AFL Daily: Sydney ruckman Darcy Cameron to seek trade to Collingwood

Collingwood is one of several clubs interested in out-of-contract Sydney ruckman Darcy Cameron, who will request a trade after being starved of opportunities at the Swans.

Darcy Cameron is set to request a trade to Collingwood.

Darcy Cameron wants to play for Collingwood next season with the out-of-contract Sydney ruckman certain to request a trade to the Magpies.

The 204cm Swans tall, 24, is set to serve as back-up to dual All-Australian Brodie Grundy next year and will also add another dimension to the their attack.  Cameron played just one AFL game for the Swans, but drew interest from multiple clubs when he became starved for opportunities this year.

Clubs including Carlton, GWS and North Melbourne showed interest but the Herald Sun can reveal he is bound for the Pies, who want to strike a trade next month.  

In addition to Cameron's ruck strength, the West Australian will form a triple-threat in attack, alongside stay-at-home target Mason Cox and the versatile Brody Mihocek.

This year Cameron averaged 100 ranking points in 11 NEAFL games as well as 16.9 possessions, 9.9 contested possessions and 22 hit-outs.

But playing mostly as a pure ruckman he kicked only eight goals for the year, meaning it is unlikely he and Grundy would regularly play in the same side.Rivals yesterday suspected that the Magpies' hot interest in Cameron could help them prepare for Grundy’s possible departure in 12 months.  

At the very least it gives them unrivalled ruck depth should Grundy be injured.The South Australian will headline next year’s free agency pool and will almost certainly field godfather offers from several clubs, including Adelaide and Port Adelaide.

But the Magpies were set to chase a ready-to-go ruckman regardless of Grundy’s contract status and remain supremely confident their dominant No. 4 will commit to a long-term deal.

Pies coach Nathan Buckley has confirmed the Pies will not offer Grundy the seven-year deal he requests given it would rob the club of flexibility in its list management.

Darcy Cameron is set to request a trade to Collingwood.

The Magpies do not have a genuine understudy for Grundy, with Jordan Roughead (200cm) and Darcy Moore (203cm) settled in defence and injured American Mason Cox (211cm) a permanent forward.  

Cameron should arrive cheaply — possibly for a mid-range draft selection — with the Magpies once again shrewdly mining Sydney’s reserves.In 2017 they secured halfback dasher Sam Murray, who made a bright start to his AFL career before it was stalled by a drug suspension.  

Cameron played 39 NEAFL games in three injury-plagued seasons at the Swans, averaging 126 SuperCoach points.The Albany boy was overlooked in four consecutive national drafts before Sydney took the punt with pick 48 in the 2016 national draft.  

Several veteran Magpies face uncertain futures with Ben Reid, Travis Varcoe, Lynden Dunn and Daniel Wells all out of contract.

Updates

1:19 am February 13, 2025

Toby Prime
Richmond’s fringe players will have one of their final opportunities to push for an AFL recall when the Tigers meet Port Melbourne in tomorrow’s VFL preliminary final.

Noah Balta returns for the clash at North Port Oval after being omitted from Richmond’s qualifying final side against Brisbane last week.
2017 premiership pair Kamdyn McIntosh and Dan Butler will also be looking to push their names up for AFL selection.

Richmond VFL coach Craig McRae said reserve players were “somewhat” waiting on an injury if they were to crack a preliminary final or grand final berth.

“One of the strengths of our group and this year and in recent years is we have a lot of players playing well and in multiple positions,” McRae said.

“If you don’t play well, and someone else is playing extremely well underneath you, then it puts pressure on.

“That’s been something that has been happening for a few years now.

“It’s hard to change a winning line up but (if) you perform really well at this level and it certainly asks questions of match committee.”

Balta played in the Round 23 clash against Brisbane but was withdrawn from Richmond’s first VFL final against Essendon.

He has played 13 AFL games this year but just one since Round 13.

“He had a corkie that bled into his knee a bit,” McRae said.

“It was nothing major but just prevented him from training and obviously playing.”

Balta has been slated to play in defence but McRae said “we’ll see what the game needs knowing his last game with us … he dominated in the ruck and kicked goals”.

The winner will advance to the VFL grand final, which will be held on September 22 at Ikon Park.

Williamstown and Essendon will meet in the other preliminary final.

4:56 pm September 13, 2019 Highlight

VFL Tigers out to impress

Chris Vernuccio

Toby Prime
Richmond’s fringe players will have one of their final opportunities to push for an AFL recall when the Tigers meet Port Melbourne in tomorrow’s VFL preliminary final.

Noah Balta returns for the clash at North Port Oval after being omitted from Richmond’s qualifying final side against Brisbane last week.
2017 premiership pair Kamdyn McIntosh and Dan Butler will also be looking to push their names up for AFL selection.

Richmond VFL coach Craig McRae said reserve players were “somewhat” waiting on an injury if they were to crack a preliminary final or grand final berth.

“One of the strengths of our group and this year and in recent years is we have a lot of players playing well and in multiple positions,” McRae said.

“If you don’t play well, and someone else is playing extremely well underneath you, then it puts pressure on.

“That’s been something that has been happening for a few years now.

“It’s hard to change a winning line up but (if) you perform really well at this level and it certainly asks questions of match committee.”

Balta played in the Round 23 clash against Brisbane but was withdrawn from Richmond’s first VFL final against Essendon.

He has played 13 AFL games this year but just one since Round 13.

“He had a corkie that bled into his knee a bit,” McRae said.

“It was nothing major but just prevented him from training and obviously playing.”

Balta has been slated to play in defence but McRae said “we’ll see what the game needs knowing his last game with us … he dominated in the ruck and kicked goals”.

The winner will advance to the VFL grand final, which will be held on September 22 at Ikon Park.

Williamstown and Essendon will meet in the other preliminary final.

4:25 pm September 13, 2019 Highlight

Ricciuto unsure on Crows' next coach

Ben Broad

Adelaide powerbroker Mark Ricciuto is torn on the merits of appointing an experienced AFL mentor or younger coach to replace Don Pyke.

Ricciuto will lead a four-member panel tasked with finding a successor to Pyke, who quit on Thursday.

But Ricciuto says he’s “not set” on whether to pick an experienced head coach or someone untested in the top job.

“There’s positives of both,” Ricciuto told Triple M radio on Friday.

“We went down the older one when I think Phil Walsh might have been the oldest ever first-time head coach when we appointed him.

“So I do like the experience and maturity and knowledge of an older coach.

“But I also know the game is changing and we have got a different generation of players that need different things to what we did 10 or 20 years ago.

“So we’ll have a real strong think about that.”

– AAP

3:49 pm September 13, 2019 Highlight

Frawley's best friend: 'It leaves a massive hole in our lives'

Ben Broad

GLENN McFARLANE + MICK McGUANE report…

On Wednesday Danny Quinlan went to the crash site near Millbrook where his cousin and best mate Danny Frawley lost his life two days earlier.

He consoled a young mourner he had never met before, then placed a golf ball near the floral shrine for the former St Kilda great and Bungaree native, less than 20km from Ballarat.

It was a hard thing to do. But nothing like the pain of finding out about his mate’s car crash or the moments afterwards when he had to deliver the heart-wrenching news to Frawley’s wife, Anita, and other members of his extended family.

FULL STORY.

1:19 am February 13, 2025

JAY CLARK reports …

AFL Coaches’ Association chief Mark Brayshaw says senior coaches should be given longer off-season breaks to cope with the searing pressures they face in the job.

His comments come as Adelaide’s Don Pyke yesterday warned coaches and players’ love of the game was likely on the decline after he became the fifth senior coach to part ways with his club this season.

Pyke said it was “more challenging than ever’’ to coach and and was “leading to a wide range of issues around contentment".

Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin yesterday said he was one who felt “pressure” and “the embarrassment of the situation” as the Dees slid down the ladder this season.

Brayshaw said Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley’s call to have two months off at the end of the season for a family holiday should become standardised to help off-set the intensity of the position.

He said most coaches would probably take less than four weeks' annual leave per year.

“My hunch is that the (longer) breaks are a really good idea,” Brayshaw said.

“Nathan Buckley took a big chunk of time off at the end of last year, and had a lot of really good people around him and below him, so he obviously delegated a lot.

“And it doesn’t appear to have slowed the Pies down. I know everyone (within the industry) looked at what Nathan did with great interest and I think down the track that could become the norm.”

Pyke followed Ross Lyon (Fremantle), Brendon Bolton (Carlton), Brad Scott (North Melbourne) and Alan Richardson (St Kilda) out the door this year, although Pyke said he made the call to step aside.

Pyke, who coached the club to 56 wins, one draw and 36 losses and two finals campaigns in his four years at the helm from 2016-19 after replacing the late Phil Walsh and caretaker coach Scott Camporeale, said he had been mulling his decision since the end of the season, which finished with a six-goal loss to the Western Bulldogs in Ballarat on August 25.

The Crows lost seven of their last nine games this season to finish 11th with a 10-12 record — a year after finishing 12th at 12-10.

It is the most number of senior coaches to part ways with their clubs since five departed in 2011 – Dean Bailey (Melbourne), Mark Harvey (Fremantle), Ross Lyon (St Kilda), Neil Craig (Adelaide) and Rodney Eade (Western Bulldogs).

Brayshaw said the AFL’s call to appoint two new mental health officers was made with the coaches’ welfare in mind.

“The last five years I’ve got to know the unique stress and pressures that senior coaches are under and they bear that stress on behalf of their partners and parents, children and of course their players,” Brayshaw said.

“In a way, they are the last bastion of masculine invincibility in the game, because they’re the leaders, and they just get up every day and have to get on with it.

“I know the two mental health professionals were hired with the coaching community in mind and they can’t start quick enough.

“Because what Pykey described, I’ve seen it myself over the past five years and I can’t describe it as a healthy environment.”

1:19 am February 13, 2025

Jon Ralph

West Coast will attempt to secure Tim Kelly using picks 14, 22 and 32 – but doesn’t want to give up two first-rounders for the star midfielder.

Their first bid for Kelly – who will request a trade from Geelong to West Coast – would likely be two first-rounders with a second-rounder back.

The Eagles have analysed many of the blockbuster deals in recent years and almost all of them don’t involve handing over two pure first-rounders.

Deals for Dylan Shiel, Jake Lever, Bryce Gibbs, Dayne Beams and Patrick Dangerfield have all mostly seen a sum total of a first-rounder and a second-rounder or two first-rounders with a second-rounder back.

Geelong’s position will be that this is a unique case given Kelly is in All Australian form and hasn’t even reached his peak.

Kelly denied the Herald Sun report that his decision was made up, but West Coast has been aware for some time he will request a trade to the Eagles.

READ THE FULL TRADE COLUMN HERE

3:08 pm September 13, 2019 Highlight

Pyke comments spark coach concerns

Ben Broad

JAY CLARK reports …

AFL Coaches’ Association chief Mark Brayshaw says senior coaches should be given longer off-season breaks to cope with the searing pressures they face in the job.

His comments come as Adelaide’s Don Pyke yesterday warned coaches and players’ love of the game was likely on the decline after he became the fifth senior coach to part ways with his club this season.

Pyke said it was “more challenging than ever’’ to coach and and was “leading to a wide range of issues around contentment".

Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin yesterday said he was one who felt “pressure” and “the embarrassment of the situation” as the Dees slid down the ladder this season.

Brayshaw said Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley’s call to have two months off at the end of the season for a family holiday should become standardised to help off-set the intensity of the position.

He said most coaches would probably take less than four weeks' annual leave per year.

“My hunch is that the (longer) breaks are a really good idea,” Brayshaw said.

“Nathan Buckley took a big chunk of time off at the end of last year, and had a lot of really good people around him and below him, so he obviously delegated a lot.

“And it doesn’t appear to have slowed the Pies down. I know everyone (within the industry) looked at what Nathan did with great interest and I think down the track that could become the norm.”

Pyke followed Ross Lyon (Fremantle), Brendon Bolton (Carlton), Brad Scott (North Melbourne) and Alan Richardson (St Kilda) out the door this year, although Pyke said he made the call to step aside.

Pyke, who coached the club to 56 wins, one draw and 36 losses and two finals campaigns in his four years at the helm from 2016-19 after replacing the late Phil Walsh and caretaker coach Scott Camporeale, said he had been mulling his decision since the end of the season, which finished with a six-goal loss to the Western Bulldogs in Ballarat on August 25.

The Crows lost seven of their last nine games this season to finish 11th with a 10-12 record — a year after finishing 12th at 12-10.

It is the most number of senior coaches to part ways with their clubs since five departed in 2011 – Dean Bailey (Melbourne), Mark Harvey (Fremantle), Ross Lyon (St Kilda), Neil Craig (Adelaide) and Rodney Eade (Western Bulldogs).

Brayshaw said the AFL’s call to appoint two new mental health officers was made with the coaches’ welfare in mind.

“The last five years I’ve got to know the unique stress and pressures that senior coaches are under and they bear that stress on behalf of their partners and parents, children and of course their players,” Brayshaw said.

“In a way, they are the last bastion of masculine invincibility in the game, because they’re the leaders, and they just get up every day and have to get on with it.

“I know the two mental health professionals were hired with the coaching community in mind and they can’t start quick enough.

“Because what Pykey described, I’ve seen it myself over the past five years and I can’t describe it as a healthy environment.”

2:24 pm September 13, 2019 Highlight

Is Lachie the new No.1?

Ben Broad

He may not have Patrick Dangerfield’s explosiveness or Dustin Martin’s goalkicking prowess, but a growing numbers of experts believes Lachie Whitfield is the best player in the AFL.

Former Melbourne and Sydney coach Paul Roos said as much in July.

“The game changes when Lachie Whitfield gets the ball and for me he is No.1 in the comp for the very reasons the game is played today,” Roos said.

FULL STORY + VOTE HERE

1:46 pm September 13, 2019 Highlight

Lions will have to defy recent history

Ben Broad

Even the most fairytale AFL premierships have featured the same grim element of non-fiction.

It’s the key reason why Brisbane must buck history if their barnstorming season is to end with happily ever after.

For more than two decades, setting aside the repeats, every premier has needed an unsuccessful finals campaign a year or two previously.

Malcolm Blight and Adelaide’s miracle 1997 premiership was the last time the trend was defied.

The Lions certainly looked like a side lacking September experience when Richmond were as much the big bad wolves as Tigers in last week’s qualifying final.

The much-vaunted Gabbatoir looked like a house of sticks once Dusty and co cut loose.

It was Brisbane’s first taste of finals in a decade.

Now they face GWS in a sudden-death semi-final and, like any self-respecting Giant, the southern marauders can smell blood.

To avoid a disappointing straight-sets exit, Brisbane must beat a GWS side brimming with confidence and menace after their mauling of the Western Bulldogs.

The Giants were meaner last Saturday than the two ugly step-sisters combined. It is no coincidence that Brisbane have replaced injured onballer Mitch Robinson with Nick Robertson, another hard-nut.

But handling the heat shouldn’t be an issue for the young Lions, who fended off Port Adelaide’s aggression superbly in round 17.

Remember, coach Chris Fagan spent several years as a key figure at Hawthorn, the home of unsociable football.

“I am not concerned about our toughness in a finals situation,” Fagan said this week.

No, the key issue for Brisbane now is poise.

Brisbane led at quarter time last Saturday night and at least had Richmond thinking.

Then it seemed every time the Lions blew a scoring chance, the Tigers roared down the other end and kicked a goal.

Richmond led by 11 points at half-time and it felt like 11 goals. The Lions ended up with three more scoring shots for the game, kicking a laughable 8.17.

They could have had another 10 and still would have lost.

As Charlie Cameron, Eric Hipwood and co try to rediscover the big sticks, there will be a fascinating duel at the other end.

This will be Jeremy Cameron’s first game at the Gabba since round 14 last season, when the GWS star walloped Harris Andrews in a marking contest. The sickening blow left Andrews with bleeding on his brain and Cameron wearing a five-game suspension.

Amazingly, Andrews has suffered no ongoing issues and was rewarded for a stellar season with his first All-Australian selection.

Cameron claimed the Coleman Medal to earn the same honour and they said at the All Australian function that there is no lingering animosity between them. But how Andrews would love Cameron as a finals scalp.

– AAP

1:20 am February 13, 2025

Geelong shouldn't be "sucked in" by West Coast star Nic Naitanui and should relish going head to head with the Eagles big man, according to club legend Sam Newman.

Newman, the 300-game Cats legend who made his name as a ruckman, hinted he thought Naitanui – who coach Adam Simpson says is the Eagles' most influential player – was overrated.

This morning, ahead of tonight's semi-final clash, Newman felt the need to air his view on social media.

"Memo Cats," Newman wrote on Twitter.

"Don’t be sucked in by NIC Naitanui. NIC is not what you think he is. Not fit, slow, doesn’t read play well, technically suspect, ordinary mark and generally ill-equipped. Rhys Stanley should feel buoyant about this evening."

Twitter users were quick to point out Naitanui's inspirational run-down of Bomber speedster Adam Saad last week.

Stanley has been recalled for Geelong to take on the West Coast ruckman, with the clash certain to have a big bearing on the result.

Memo Cats.
Don’t be sucked in by NIC Naitanui. NIC is not what you think he is.
Not fit, slow, doesn’t read play well, technically suspect, ordinary mark and generally ill-equipped.
Rhys Stanley should feel buoyant about this evening. #AFLCatsEagles.

— Sam Newman (@Origsmartassam) September 12, 2019