PICK-ME-UP PLAN
Geelong in talks with Dogs in bid to climb draft order
GEELONG is in deep negotiations with the Western Bulldogs about a deal that would move it up into the early part of round 2 at this week’s AFL national draft.
The potential pick swap hinges on when bids come from rival clubs for the Dogs’ father-son prospect Sam Darcy, whose dad Luke played 226 games for the club.
The Western Bulldogs’ first pick sits at No.23, which has a value of 815 points.
But depending on when a bid comes for Darcy, they are likely to need additional points to acquire him, and have eyed off the Cats’ selections in the 30-34 range among their strongest options.
In the potential swap, Geelong would hand the Dogs a combination of two of its picks between 30 and 34 (it currently holds 30, 32 and 34), in exchange for their first pick.
It’s understood the Cats would then use that pick to secure towering Geelong Falcons ruckman Toby Conway.
Pick 30 has a points value of 629, pick 32 is worth 584, and pick 34 a value of 542. Darcy is seen as one of the top talls in this year’s draft crop and a bid for him is expected early inside the first round on Wednesday.
Geelong list manager Stephen Wells said while nothing was locked away, the two clubs were both interested in securing a positive outcome.
“The Bulldogs have got pick 23 at the moment and (list management committee member) Andrew Mackie has been conducting negotiations with the Bulldogs about what that could look like for us to trade up and get hold of that pick 23 to strengthen our draft hand,” Wells said.
“It is not committed to yet, and of course future selections can be involved as well, so we are just trying to work out a deal that is fair to both parties that gives us the best possible outcome.
“Because the bid for the father-son player is likely to come very early in the draft, most of the details will be worked out in advance.”
Wells said Geelong would again target the best players available, regardless of positional needs.
“We will be trying to bring players to the club who we hope can have long AFL careers,” he said. “Because we will have six or seven picks over the national and rookie drafts, we will get a good mix of players, but that will also be dictated by who has gone by the time we have our picks.
“When we look at our list, we are well aware of the players who are closer to the end of their careers than the start, so we will look to guys who can develop over the next couple of years to fill positions all over the ground.”