Joe Daniher’s latest injury concerns could have a big impact on the off-season for Essendon and Sydney
During last year’s trade period, Essendon was offered pick 9 and a future first round selection for Joe Daniher. Twelve months later, the Bombers could be looking at a disastrous swing. Have your say on what the injured forward is worth.
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Essendon and Sydney face a delicate dance over Joe Daniher’s free agency rights to ensure the Dons do not lose him for a second-round selection.
Daniher’s coach John Worsfold admitted on Tuesday he wasn’t sure if Daniher would play again this year as the star tall faces a third season ravaged by injury.
Daniher’s former captain Brendon Goddard told the Herald Sun’s Sacked podcast this month he was certain Daniher would again request a move to the Swans.
This time Daniher is a restricted free agent so can simply request a move and hope Essendon does not match a bid.
A matched bid would see him with three options – staying at Essendon, seeking a trade or leaving via the national or pre-season draft.
But Daniher has never had lower currency given his injury issues and the shrinking salary cap of clubs in coming seasons due to coronavirus.
It is hard to see how Sydney could offer him the kind of Lance Franklin-sized contract that would guarantee Essendon received a first-round compensation pick.
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Former Sydney coach Gary Buckenara told the Herald Sun on Tuesday it would be “reckless” to hand Daniher a long-term deal, which meant his free agency value immediately dropped.
If Sydney offered a three-year deal on roughly $2 million to ensure they were not exposed to too much risk, Essendon would receive only a second-round compensation selection.
Players need to be in the top five per cent of players over 25 based on salary for their old club to receive a first-round compensation pick.
It would mean Essendon might receive a pick only in the 30s if they played finals, before the welter of 2020 father-son and academy bids pushed that selection back further.
Former Hawthorn list boss and Sydney’s senior coach in 1992-93, Buckenara said the Dons were in a tight spot.
“He hasn’t played a lot of games in a lot of years and he has to be realistic where he sits in the pecking order. He can’t command big money like he used to and he has to be realistic and so does his manager. Given coronavirus and the cuts to lists and the (salary cap),” he told the Herald Sun.
“From an Essendon point of view he has been disappointing and you are going to lose him one way or another. You need to get the best result you can and that will be a bit tricky in this current environment.
“You would give him a couple of years (at Sydney), you couldn’t give him a five-year deal in the current circumstances given his body. From a list management point of view it would be pretty reckless to do that. They offered Buddy (Franklin) nine years but his body wasn’t broken down.
“The days of getting two first-rounders for him was three years ago when he was up and running, not with three years of problems with his groin and his body breaking down. Those days are fantasy days.”
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Essendon list boss Adrian Dodoro revealed after the aborted trade last year that Sydney never offered selections five and nine as their best deal for Daniher.
He said their best offer was selection nine (through a potential trade with Carlton for Tom Papley) and a future first-round selection, with the Dons determined to at the least secure a top-10 pick and a ready-made star or key forward.
But Sydney never held pick nine and was unwilling to trade pick five, with Essendon sceptical about whether it could have ever secured two first-round draftees.
In theory Essendon could match a compensation pick and attempt to broker a trade for Daniher.
So the onus will be on both clubs if he decides to leave to find a contract that satisfies Essendon enough to allow him to leave and is also financially responsible for Sydney.