Moneyball: The real story behind Cam McCarthy’s departure from Fremantle and latest AFL trade and contract news
Kade Simpson and Eddie Betts want new contracts for next season but will the Blues’ back in their elder statesmen or go for youth? Plus the other Crow who could be poached by Gold Coast and the real story behind Dockers’ shock departure.
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Kade Simpson is keen to play on into 2021 despite being the second-oldest active player in the AFL.
But like Eddie Betts, Simpson will wait until year’s end to see how his season plays out as the Blues push hard for finals.
Carlton’s elder statesmen have been exceptional leaders, from Marc Murphy to Betts to Simpson.
So while Murphy’s deal for 2021 is almost done, the club will have weigh their leadership against their continuing output and whether they hold other players out of the side.
Ideally Liam Stocker would have pushed Simpson out of the backline but he is out of the club’s Queensland hub with personal issues and Tom Williamson has emerged to play alongside him, Lachie Plowman and Sam Docherty.
Simpson is still in strong form, averaging 14 possessions a game, but, like Betts, his past month has been quieter.
He has amassed 11 possessions against Hawthorn (55 SuperCoach points), 13 possessions against West Coast (50) and eight against Fremantle (51).
Critics argue Betts hasn’t kicked a goal in a month but that belies his strong contribution in that time. In the past three weeks he has had eight score involvements and 16 tackles, so he’s still holding up his end.
The Blues don’t have another small forward pushing him out of the side, having recommissioned Zac Fisher. And his leadership is off the charts, so surely they could find him a spot on their list next year, even if they make clear he might only play 12-16 games for the season.
He might have to take a pay cut — Adelaide is paying some of his 2020 wage — but that shouldn’t be a deal breaker.
Tom Papley’s acquisition would surely change that, but no one can find a way that Carlton would be able to satisfy Sydney’s demands on a trade front.
REAL STORY BEHIND DOCKERS’ DEPARTURE
Cam McCarthy’s manager Colin Young says his client will lobby to be able to play for South Fremantle in the WAFL in coming weeks after reaching an agreement to move on from the Dockers.
And Young client Jason Carter is in a similar boat to McCarthy, potentially on the way to an early resolution that will see him move on from the club as early as next week.
McCarthy denied that ex-GWS forward McCarthy had quit the club, saying discussions over his future had been in the works for three weeks.
McCarthy is keen to play on somewhere else, but given lists might shrink next year that could be a challenge.
Young told Moneyball on Friday that when it was apparent his client wouldn’t be going into the club’s Cairns hub, the decision to move on was mutual.
“He is basically a victim of the virus. The club’s training groups were divided and he wasn’t in the main training group and it’s hard to get into it when you are not in it. Myself and his dad have been talking since a month ago about what happened if they took limited numbers into the hub.
“We had a discussion with the club in the last three weeks about whether he was in their long-term plans and could he be playing?
“He was brought to the club as a third forward and unfortunately has never had the chance to play that role for a long time in the side, so when the club said he wasn’t going into the hub we asked for an early answer on his contract. They said they wouldn’t offer him one, so we said we might as well get the deeds of settlement.”
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“We are disappointed he hasn’t been given the opportunity to play forward over the long term, but I have spoken to the WA footy commission about him trying to seek an exemption. He is a South Fremantle player so he would like to play for South Fremantle immediately. He would have just been sitting there at the club, not in the hub, and basically been running laps, so what would he be training for?”
Carter was suspended by the club for drink-driving last weekend and, as a category B rookie, would be unlikely to win another deal.
A decision could be made on his future as early as next week after he was banished from the club until the end of the season.
DANGERFIELD’S REWARD FOR TIRELESS OFF-FIELD WORK
Patrick Dangerfield’s leadership throughout an extraordinarily challenging season will see the superstar Cat strongly considered for one of the few honours currently missing on his glittering playing resume.
Dangerfield is having another excellent season and already looks a lock to be awarded his eighth All-Australian jacket.
It will draw Dangerfield level with champions Gary Ablett and Lance Franklin on eight All-Australian jumpers.
But it is his leadership as president of the AFL Players’ Association throughout the COVID-19 crisis which should ensure Dangerfield is given the nod as skipper of the team of the year.
Dangerfield, 30, has never been All-Australian captain, but his combined influence on and off the field has never been greater than this season as he attempts to steer the red-hot Cats to a Grand Final berth.
He is expected to take the reins on Sunday when Geelong takes on Dangerfield’s former side, Adelaide, without skipper Joel Selwood, at Adelaide Oval.
Dangerfield has been a central figure in the players’ discussions with the league over pay cuts, hub restrictions and in the new wage deal for next season and beyond.
Sources indicate the players may have to take a 10 per cent cut next season as the league tries to navigate through the financial uncertainty of whether crowds will be allowed into Victorian venues for next season.
Collingwood skipper Scott Pendlebury and Port Adelaide veteran midfielder Travis Boak are the two other captaincy frontrunners. Fremantle star Nat Fyfe was captain last year.
Carlton rebounder Sam Docherty and onball goliath Patrick Cripps will also be in the mix.
It is shaping up as another incredible year for Dangerfield, who is on about $1 million a year at the Cattery after signing a contract extension last season.
The four-time best-and-fairest winner is also set to jump up into third place in the all-time Brownlow Medal votes tally if he can poll more than 18 votes this season.
Dangerfield, who has 209 votes, can catapult past superstars Chris Judd (210), Robert Harvey (215) and Sam Mitchell (227), to trail only Ablett (261) and Gary Dempsey (246).
THE OTHER CROW WHO SUNS MIGHT POACH
How desperate is Adelaide to secure extra draft picks for its rebuild by trading off established talent?
Gold Coast sniffed around Brad Crouch last year but didn’t want to pay the price — a No.2 overall pick.
But it is well known the Suns are in the hunt for rebounding defenders as Jarrod Harbrow and Pearce Hanley reach the tail end of their careers.
A player like Adelaide’s Rory Laird, who turns 27 in December, would perfectly fit the bill.
The Suns admire his talents from afar and he’s exactly the kind of small running defender who fits their needs.
The problem is the Suns want to keep their cap space for their emerging kids.
So if a deal for a player of Laird’s calibre was done, Adelaide would have to pay some of his salary.
The Suns are interested in Nathan Broad, who believed he had a deal pre-COVID with Richmond.
But he loves the Tigers, so if they eventually relented on a two-year deal there is a good chance he would remain.
WHAT WILL DRAFT COMBINE LOOK LIKE IN COVID ERA?
The AFL’s draft camp is dead this year, another victim of the coronavirus.
But players are still expected to be brought into state-based screenings to have interviews, medicals and maybe some training sessions so clubs can assess them before the draft.
At very best in Victoria if the coronavirus abates there might be a single Vic Country versus Vic Metro game late in the season, but given players have not been able to train that is in doubt too.
The draft camp switched to a fancy American moniker — the draft combine — a few years ago and remains a critical tool for recruiters to assess talent.
Clubs have been interviewing prospective draftees on Zoom, but clearly talking to them face-to-face to assess their character and mannerisms is important too.
Even a player’s most recent height and weight — has a key tall grown 3cm to hit 200cm? — is a big part of the puzzle.
So the AFL will do what it can under the state rules to bring players into state screenings that hopefully will still involve time-trials, kicking tests and traditional tests like agility and the vertical leap.
COULD SUNS GOALKICKER BE GETTABLE?
Eyebrows were raised at some rival clubs this week when forward Alex Sexton was dropped for a second time this year from the Gold Coast team, prompting some trade speculation.
Sexton and Brayden Fiorini were both added to the Suns’ leadership group earlier in the year after strong 2019 seasons.
Sexton kicked 39 goals last year as the king of the snap, but was quiet again last week with only eight possessions and a solitary goal.
The pair signed extended deals in March, locking them into the club until the end of the 2023 season.
But Sexon, 26, has been dropped twice this year; Fiorini, 22, has been omitted three times in 2020.
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TOP HOOP SIGNS WITH NEW MANAGEMENT TEAM
Precision Sports Entertainment Group has added one of Australia’s best jockeys, James McDonald, to its books, joining his partner, retired jockey and now strong media talent Katelyn Mallyon.
McDonald claimed his fourth Sydney premiership last month, and is trying to sort out the logistics of whether he will be able to ride in both New South Wales and Victoria in the spring.
He will partner Verry Elleegant in tomorrow‘s Winx Stakes at Randwick, and would ideally love to follow that horse to Melbourne at some stage.
Based in Sydney, McDonald is locked into the ride on Everest favourite Nature Strip at Randwick on October 17.
Originally published as Moneyball: The real story behind Cam McCarthy’s departure from Fremantle and latest AFL trade and contract news
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