TRADING PLACES
SEVERAL Cats — and one who appears certain to join the club — remain in wait before the trade period starts on Monday.
Geelong list manager Stephen Wells opened up the future of several key Geelong players, a likely arrival and others on the edge The second-year Geelong midfielder is contracted until the end of 2021, but was left on the outer despite finding the ball at will in the VFL.
There were reports he was keen to explore greater senior opportunities elsewhere, but any potential interest seems to have eased and he seems set to stay at the Cats.
“We had a good conversation with Charlie the other day,” Wells said on SEN. “We want Charlie to stay, he wants to stay, so he’s staying.”
Constable played seven AFL matches this year — all in the first nine rounds — before finishing in the VFL, but did not finish inside the top-10 of the reserve’s best-and-fairest. Buzza appeared resigned to leaving the Cats only last week, but there is a chance he keeps his place — unless a trade option presents.
Drafted to Geelong from Queensland, he has been viewed in some circles as a potentially useful option up forward for Gold Coast.
“We spoke to him the other day and said there is still a chance he will end up on our list or we could offer him a contract. It would be up to him then if he wanted to stay,” Wells said.
“He might have some other options but he is out of contact, so we will see how the next week or so plays out.” The future of the veteran defender has been quiet after his manager, Paul Connors, said last week the ball was in Taylor’s court.
If a decision is known on his future now, the club’s bestand-fairest count tomorrow night looms as the ideal place for an announcement.
Turns 34 midway through next season. Henderson said last week he was waiting on “a bit of water to go under the bridge” before his future was clear.
Whether he and Taylor would be retained on the list is a question for the Cats’ brains trust. Smith has been linked with Essendon and also a potential return to Gold Coast.
Out of contract and out of favour for most of 2019, it appears he is likely to move on — whether that is to a third club or back to his first remains to be seen. Wells made it clear conversations have been ongoing with West Coast and Fremantle throughout the year in regards to what a trade could look like.
Kelly’s manager, Anthony Van Der Wielen, has said a decision about whether he returns to Perth or not will be made within a week.
The Cats have prepared all season for the possibility Kelly leaves.
Fremantle holds the better draft selections, including pick seven, and Wells said that would clearly be a factor in negotiations.
“If you look at the ladder, one team has better picks than another team, so a more satisfactory deal for our club — or for any player at any club and any time — would be the better picks,” he said.
“It does come into play and we’ll deal with that when we hear from Tim officially one way or another.”
Some creative trading