‘Seen this movie before’: Collingwood warned against ‘diasastrous’ trade call

The AFL Trade Period is in full swing and Collingwood have been warned about the “disastrous” perils of the direction they have chosen.

The AFL Trade Period is underway and it seems Collingwood is about to push all their chips in to try and win another premiership now.

Last week the Magpies secured GWS defender Harry Perryman via free agency on a six-year deal believed to be worth around $900,000 per season.

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Now the Pies have their eyes on Port Adelaide halfback Dan Houston, who has requested a trade away from the Power and appears set to end up at Collingwood, Carlton or North Melbourne.

As the trade period officially began on Monday, Collingwood list manager Justin Leppitsch confirmed his club’s interest in acquiring Houston, a two-time All Australian.

“We are confident we’re going to bring him into our footy club but we’ve got to get the deal done,” Leppitsch told AFL Trade Radio.

“There’s lots to play out with him and Port Adelaide. Gold Coast may be involved in that, who knows. There’s a lot to play out.

“We want to win for now but also be a part of our future … We think we’ve got our fans hope for the now or the future.”

Collingwood gave up a first round pick for Harry Perryman. Photo: Phil Hillyard.

Port Adelaide’s All Australian defender Dan Houston. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Collingwood recruited Lachie Schulz from Fremantle last year and recruiting Perryman and Houston would signal the Pies are desperate to remain in the premiership window after winning the 2023 flag.

Nick Daicos just won his first Best and Fairest award and any team with him, his brother Josh Daicos and Jordan De Goey in the midfield would be silly not to aim high.

But speaking on Nine’s Footy Furnace, Kane Cornes expressed concerns the Pies may be selling away their future by prioritisng the trade period over the draft.

“I just reckon Collingwood have got to be really careful with this,” Cornes said.

“We’ve seen this movie before with Alastair Clarkson at Hawthorn where they don’t rate draft picks because a successful coach thinks ‘a first-round draft pick’s not going to help me in the first probably two, three, four years of his career — so give me players.

“That’s what (coach) Craig McRae has said. Take you back to Richmond under Damien Hardwick — completely the wrong thing for the football club to get (Jacob) Hopper and (Tim) Taranto and trade four picks to get them.

“Collingwood are doing the same thing. They’ve traded already a pick for Schulz. They’re now talking about Dan Houston. They’ve paid Harry Perryman like he’s an A-grade midfielder in the game when the reality is he’s on the cusp of being a fringe player at the Giants.

Kane Cornes thinks Collingwood is prioritising the now over the future.

Any team with Nick Daicos would want to be challenging for a premiership. (Photo by Asanka Ratnayake/AFL Photos/via Getty Images).

“I would be having strong leadership around Craig McRae and saying, ‘this is a really strong draft. We want to be trading into the draft, not out of the draft, they don’t currently have a very attractive pick.

“We’ve seen this before and this could be absolutely disastrous for Collingwood considering the amount of over 30s on their list currently.”

Collingwood has nine players on their list aged over 30 — Scott Pendlebury, Jeremy Howe, Steele Sidebottom, Mason Cox, Jamie Elliott, Brody Mihocek, Tom Mitchell, Will Hoskin-Elliott and Jack Crisp.

Jimmy Bartel added: “It seems like they’re trying to strike now.”

Port Adelaide and Collingwood are set to be two of the main players in the trade period, while Hawthorn are set to recruit St Kilda’s Josh Battle and West Coast’s Tom Barrass.

The Gold Coast Suns are reportedly confident Port will give up a future first round draft pick in order to lure Jack Lukosius on a six-year deal.

John Noble is leaving Collingwood in search of more opportunity. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

The Magpies will lose a couple of players this off-season. Fringe forward Joe Richards has requested a trade to Port Adelaide on Monday.

Collingwood defender John Noble has requested a trade to the Gold Coast Suns despite being contracted until 2026.

The 27-year-old played 83 consecutive games, including every home and away game of the 2023 season before being dropped for finals, missing out on Collingwood’s premiership.

“When you have a player that’s played 80 games in a row and has been omitted for the finals, job security suddenly becomes less secure and therefore a level of anxiety exists in the player,” Noble’s manager Scott Lucas told AFL Trade Radio.

“Then he wasn’t picked in the team in the early rounds this year.

“With that certainly doubt creeps in for any player. Not that you think you’re going better than you are but perhaps you thought you were a little more secure in your environment.

“With that players can become slightly unsettled and they’re looking for that security and a place opportunities might be more prevalent for them rather than feeling that uncertainty of selection so often.”

The Giants are losing several players including Harry Perryman and James Peatling. Photo: Phil Hillyard.

Collingwood don’t have a pick in the first round of the upcoming AFL Draft. The Magpies have picks 36, 51 and 54.

Meanwhile, salary cap management appears to be the name of the game for the Giants, who are set to lose Perryman to Collingwood, Isaac Cumming to Adelaide, as well as James Peatling and Xavier O’Halloran.

“When you look deep down at the players that have gone, I think it’s been pretty responsible list management,” said Bartel, who is stepping down as GWS footy director on the club’s board at season’s end.

Originally published as ‘Seen this movie before’: Collingwood warned against ‘diasastrous’ trade call