Suns push for long deals on top picks
GOLD Coast will put their request for a priority pick to the AFL Commission in the days following the final round late this month.
The submission will likely be multifaceted and see the club push for longer initial contracts for first-round draft picks.
Gold Coast key position tall Jack Lukosius, who was No.2 draft pick last year, will hold off contract talks until the post-season.
And while the Suns are keen to secure the South Australian product long-term, the delay brings the Adelaide Crows into speculation as a potential destination.
The Gold Coast will ask for a priority pick immediately after their likely No.1 selection, which would give them the first two picks in the national draft, to be held in November.
But their worry about being handed a mid firstround pick, which they must trade for an established player, is the leverage it gives rival clubs.
Not only would they have to find significant cap space to trade for a player worthy of pick 11, but they could end up trading for a mediocre players if they had no wiggle room about keeping the pick.
The Suns are also keen on an industry conversation about free agency and whether clubs at the pointy end of the competition should be able to pillage free agents from bottom teams.
What the Suns have done is improve their culture to the extent that those to sign on since last year’s trade period include Izak Rankin, Jarrod Witts, Andrew Swallow, Alex Sexton, Touk Miller, Sam Day, Peter Wright, Ben Ainsworth and Jack Bowes.
Callum Ah Chee should follow. Jack Martin is still in doubt – a concern given interest from Victorian clubs.
Martin is back in the Gold Coast line-up to play Collingwood at the MCG tomorrow after recovering from a finger injury. The Suns cut their extended interchange yesterday, with Jack Bowes and Ben Ainsworth confirmed for the trip south.
They are listed on the interchange for the Round 20 clash along with Jacob Dawson and Michael Rischitelli.
The Suns pushed an inform Bombers outfit all the way last weekend but defeat was their 14th in a row.
Despite Collingwood being hit hard by injuries, bookmaker Ladbrokes have the Suns at $6.75 to beat the sixth-placed Pies and claim just their fourth win of the season.