‘Hardball’ Crows begin high stakes draft gamble
The Adelaide Crows are vowing to be ruthless in their efforts to prise maximum value from their departing marquee midfielder Patrick Dangerfield, as they enter a potentially dangerous game of brinkmanship with his club of choice, Geelong.
With CEO Andrew Fagan set to front the media this afternoon, the club is talking the talk, with insiders telling InDaily it would not roll over on trade negotiations.
The club is determined to exercise its right to match any offer Geelong tables – reported to be worth around $800,000 a year for six years – and will then commit to play hardball to get the best trade deal for its staff, members and supporters.
The Cats are yet to make a public statement on their intentions, but Dangerfield’s manager Paul Connors has publicly stated his client would choose between only two options – Geelong or Adelaide, the latter of which he sensationally but unsurprisingly rejected yesterday.
But he could yet end up in another team’s colours if the Crows follow through with their high-stakes threat to let him walk to the national draft if Geelong do not come to the table with a suitable trade, which would have to better the league’s free agency compensation of a first round draft pick, likely to be pick 14.
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Dangerfield was originally selected at pick 10 in the 2007 draft.
While Dangerfield could nominate for the draft and set his terms, with the caveat that he only wanted to play for the Cats, the Crows are banking on the AFL’s integrity unit tightly scrutinising any such stipulations, which could see the All-Australian 25-year-old picked by a cellar dweller such as wooden-spooner Carlton, which holds the number one pick.
Carlton today wouldn’t rule out swooping on the onballer, with a spokeswoman telling InDaily: “Our recruiters will look at everyone in the draft and make the decision that is best for the club.”
In reality, while the Crows hold some aces, losing Dangerfield for nothing would be a hollow moral victory, robbing the club of even the first-round compensation pick it deemed unworthy.
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Despite the brinkmanship, it’s more likely it will seize the opportunity to bolster deficient areas of its list. While players of Dangerfield’s talent are few and far between, Adelaide has a glut of hard-edged inside midfielders, but a dearth of genuine pace. A lack of outside speed was cited as an area of concern by former coach Brenton Sanderson, but it was an area the club still failed to adequately rectify during last year’s trade period or at the draft, when its focus was on consolidating its undermanned backline.
Adelaide board member Mark Ricciuto said on his Triple M radio show yesterday that “the club will fight as hard as they possibly can to get the best possible deal”.
“There’s so many different things that could happen … it’s certainly not straightforward,” Ricciuto said.
“It’s a bit of a game of chess in some ways (but) it doesn’t have to be if they want to do the deal straight up.”
It’s been a busy post-season for the Crows thus far, with interim coach Scott Camporeale last night ruling himself out of contention as Phil Walsh’s permanent successor, though he will remain in his previous role as an assistant.
And departing interim coaching director John Worsfold has signalled his desire to coach Essendon, using his regular spot on Channel 7 to declare that “it took getting back into footy for me to realise I’m keen”.
He will not return to his role at the AFL Coaches’ Association, whose CEO Mark Brayshaw “fully supported” his ambitions.
“We wish him well as he meets with Essendon and, if he decides to formally apply for the role, we would wholeheartedly endorse his application,” he said.
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