By Marc McGowan, Peter Ryan and Michael Gleeson
Essendon are open to the idea of paying a small portion of Jake Stringer’s wage in return for a higher selection in this year’s draft if he heads to the Giants on a two-year deal.
Although the Giants are yet to commit to securing Stringer, and the clubs have not spoken with each other in great detail about a trade, both parties know the Bombers are keen to get a reasonable draft pick in return for Stringer.
Jake Stringer could land at his third club as the Giants show interest in the 30-year-old.Credit: AFL Photos
The Giants have picks 15, 16, 21, 37, 53 and 56, and therefore could be open to using their pick 37 in a trade for Stringer, depending on their list spots and whether they want to package up their first-round picks to move higher up the draft board.
Essendon list manager Matt Rosa was non-committal about what selection they would be asking for if Stringer did ask for a trade but made it clear they were interested in a reasonable pick. The two clubs met at the AFL draft combine on the weekend to ascertain each other’s position in relation to Stringer.
“The fact that Jake is a contracted player ... it would need to be adequate compensation,” Rosa told AFL Trade Radio.
The Bombers list boss also made it clear the club was interested in gathering more draft picks as they only hold picks nine and 31 at this stage, and need points to match any bid that comes for their next-generation academy graduate, highly rated forward Isaac Kako, who is set to attract a top-10 bid.
They are also interested in improving their draft position, so they have a selection in the 2024 draft that sits ahead of where the Kako bid comes, with opposition clubs adamant a bid will arrive ahead of Essendon’s pick nine.
That might mean the Bombers need to use a future first-rounder to move up the order, so they can snag another top-10 pick before they have to match a Kako bid.
Essendon could also wait until after the trade period finishes to swap picks to move up the order.
In other trade developments:
- The Giants rebuffed Essendon interest to sign utility Conor Stone for two years.
- Richmond have extended swingman Noah Balta’s contract until the end of 2032.
- There was little progress made on Dan Houston as clubs wait for Gold Coast to decide on which club receives pick No.13.
- Port Adelaide do not need permission to trade a future first-round pick if they need it to get Jack Lukosius from the Gold Coast.
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