AFL trade 2023: All the news and whispers from day 2 of the trade period
Collingwood doesn’t want to short change Fremantle in a deal for Lachie Schultz, with a first-round pick on the table. See where everything stands after day two of the trade period.
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Collingwood is prepared to use its No.19 draft pick to help snare dynamic Fremantle forward Lachie Schultz as Jack Ginnivan backs himself in to keep his spot in the Pies’ senior team.
Fremantle revealed on Tuesday that it had been deep in contract talks with Schultz on a deal past 2024 so was surprised to be told he wanted to return home.
He has been offered a four-year deal with a fifth-year trigger by the Pies and has strong family reasons to want to eventually find his way back to Victoria.
As an unrestricted free agent next year the Dockers could hold him, aware that they would still secure excellent free agency compensation with even more suitors.
SCROLL DOWN TO RECAP ALL THE ACTION ON DAY TWO
But the Dockers will listen to Collingwood’s offer, sure to ask for pick 19 as the Pies also attempt to secure Sydney’s 25 or 33 in a trade for Taylor Adams.
Dockers football boss Peter Bell on Tuesday backed the Dockers’ retention record but said of a potential trade: “We will listen to what Collingwood has to say”.
Collingwood will not attempt to short-change the Dockers, basically swapping Adams’ salary commitment for Schultz and securing an upgrade in the small forward position.
This masthead revealed on Tuesday the Dockers had made a late play for Hawthorn’s Tyler Brockman, who has his heart set on West Coast.
The Hawks are prepared to trade him to the Dockers if that secures them a better draft pick, but he is keen to continue with his plans on playing with the Eagles.
The Hawks have been urged to accept a future third-round pick for Brockman to get to the Eagles after attempting to involve Brockman in a discussion with West Coast for pick 1 and their pick 4.
Ginnivan is intent on fighting for his position at Collingwood and while rivals believe he could be obtainable the Pies have made no move to shop him around.
Premiership player Ginnivan is in Bali for the next week after a positive exit meeting with Craig McRae where he responded to their call for him to redouble his efforts to get fitter.
He is determined to return from the off-season break in elite shape and has no intent on moving clubs.
He is not on a lucrative deal after signing a two-year contract through to 2024 at the end of 2022 so the Pies do not need to get his salary off their books.
While the arrival of Schultz would create a forward line squeeze, Jamie Elliott is 31 years of age so Ginnivan could choose to back himself in for the medium to long-term at Collingwood.
Dockers football boss Peter Bell said keeping Schultz was an option but given the club is already open to a trade it would be extremely surprising if he remained next year.
“Lachie advised us for a few different reasons he was interested in exploring a move back to Victoria and he would potentially like to play at Collingwood, “ Bell said.
“We are open to listening to Collingwood. In the conversations with Lachie, held in a really open and comfortable way, there is a strong possibility that he will be playing in 2024 for us.
“We have had conversations around him making a commitment to play through to his contract and continue with negotiations (past 2024).
“So there was an element of surprise given our list manager had had those conversations with him and his manager. But circumstances can change quickly.”
JAMES HARMES TRADED TO DOGS
James Harmes has had his wish come true after the Western Bulldogs and Melbourne agreed to a deal for the midfielder just hours after an official request was made.
The Bulldogs have parted with a future third-round draft pick on to secure Harmes, who had one year remaining on a contract at the Demons but was encouraged to explore his options during a post-season exit meeting.
Harmes officially nominated Whitten Oval as his new home of choice on Tuesday afternoon, with paperwork lodged on the deal just a few hours later.
The 28-year-old featured in only nine AFL matches this season and started as a substitute in three of those.
Harmes – who has played 152 AFL games – looks set to add some hardness and accountability to the Bulldogs midfield after the club lost Josh Dunkley to the Brisbane Lions during last year’s trade period.
“James comes to us with plenty of experience,” Western Bulldogs list manager Sam Power said.
“His defensive mindset and ability to cover the ground will add to our midfield group, while he also has the versatility to play in a variety of roles.”
Harmes had said at the TAB Spring Fling event last week that it had been a “pretty tough year” and expressed a desire for a “fresh start”.
“I probably didn’t play the footy I wanted to play and that’s why I was back in the VFL,” Harmes said.
“I’m just really looking forward to putting my best foot forward next year, whether that’s at Melbourne or where that is, playing the best football I can.
“I’ve got a real determination to go back as fit as I can and play some really good footy, wherever that is.”
Harmes enjoyed a career-best season in 2021, playing 18 games and featuring in Melbourne’s premiership side.He was originally picked up by the Demons in the 2014 rookie draft.
GOLDY: WHY I CHOSE BOMBERS
Former Essendon fan Todd Goldstein has set his sights on helping the club break its 19-year-finals drought as he conceded the “writing was on the wall” after his round 1 demotion.
Veteran Kangaroo Goldstein joined the Bombers on a 12-month contract on Monday, with his mother dragging out the old woollen scarf of his late father Jeff, a die-hard Bombers supporter over nearly 40 years.
There is the practical and the emotional – Goldstein lives 10 minutes away from the ‘Hangar’ in Airport West, but also said his father would have loved the “symmetry” of his son finishing his career at the club he grew up supporting.
But for Goldstein there was also the chance to play under a defined two-ruck system with Brad Scott despite strong interest from clubs including Collingwood and St Kilda.
“There were myriad different reasons but I think the opportunity to be valued and look to play games and continue my playing career was a big one,” he told this masthead after being dropped by new North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson for round 1.
“Catching up with Brad and Adrian (Dodoro), it was a really defined role for me.
“I think the writing was on the wall after round 1 and then after the bye when I was dropped again, I know Clarko’s preference is to only play one ruck. I understand where the group is at and my relationship with Tristan Xerri is too good to sit in the VFL hoping he gets injured.
“I didn’t feel comfortable sitting behind him and doing that. I was actually quite amazed how much interest there was for a 35-year-old and it made me proud of what I have been able to do and hopefully I can add value here.”
Gold never looked so good in red + black. pic.twitter.com/OjAG6VlkUJ
— Essendon FC (@essendonfc) October 10, 2023
As a 16-season North Melbourne stalwart Goldstein had hoped to finish his career as a one-club player, but admits the romance of playing with the club he supported is enticing.
“I grew up as an Essendon supporter. Dad was a 30 or 40-year member and I am very aware of the culture of the club and the amount of days it has been since Essendon has won a final. As a North Melbourne player I have contributed to that in 2014 so I am aware of that.
“But you can feel the hunger from the players and coaches to win that final and hopefully I can share that experience with them and be part of that finals win. Because if you win a final, you never know what will happen the next week.
“Deep down I always wanted to be a one-club player but I understand it’s a very old-fashioned sentiment. Footy has gone into more of an American-style way of doing business but I am very proud of getting to the 300 games at North Melbourne. It’s a badge of honour I will wear for the rest of my life with the loyalty I showed there.”
DE GOEY: PIES RIGHT FIT FOR GINNI – AND SCHULTZ
Premiership star Jordan De Goey believes Collingwood is the “best place” for Jack Ginnivan to continue to grow as a player and person amid commentary that the goalkicker could be put on the trade table.
Ginnivan – who turns 21 in December – was questioned by his coach Craig McRae after attending the races the night before he was to play in last month’s grand final.
The incident followed a two-game suspension for Ginnivan at the start of the year, when he admitted to using drugs on a day off from a Collingwood training camp in pre-season.
“We love Ginni,” De Goey said.
“Everyone does at the footy club, so we’ll see what happens.
“He’s got growing up to do, as does every 21-year-old going round. The conditions we’ve got in the footy club, he’ll continue to grow as a person and a footballer. I think the best place for him is at the Pies and he can continue to grow as a person.”
Speculation about Ginnivan’s future at the club comes as the Magpies look to secure Fremantle small forward Lachie Schultz during the trade period.
Schultz played all 23 games for the Dockers this year, kicking 33 goals.
“I think the culture and everything we’re creating at Collingwood, we want it to be a destination club, so to hear players wanting to come there is obviously pretty special and the more gun talent we can get, the better,” De Goey said when asked about Schultz.
“I think he’s a fantastic player in his own right and I think he’d fit really well into the forward line, so fingers crossed that gets through.”
De Goey said he would switch off football and take a trip overseas in coming weeks, but would return to the training track in pre-season hungry for more success.
“We’ve got the list. We can do it again,” he said.
“All the boys have just as hungry as they’ve ever been. Everyone dares to dream and back-to-back would be great. But you’ve got a long way to get there first.”
DOGS’ ‘SMART BUSINESS’ TO ATTACK FRONT-LOADED DRAFT
– Sam Landsberger
It was the swap of precious picks that will appear considerably more appealing by the time round one of the national draft is in the books on November 20.
The flinch reaction from some Western Bulldogs supporters when the club’s first trade was lodged on Monday was one of disbelief.
They could not understand why picks 10, 17 and the club’s first-round pick in the 2024 draft were all sold for Gold Coast’s prized No. 4 selection.
Three first-rounders for one? What were they thinking?
But this was smart business by Bulldogs list boss Sam Power. First of all, there are first-rounders and then there are first-rounders — and picks 10 and 17 will look far less attractive come draft night.
By the time compensation selections for free agents Ben McKay and Jade Gresham are fed into the draft order and then bids are matched for Jed Walter, Ethan Read, Jake Rogers (Suns), Jordan Croft (Dogs) and maybe Will McCabe those picks will hold far less currency.
Pick 10 is likely to become No. 13 or 14 while pick 17 could become No. 23 or 24, which is the equivalent of a first-round selection ordered off Wish.
The Dogs’ new No. 4 pick will also be bumped – but probably only by two places to No.6.
That will grant the Dogs access to one of Nick Watson, Zane Duursma, Colby McKercher or Ryley Sanders.
The Dogs rate the pointy end of this year’s draft extremely highly and so they are certain to once again secure a star of the future.
Last year St Kilda bemoaned its lack of access to the country’s top teenagers.
“We‘ve got some emerging guns of the competition … but we need more,“ he said at the start of trade period,” then-list boss James Gallagher said.
“Hence the really strong interest in (Jordan) De Goey. Typically your gun midfielders, your champion and your star midfielders, come in the first four, five, six picks of the draft.”
But the Dogs have drafted Tim English, Aaron Naughton, Bailey Smith, Cody Weightman, Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, Sam Darcy, Jedd Busslinger with their first pick over the past seven drafts and that will become eight from eight when a Watson or Sanders walks into Whitten Oval next month.
That player will be partnered by father-son prospect Croft.
A bid on the athletic swingman could’ve come before pick No. 10 and would’ve come before pick No. 17 — so the Dogs simply had to shift those selections anyway.
Otherwise they were at risk of getting chewed up by matching the bid for Croft.
The Dogs also secured picks 46 and 51 from Gold Coast, which means the Dogs can easily match a bid wherever it lands. They also hold No. 38.
And when faces replace numbers this trade will read one of Watson, McKercher, Sanders or Duursma and Croft for two first-rounders as well as one of the selections received for Josh Dunkley.
By he time the bids are made it could be, say, Watson and Croft for pick 13, 24 and next year’s first-rounder.
That is a shrewd move and it also showed the Bulldogs mean business in 2024.
Entering next season without a first-round pick indicates they expect to bounce back into September after a scratchy season was spoiled by a shock loss to wooden-spooner West Coast this year.
Let’s cut to the chase. Powerbrokers at the Dogs believe they have a top-four list and right now they hold a top-four pick.
It is rare for a club in immediate pursuit of a premiership to hold such a precious pick.
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