s in Brodie’s best interests I applaud him but I still think it’s buyer beware.”
Melbourne ruckman Jeff White, who played 268 games to age 31, said the Magpies should lock their star ruckman away.
“If he’s 28 or 29 and just had a breakout year you (might be wary) but the guys is 25,” White said.
“He is only going to get stronger. You would be stupid not to.
“You can build a team around a player like him. And no season more than this year highlights the importance of ruck with 6-6-6, no third man up and the emphasis on ruck work in the centre square.
“He has bloody earned it and he’s only 25.
“Grundy is just a bull. He is a ball-getter and has just gone to another level.”
Originally published as Can Collingwood afford to keep superstar ruckman Brodie Grundy?
Race for trade period’s hottest property goes into overdrive
The list of clubs interested in Gold Coast’s sought-after pick 13 is growing, complicating Collingwood’s efforts to wrench Dan Houston out of Port Adelaide in a trade.
Key pillar of Pies’ Houston pursuit ‘at risk of being gatecrashed’
One of Dan Houston’s suitors has conceded trade talks have become ‘complicated and messy’, with the All-Australian defender yet to nominate his preferred club.