Source :- THE AGE NEWS
Only Zak Butters knows for certain which Victorian club he wants to join during this trade period.
Right now, however, Geelong and the Western Bulldogs have their hands up highest while they scream, “Pick me”. The Tigers are the stalking horse.
Port Adelaide have vowed to match any offer for the restricted free agent all season, which begs the question everyone is asking: How does a deal get done?
With pick No.2 and the likelihood they will stay near the bottom in 2027 and 2028, the Tigers have the collateral to satisfy Port Adelaide. But, unfairly or not, their performance against the Cats in round 24 made it very difficult for Butters to choose them as his preferred destination.
But when it comes to getting the best deal out of the Cats or the Bulldogs, it’s tough if the Power stick to that plan to match.
The Cats and the Bulldogs can only offer picks in the teens for the next three seasons, with both clubs showing no inclination to force a quality player out to facilitate a deal.
Their hand may change if Arthur Jones decides to leave the Bulldogs for Essendon or the Brisbane Lions, or Sam De Koning is enticed to St Kilda, who have reportedly been looking at the contracted Cat (don’t forget the Bulldogs have NGA prospect Khaled El Souki emerging with a bid potentially arriving before pick No.30).
But as it stands, the best result for Port Adelaide – as unpalatable as it may seem – might be to take the compensation before working from there to maximise the return for their club.
If they accepted compensation for Butters, they would have selections four and five, which total 3757 points.
If Essendon lodged a bid for Dougie Cochrane with pick No.1, then Port Adelaide would spend 2700 points (using a discount of 10 per cent) and have 1057 points remaining.
This would leave them with Cochrane and pick No.14.
They could also use picks four and five to trade either ahead of, or during, the national draft, splitting one of those picks for a couple of first-rounders, which might put them in an even better position than Cochrane and pick No.14.
The alternative would be to have pick No.4 and the Cats or the Bulldogs’ first pick to match a Cochrane bid. That means a bid at pick one would swallow their points for Cochrane and leave them with the newly introduced compensation pick at the start of the second round.
They would also, if they matched, gather future picks from either Geelong or the Bulldogs. That’s a fair assumption to make, given the offer the Cats were prepared to make for Charlie Curnow last season.
If they did go down the compensation path, the gap in their collateral would be picks in the 2027 national draft, which they will need for emerging father-son and NGA prospects Louis Salopek and Zemes Pilot.
That need could be met via another deal with either the Cats or the Bulldogs, which would need to be AFL-approved but could include, according to sources at other clubs, trading in the Cats’ or Bulldogs’ first-round pick in 2027 for two second-round picks in 2028, or something similar.
That would need to be of fair value, but the clubs would find it challenging to argue with such a deal if the AFL rules were followed.
Of course, all clubs would have to be transparent as side deals or nod, nod, wink, wink agreements to assist the passage of players via free agency are frowned upon.
Although Butters wants Port Adelaide to be compensated fairly, his main concern will be confidence a deal can get done. Until that point, there is no incentive to declare a club.
No one envies Port Adelaide or their list management team. They are losing a generational player at his peak that nothing can compensate for. But their only concern will be getting the best deal possible for their club, regardless of whether it is good or bad for the team he joins. As it should be.
Accepting compensation should not be ruled out. Jason Cripps did a brilliant job when he chose Butters at pick No.12 in the 2018 national draft after nabbing Connor Rozee at pick No.5. Who is to say he could not repeat the dose if he took Cochrane, then a pick in the early teens this year?
New coach, new players at the Bombers
Essendon are expected to be active in the trade space this season as they look to reboot under new coach Mark McVeigh. Although Toby Greene is a hit-and-hope proposition, they have real designs on two players on the list of teams competing in Saturday night’s elimination final. The Western Bulldogs’ Jones and Adelaide’s Luke Pedlar are Bomber targets, with the decision about to get real for one of them as their club’s season will be over by Sunday.
Are we ready to know a certain player is joining the Tassie Devils?
The Tasmania Devils have a new coach in Ken Hinkley, a good crop of 17-year-olds on the horizon, and their confidence is growing that by the end of the calendar year they could have up to five established players agreeing to be at the club when it launches in 2028. A looming question surrounds whether the industry might be mature enough to know who a couple of those players are while they finish their careers at their current club.
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