Compensation bid as Tigers, Roos hop into talks

RICHMOND and North Melbourne are prepared to play ball on trades for Robbie Tarrant and Callum ColemanJones that will preserve the Tigers’ compensation for losing Mabior Chol.

When the free agency period kicks off on Friday, Carlton will secure Sydney’s George Hewett in the first list management coup of Michael Voss’s tenure.

With Hewett on a four-year deal of about $450,000, there is a chance his deal could trigger second-round or end-ofsecond-round compensation.

The Western Bulldogs secured a second-round pick after Luke Dahlhaus left for Geelong on a four-year deal of about $500,000 a season at the end of 2018.

But third-round compensation would give Sydney a selection at pick 50 after its own third-round pick at 49 (which is held by West Coast).

The Swans have no plans to match the Hewett deal, so Carlton will get a quality free agent, albeit one at a much smaller price tag than it spent on Zac Williams last year.

The previous season it secured Jack Martin in the preseason draft, and while neither Williams nor Martin has maximised his potential, the Blues have at least maximised their draft hand.

Jake Kelly’s move to Essendon as a free agent is expected to net Adelaide a third-round pick (42) after the 26-year-old lockdown defender agreed to move to the Bombers.

Richmond would normally have secured Tarrant on a twoyear free agency deal.

But the Tigers will instead trade for him next week with a late pick.

Chol’s four-year deal is likely to trigger a third-round compensation pick (45).

But if the Tigers bring in Tarrant as a free agent the net value of both free agency transactions is taken into account, so the Tigers could have their Chol compensation cancelled out.

Richmond and the Roos are happy to get a deal done for Coleman-Jones early in trade week that will also factor in trading for Tarrant instead of moving him as a free agent.

Richmond would ideally have hoped for North Melbourne’s pick 20 instead of its No.38 third selection, but the clubs might broker a deal that gives the Tigers a pick somewhere in between.

Adelaide’s Tom Lynch has confirmed he will join the Roos in a coaching capacity, with the deal to include a playing component that will put him on the rookie list.

But as he is a delisted free agent the Crows will receive no compensation. Saint Luke Dunstan’s compensation circumstances are similar.

The AFL says the compensation formula is designed to “reflect the relative values of various players to one another” after eight or more years of service to one club.