Collingwood is certain to secure father-son prospect Nick Daicos after swapping a suite of AFL draft picks with Gold Coast.
Key points:
- The Magpies are desperate to secure Daicos, whose father Peter is a regarded as a club legend
- They exchanged a series of future picks to the Suns on the opening day of the trade period
- Daicos is seen as one the best prospects in this year’s draft class
The two clubs struck the only deal on an otherwise quiet opening day of the annual trade period on Monday.
Gold Coast sent picks 22, 46, 58, 79 and a future fourth-round selection to the Magpies, in exchange for future second, third and fourth-round picks.
The deal gives Collingwood a strong enough hand in this year’s draft to cover the value index points required to match a bid for Daicos, should it come in the early first round as expected.
The teenager — whose father Peter is a Collingwood great — is regarded as one of the top three talents in this year’s draft class.
His brother Josh also plays for the Magpies, having debuted for the club in 2017.
The Magpies are also keen on bringing in Patrick Lipinski (Western Bulldogs) and Nathan Kreuger (Geelong) during the trade period, which runs until October 13.
“This deal obviously gives us the scope to pursue a range of possibilities,” Collingwood general manager of football Graham Wright said.
“We have happily been able to make a commitment to Nick Daicos and we are in discussions to acquire a few others.
“More broadly, the deal enables us to continue to build a stockpile of young talent.
“We mined the draft last year to bring six of the first 44 players into our program.
“Close to half of our list are in the [first to third] year phases of their careers and today’s agreement with the Suns will allow us to keep pursuing our strategy.”
Little progress was made on some of the bigger pending deals of this year’s trade period on day one, with Sydney and Adelaide yet to reach an agreement on Jordan Dawson.
Fremantle and Carlton are locked in a similar situation over emerging midfield star Adam Cerra, while Western Bulldogs tall Lewis Young has also requested a trade to the Blues.
The versatile Young has played 24 matches for the Bulldogs after debuting in 2017, but has been unable to lock down a regular position.
Carlton has already secured Sydney Swans midfielder George Hewett as a restricted free agent as it looks to further bolster its stocks under new coach Michael Voss.
Fremantle is locked in negotiations with Geelong over contracted speedster Jordan Clark.
AAP
Source: AFL NEWS ABC
