Priority picks could bump Bulldogs’ Luke Dahlhaus compensation

THE Western Bulldogs’ compensation selection for departing free agent Luke Dahlhaus could be bumped back by the AFL Commission if it decides to award priority picks and other teams require compo for departed free agents.

The Dog’s compensation for Luke Dahlhaus might not be as lucrative as the club hoped. Picture: Getty Images

THE Western Bulldogs’ compensation selection for departing free agent Luke Dahlhaus could be bumped back a few picks by the AFL Commission.

The Bulldogs expect to receive an end-of-first-round draft selection for Dahlhaus, who will join Geelong on a contract tipped to be worth about $2 million over four seasons.

If the Bulldogs receive an end-of-first round pick and the league also gives out priority picks at the end of the first round, the Commission will decide which comes first.

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The Dog’s compensation for Luke Dahlhaus might not be as lucrative as the club hoped. Picture: Getty Images

“There is no defined order as to the placement of a compensation pick as against a priority pick, if both are put into the draft in the same position,” an AFL spokesman told the Herald Sun.

“That would be a ruling for the Commission in their discretion.”

Carlton, Gold Coast, St Kilda and Brisbane Lions are all considering priority draft pick applications.

The best selection the Bulldogs could receive for Dahlhaus is an end-of-first-round selection placed at No.20, given Gold Coast has decided to take pick No.3 as compensation for Tom Lynch.

If West Coast free agents Andrew Gaff and Scott Lycett depart and earn the Eagles first-round selections, the Dahlhaus pick would then be knocked back to No.22.

If the league also awarded the bottom four clubs priority picks at the end of the first round, the Commission would have the power to push the Dahlhaus pick to No.26.

The priority picks will be placed in order of ladder finish, with wooden-spooner Carlton’s coming first.

Gold Coast has decided to take pick No.3 for Tom Lynch when he departs. Picture: AAP

The Eagles will also get a compensation pick if Andrew Gaff leaves. Picture: AAP

The Bulldogs could instead receive a second-round compensation pick for Dahlhaus, which would be No.31 if compensation picks for Lynch, Gaff and Lycett plus four priority picks are fed into the order.

That would be pushed back even further on draft night given Sydney and North Melbourne are expected to match early bids for academy stars Nick Blakey and Tarryn Thomas.

The Bulldogs would be frustrated if they only received a second-round pick for Dahlhaus. Geelong received an end-of-first-round pick for Steven Motlop last year after he signed a contract at Port Adelaide similar to the one the Cats have tabled Dahlhaus.

The Bulldogs do not currently have a second-round pick this year and require the Dahlhaus pick to cash in for father-son gun Rhylee West.

The earlier it falls the more draft points it will net the Dogs, who also hope to secure Sudanese academy product Buku Khamis.