Moneyball column: All the latest AFL trade, draft, free agency and list news
Giant Jye Caldwell has nominated Essendon as his club of choice for 2021. The young gun’s show of faith in the Bombers has given the club added confidence it can pry Western Bulldogs star Josh Dunkley out of Whitten Oval. TRADE NEWS
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Essendon will ramp up its bid for Western Bulldogs’ onballer Josh Dunkley after winning the race for GWS Giants midfielder Jye Caldwell on Thursday.
In a major boost for the Bombers, Caldwell chose the club over St Kilda and will sign a four-year deal to help beef-up Ben Rutten’s engine room.
Caldwell, who was originally taken with pick No.11 two years ago, is a natural ball-winner who can switch forward and play inside and outside midfield roles.
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The Giants selected Caldwell, 20, with one of the two first-round selections they received in the Dylan Shiel deal with the Bombers in 2018.
Essendon will attempt to seal the Caldwell trade with a future second-round pick and then zero in on Dunkley to complete the Bombers’ midfield revamp for 2020.
Dunkley, 23, is contracted for two more years at the kennel but was out of the team for the mid-part of the season and thrown into the ruck to assist Tim English late in the campaign.
Dunkley’s contested ball and clearance strength would be a huge plus for the Bombers and ensure the club had an enviable midfield crop to drive its resurgence under Rutten in 2021.
But the Dogs have made clear they do not want to let Dunkley go after 78 games in five years.
Dunkley was in the All Australian 40 last year and the Dons have put a deal in front of him that is big enough to conjure hope in landing the versatile midfielder-half forward.
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The Giants were disappointed with Caldwell’s decision to leave which continues the player exodus at the club.
Jeremy Cameron (Geelong), Zac Williams (Carlton), Aidan Corr (North Melbourne), Jackson Hately (Adelaide), and Caldwell have all walked out.
The Giants will talk to the AFL about gaining extra money in the salary cap to help off-set the increased cost of living expenses in Sydney and the continued player and staff departures.
“Jye has informed us that he would like to return home to Victoria,” Giants football manager Jason McCartney said.
“We had tabled a very competitive offer for a second-year player but we’ll now work to facilitate a trade that will provide a strong result for our football club.”
The Bombers are set to lose Joe Daniher, Adam Saad and Orazio Fantasia in the upcoming trade period.
It’s even worse for the Giants, with Jeremy Cameron, Zac Williams, Aidan Corr, Jackson Hateley and now Caldwell all requesting trades.
Another young midfielder, Xavier O’Halloran, is also out of contract and is the subject of interest from rival clubs.
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CROW’S CALL: MAKE ME A HAWK
Adelaide fullback Kyle Hartigan wants to join Hawthorn, where he will help replace James Frawley and Ben Stratton next season.
Hartigan, 29, is an unrestricted free agent and has told the Crows he wants to continue his career at Waverley in 2021.
The stopper would sign a deal for at least two more years on a modest wage to help cover some key losses in the backline including James Sicily, who is out with a knee reconstruction.
The Hawks are also waiting for a decision from Isaac Smith, who is weighing up strong interest from Melbourne to bolster the club’s outside midfield stocks.
Smith is a revered figure at the Hawks and can accept a two-year contract to stay in brown and gold.
But the Dees could put a more attractive three-year deal on the table to secure Smith.
Melbourne is also considering a deal for North Melbourne spearhead Ben Brown, who is trying to find a new home between the Demons, Bombers and the Dockers.
WHO SAINTS COULD OFFLOAD FOR CROUCH
St Kilda is open to trading defenders Dylan Roberton and Jimmy Webster as the club makes room for incoming Adelaide star midfielder Brad Crouch.
Crouch, 26, has chosen the Saints to continue his career next season after the Herald Sun on Tuesday revealed Geelong had dropped out of the race for the star onballer.
The Crows’ best-and-fairest winner could be the finishing piece in St Kilda’s engine room upgrade and will use his strong contested ball and clearance game to help bring speedy wingman Brad Hill into the play more next season.
As a free agent, Crouch will cost the Saints nothing in a trade, unless Adelaide tried to match the offer. St Kilda’s first pick in this year’s draft is No.14.
But St Kilda is also open to making hard calls on Roberton, who played only one game for the season, and Webster, who didn’t manage any, in this year’s trade period. Both are contracted at St Kilda for next season.
While Webster, 27, is believed to have attracted some interest, Roberton’s situation is more complicated by his heart issues which kept the rebounding backman sidelined for almost two seasons.
Roberton, 29, is confident he has got on top of the issues with some expert medical advice. He collapsed on the field in Round 4 2018 against Geelong and then had another scare in a pre-season game in Ballarat last year.
Roberton’s time out of the game significantly impacted his fitness levels which saw the Saints overlook him for selection in every game this year aside from the season-opener when he had eight possessions against North Melbourne.
Roberton has played only five games in the past three years since he finished second in the club’s best and fairest in a career-best 2017 season.
The Saints are undeterred by Crouch’s end-of-season indiscretion when the star onballer and teammate Tyson Stengle were found with an illicit substance in Adelaide.
St Kilda has spoken with Crouch and are in the advanced stages of talks with his management, W Sports and Media, about a long-term deal.
If the Saints pay Crouch less than $650,000 a year, as expected, the Crows would receive an end-of-first-round compensation selection.
That compensation is a downgrade on Adelaide’s initial hopes that it could receive an early first-round compensation which would slot in at pick No. 2.
But the Saints are unlikely to offer Crouch the blockbuster contract offer required to trigger pick No. 2 which would give Adelaide the first two selections in this year’s draft.
Adelaide football director Mark Ricciuto said the Crows would begin talks with the Saints about the transfer.
“St Kilda could get him for nothing (depending) on whatever wage they offer him (under free agency rules),” Ricciuto said on Triple M.
“Whereas if they offer him low-end (money). If they think they’re going to get him cheap, then Adelaide can match and you have to trade.
“Both clubs get together and work out what happens.”
Ricciuto said the unknown elements of the AFL’s free agency model was frustrating for clubs.
“There is no set formula, there is no document you can get from the AFL to say if he gets this and this you will get that,” he said.
“There is a lot at stake here for Adelaide fans.”
DOES ANYBODY WANT HOGAN?
Jesse Hogan’s future at Fremantle remains in doubt but the issue for Fremantle if they do trade him is the lack of contenders to take him off their hands.
The Dockers have made clear to rivals that he would be gettable, even though they haven’t yet sat down with Hogan himself to thrash out his future.
Hogan was fined $8000 for a COVID breach after inviting a woman into his quarantine, leading to the headline: Why horny Hogan broke COVID rules.
That COVID breach in itself was not a sackable offence, but Dockers president Dale Alcock foreshadowed a meeting ahead where the club would consider his future.
Even if he played every game next year it is not certain he would trigger a contract clause on a significantly improved salary for 2022-23.
So he is waiting to meet with Fremantle to work through his transgression as they assess market interest in him.
Hogan is happy in Perth and keen to remain at the Dockers, who traded for him after initially saying they had done their “due diligence” and were not interested.
Multiple clubs want a key position forward but no one is banging down the door right now with trade interest.
A club would face a tough sell to its members giving up a reasonable pick, with Hogan not having averaged much more than a goal a game since his 47-goal 2018 season.
PARFITT OFF THE TABLE WITH NEW DEAL
Geelong is out of the race for Brad Crouch and has taken Brandan Parfitt out of the Jeremy Cameron trade picture by re-signing him for two seasons.
The Cats are thrilled to have attracted star free agent Cameron but will now have to trade for him given GWS is intent on matching a bid.
Geelong has a trio of first-round picks but GWS has already indicated it would like young players in the package before it releases Cameron.
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The Giants under AFL rules can match a bid then force a trade, with Cameron’s only other option to stay or go into the pre-season draft.
The Herald Sun understands Sam Simpson and Esava Ratugolea are two players the Giants have in their sights.
Parfitt would be the perfect midfielder to compliment the band of hard inside on-ballers at GWS.
But it is understood he officially agreed to terms with Geelong last week as Adelaide expressed interest if the Cats lured Brad Crouch.
Parfitt is in the perfect age bracket for Adelaide to try to drag him back home if it matched a Crouch bid and tried to force a trade.
But even before the Cats got confirmation Jeremy Cameron was moving south, they had made clear they weren’t bidders on Crouch any more.
At one stage there were heavily into both Jack Viney and Crouch but the Demons midfielder signed with Melbourne for five seasons.
The Cats will also secure North Melbourne’s Shaun Higgins, believing he is the perfect swap for a retiring Gary Ablett.
Geelong could also get a late second-round pick for Nakia Cockatoo, who the Herald Sun revealed last month will join Brisbane.
A second or third-round pick might help them with a trade package to satisfy GWS.
Geelong will sign Tom Hawkins on a two-year contract and can secure Cameron with a deal of between $800,000 and $900,000.
It is hard to think of a star pair of forwards who can work better together — and they are the last two Coleman Medal winners — given Cameron is happy to roam far and wide and Hawkins plays from the square.
With Patrick Dangerfield also playing forward and Higgins on a half-forward flank it will be one of footy’s most terrifying forward lines.
Geelong has always had a principle of a broad pay structure where it does not bring in players who are paid more than its best player (in this case Patrick Dangerfield) and its captain (Joel Selwood).
Even with the COVID cut, to secure Cameron for around $850,000 is a masterstroke given the AFL’s highest-paid stars are on around $1.2 million a season.
DOCKERS EYE YOUNG CAT
Fremantle has expressed a strong interest in securing gun young defender Jordan Clark from Geelong.
The Dockers have a top-10 and could give it up for Clark in exchange for the Cats’ second-round selection as part of a pick swap.
It would mean the Cats could add a fourth first-round pick on top of the three first-round choices Geelong already has in this year’s draft.
Geelong already has pick No. 11 (from Gold Coast) in this year’s draft as well as West Coast’s first-round pick on top of Geelong’s original first-round selection.
It is an incredibly strong draft hand for a club which will also secure free agent Jeremy Cameron from GWS Giants and Shaun Higgins from North Melbourne.
Clark has only played three games this year after a sizzling debut season in the AFL last year, but doubts have emerged about his defensive capacity.
Clark, who is from Western Australia, would help bolster the Dockers’ running power and linebreaking ability through the half back line and wing areas.
He is seen as a significant offensive threat and Fremantle wants to add to its outside midfield options after securing James Aish and Blake Acres last year.
The Dockers are known to be keen on Clark and have zeroed in on a potential trade while he has remained sidelined late in the season.
Clark, who is contracted at Geelong for next season, finished equal fifth in the Rising Star award last year.
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Originally published as Moneyball column: All the latest AFL trade, draft, free agency and list news