Wheelers, dealers in trade tit-for-tat
FOOTBALL’S annual game of poker will begin on Tuesday as six clubs jostle over the futures of three star players.
Jeremy Cameron (GWS to Geelong), Brad Crouch (Adelaide to St Kilda) and Joe Daniher (Essendon to Brisbane) have all chosen new homes to reignite their careers.
And in what looms as the biggest test yet of the game’s compensation system, there is already dispute over what the clubs should give up and receive for each of these bestand-fairest winners.
The Cameron transfer looks the most difficult negotiation, 12 months after his Coleman Medal season.
The deal-breaker in the Daniher situation could be his boosted salary, as the Lions perhaps fork out a little more to secure Essendon firstround compensation. And Crouch looks like the most straightforward item.
While the clubs might be blunt with each other in Zoom calls over the next 48 hours, it’s the cards being passed under the poker table that really count. If the bids are matched by November 6, and a trade can’t be struck by the November 12 deadline, the player goes into the preseason draft and hopes for the club he had nominated.
CROUCH DEAL
AT this stage, St Kilda is not prepared to pay Crouch more than $700,000 to trigger the No.2 pick the Crows want.
The midfielder was caught by police with an illicit substance at season’s end and demand for his services dropped at Geelong, Richmond and Port Adelaide.
An end-of-first round compensation pick would slot in for the Crows about No.20. It seems about right for a player who finished outside the top 10 of the best and fairest from 12 games this season.
DANIHER DEAL
THE biggest shortcut in the Daniher deal is his wage.
Ideally for Essendon, Brisbane pays him a bumper salary in excess of $700,000 a year, which triggers the No.7 pick as compensation for the Bombers. That way, Essendon gets the early first-round pick it wants for Daniher and the Lions get to keep their two end-of-first-round selections at picks 18 and 19.
CAMERON DEAL
THIS one appears the hardest of the three, and people close to the deal are still uncertain which way it goes. Trenches are being dug, as we speak.
In a nutshell, the Giants are slated to receive pick 10 as free-agency compensation. It is a selection Geelong strongly believes the Giants should accept for a man who will be 28 in 2021.
But GWS want more and will be pushing for a sweetener.