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Buddy or Dusty? Dusty or Buddy? Or, hold your breath Giants supporters, could your club somehow work their accounting magic and not need to make the choice, and somehow secure both?
While their club may have a fallen a long, long, long way shy of taking part in the finals, right now, of all the clubs with their feet up for 2013, it would be GWS supporters bubbling the most with excitement, anticipation and enthusiasm of what is about to unfold in football’s silly seasons.
It’s no secret that, although they refuse to confirm or deny their interest as per club policy, the Giants are the warm favourites to sign Lance Franklin if he opts to leave Hawthorn at the end of the season.
Will they get him? Who knows.
But with news yesterday that Hawthorn have taken its contract offer to Buddy off the negotiating table, the odds of Franklin wearing the orange of the Giants for the next five or six seasons in a multi-million dollar deal have shortened significantly.
What the GWS hierarchy would not have factored into their future plans until earlier this week was the prospect of enticing Richmond midfielder Dustin Martin to their club.
They would have known he was off contract, but with the Tigers reaching the finals and the club having said re-signing the likes of Martin was a priority, most would have anticipated the skilful 22-year-old would be going absolutely nowhere.
The Giants have declared they want to bring quality and experience onto their list so they can become more competitive quickly, and naturally both Franklin and Martin fit that bill.
But there is also talk the club is chasing Shane Mumford from the Swans and Sam Fisher from the Saints. They have money, and they have a couple of first round draft picks to deal, but just how many of that quartet could they realistically snare?
If they can only ‘afford’ to secure either Buddy or Dusty, which player should they throw the proverbial kitchen sink at?
The instant obvious choice would appear to be Buddy.
A match-winner, a legitimate superstar of the game, and with the biggest profile in the AFL, he would also be extremely beneficial to the fledgling club off the park in the Sydney marketplace.
And if the Hawks win the premiership wouldn’t that be a perfect way for Buddy to exit and start a whole new future, helping to build another club towards eventual flag success?
But do the Giants need another power forward? There’s newly-crowned All Australian Jeremy Cameron; there is the injured Jon Patton; and, if they hang onto their number one draft pick, then they will add another potential star, and next big thing, Tom Boyd to their forward line.
Let’s not forget Buddy will be 27 by the time the 2014 season has its first bounce. Has his peak already come and gone?
So what about Dusty? Giants coach Leon Cameron told Melbourne radio this week that his club will be discussing their options.
“I am not going to lie about it. All clubs will be looking at it and asking ‘why’ and ‘where do we sit as a footy club’ in terms of gaining some mature aged players,” Cameron said.
“It is no secret we are in the market to look to add some value with mature-aged players, and our club will go back and discuss all our options and move forward from there.
“Whether it is Martin or whoever from another football club, we have to do our due diligence on-field and off-field.”
Martin continues to show he will be one of the game’s elite, and he would slot perfectly into the GWS midfield to help feed those stars up front. At 22 there’s a lot of football and growth left in Dustin Martin.
Ironically it was mooted Martin may be headed to GWS a lot earlier than now.
Way back in 2010, after he had played less than 10 games, a report surfaced suggesting the Giants had offered Martin $2.4 million over three seasons to join the club after his Richmond contract ended at the completion of the 2011 season.
That’s $800,000 a season back then, which is possibly around the mark of what it might cost them to now snatch him, and, now, with 86 games worth of senior experience.
Martin also has history in Sydney, and importantly family. After leaving school in Year 9, he moved from Castlemaine in central Victoria to Sydney’s South West where he worked at his father’s trucking business.
He also spent time playing with the Campbelltown Blues under 18 team, but it was a tough life for a teenager and after a year in Sydney he moved back to Victoria to enhance his prospects of being drafted.
It’s a tough call, and really if the Giants snare either Franklin or Martin, it will be a major win. Get both, it’s a lotto win.
If they are only allowed to secure one, I think I’d probably go with Dusty. But I’m not in the GWS football department.
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