Collingwood coach Craig McRae has met with Jack Silvagni, confirms interest in Blues favourite
Collingwood coach Craig McRae has revealed he has met with Jack Silvagni, and would be keen on a ‘second date’ with the Blue, as another club joins the race for the key defender.
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Collingwood coach Craig McRae says he’d go on “a second date” with Carlton favourite son Jack Silvagni after admitting he’s met with the free agent.
As first revealed by the Herald Sun, Collingwood has shown keen interest in Silvagni to bolster its key defensive stocks next season and beyond.
It comes as the Western Bulldogs emerged as another contender to land Silvagni as a free agent.
The Dogs are eager to replace Liam Jones, who could retire at the end of the season, as well as add an experienced body around James O’Donnell and Jedd Busslinger.
McRae said on Wednesday he “had a first date” with the 27-year-old.
“Yeah I did, yeah I did and I’m confident to say we’ll keep exploring what the best version of us looks like,” McRae said.
“When there’s free agents available, we’ll keep exploring those things.
“Justin Leppitsch and Charlie Gardiner do those things (details of deal), I just met with a young man, worked out we had a first date to see if we liked each other.
“Yeah, I could go on a second date with Jack.”
Silvagni has been sidelined by groin soreness but had previously been rejuvenated in the back half as a defender.
McRae said the likelihood of a potential deal is up to list manager Justin Leppitsch and head of footy Charlie Gardiner.
Collingwood has previously said it would be active during the trade and free agency period.
“I’ve said openly many times about looking for free agents, unrestricted free agents is something we want to continue to explore,” McRae said on Friday.
“Whether it’s Jack or someone else, we’ll step into that because we don’t want to stand still.
“We want to be better than what we are now and next year – we want to look at avenues to bring players in that we think can do that.”
Originally published as Collingwood coach Craig McRae has met with Jack Silvagni, confirms interest in Blues favourite
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