Trade table: Where footy’s list managers go to do the big deals
The poker games are in full swing this time of the year and West Coast has followed the script to a tee. Will they actually give up Harley Reid? Jay Clark takes you inside the negotiations.
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They are the Melbourne cafes which come alive at trade time.
The favourite haunts and out-of-the-way hot spots where the stakes are raised and footy deals are done.
But don’t expect the heads up on TripAdvisor.
The Melbourne cafes where managers and club list chiefs meet to orchestrate the big moves over the next two-and-a-bit weeks have been largely kept on the low down.
Until now.
And apart from the Pullman Hotel opposite the MCG, where the clubs often get together in a speed-dating format for quick catch-ups, the busiest meeting places could be a race in two on the north side of the city.
For the second year in a row, Auction Rooms in North Melbourne is where some of the most important bidding will take place as the Kangaroos try to grab the No.1 pick off West Coast, and land Dylan Stephens from Sydney Swans, and Zac Fisher from Carlton.
The Errol St venue was where the Kangaroos talked turkey over single blends last year on the big calls to punt Jason Horne-Francis as part of a four-club mega-swap with the GWS Giants, West Coast and Port Adelaide.
There is also guaranteed action over espressos at Brunetti at 380 Lygon St in Carlton, Bay 101 in Port Melbourne, and Richmond eateries Cheeky Monkey and A Thousand Blessings.
Albert Park’s Dundas and Faussett, which is only a kick away from the AFL Players’ Association, also regularly hosts some of the biggest names in footy as the trade talks heat up.
One of the most respected list bosses in the game, Sydney Swans’ Kinnear Beatson, can wheel and deal from Chew Chew in Moonee Ponds.
Brunetti is a favourite haunt of Stephen Silvagni and Graeme Allan, the two men trying to reinvigorate St Kilda’s list.
And the Saints are as busy as any club this year.
Ross Lyon might have done too well steering the Saints into finals, leaving ‘SOS’ and ‘Gubby’ holding only pick 12, as they attempt to do some heavy pruning on the list.
But here’s why they are the two best streetfighters in the business.
While it is not yet a done deal, St Kilda will lobby Essendon to pay Jade Gresham in the vicinity of $600,000 a season, triggering a second-round pick for the Saints, bolstering their draft hand.
Meanwhile, a Dylan Shiel to St Kilda move would help respectfully take Shiel off the Bombers’ books as he is surplus to requirements in red and black.
It is a win-win, but far from done.
Essendon list chief Adrian Dodoro, who runs Bay 101 in Port Melbourne, has cooked up a historic free agency triple play in a bid to land Ben McKay, Gresham and Goldstein, all for nothing.
And coach Brad Scott would be rapt.
A former intrepid TV reporter has been known to pace up and down the front of Bay 101 pretending to scour the pizza menu, in a bid to catch a glimpse of Dodoro mid-deal.
Staff have also been offered a tip from a news hound for a heads-up on who enters the venue.
And Dodoro, SOS and Gubby have been thrashing out deals for decades from the same places.
Cheeky Monkeys, on Swan St Richmond, can play host to all the big managers who pop in to talk to officials at the Demons, Magpies, and Tigers close to the MCG, while A Thousand Blessings is more out of the way.
Both venues have seen list managers sit down to begin talks, only to realise there’s a footy reporter on the next table eating lunch on a day off.
That’s where the coffee quickly becomes takeaway.
Expect there to be some frosty conversations when Stephen Silvagni meets with his old mates at Carlton over midfielder Paddy Dow.
Silvagni was sacked by the Blues as list manager by the former administration, and there has been no love lost since.
Silvagni wants to get his hands on former pick 3 Dow for the Saints one year after latching on to another former player he picked for Carlton, Liam Stocker.
Stocker had a decent year for the Saints and played as the sub in the elimination final loss to GWS.
St Kilda got Stocker for nothing in the supplemental selection period and the Saints want to nab Dow for free as well rather than give up a pick in a trade with Carlton.
But the Blues are adamant they want a pick back in a Dow deal.
This is where things will get interesting as Silvagni can talk tough, and there is lots of history there.
Carlton has offloaded a couple of Silvagni’s former early picks in Lochie O’Brien (pick 10), Sam Philp (20) and Stocker (19) last year.
How pick 1 negotations could play out
The poker games are in full swing this time of the year and West Coast has followed the script to a tee.
The Eagles have the top pick in the draft and have made it nice and clear early they are happy to take Bendigo prodigy Harley Reid.
He’s the Dustin Martin clone who loves a screamer.
But this is where the bidding will begin.
North Melbourne (pick 2), Hawthorn (3) and Melbourne (5) are all in the queue to talk to the Eagles about what it would take to pinch the top pick off them.
So West Coast will publicly pump up Reid, while behind the scenes hope that North Melbourne, in particular, throws the kitchen sink at them as part of a swap.
You won’t hear them say it, but West Coast would be happy, too, if it lands gun Western Australian key defender Daniel Curtin.
He’s the centre half-back with some Marcus Bontempelli moves, good judges are saying.
For West Coast, the perfect scenario is if they get something extra juicy from North, such as pick 14, to swap their pick 1 for North’s pick 2.
That way, North Melbourne can use pick 1 to snare Reid, who will help put bums on seats at Marvel Stadium with his powerful goalkicking, and allow West Coast to take the hometown star Curtin at pick 2.
But the Roos are going to have to give up something good as an extra to get the deal done.
Curtin could help anchor the Eagles’ rebuild after the club took Reuben Ginbey and Elijah Hewett last year as part of a strategic shuffle down the order.
The split pick strategy worked out well for West Coast last year (swapping pick 2 for picks 8 and 12) and clubs are convinced they will follow the same route again in a bid to get another first-round pick from North in the deal.
Just don’t expect to hear it out of anyone’s mouth at West Coast in the meantime as the club talks up Reid and the value of the top pick until the real negotiations ramp up.
Why Dees signed Oliver on whopper deal
The blowtorch has been turned up on clubs’ long-term deals.
The Western Bulldogs’ eye-popping eight year contract for Aaron Naughton has turned heads.
And some have taken aim at Melbourne’s seven-year whopper for Clayton Oliver following revelations the Demons had asked serious questions about his future.
But the Demons were wary of losing Oliver as a free agent this year when they signed him mid last season, and the prospect of receiving a dud pick as free agency compensation as they were in a premiership window.
Melbourne finished fourth on the ladder this year, meaning they would have received only pick 15 in free agency compensation for Oliver’s departure, unless the club matched.
While the likelihood of a trade has been significantly reduced over the past 24 hours, Oliver has certainly heeded Melbourne’s warning that he is not indispensable.
Adelaide is in the box seat to do the trade if things fall apart between Melbourne and Oliver next week.
What Hawks want in small forward trade
Hawthorn wants an early second-round pick for Tyler Brockman.
West Coast is keen on Brockman after the small forward requested a trade home to Western Australia.
His preference is the Eagles, which is a blow for Fremantle, which is set to lose Liam Henry to St Kilda.
The Hawks are keen on a pick in the early 20s for Brockman, who played 26 games in three years.
Crow coup: In-demand Giant chooses ‘aggressive’ Adelaide
The Crows have pulled off another Giant coup this off-season, having already landed Isaac Cumming, an in-demand teammate is set to also make the move to Adelaide.
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