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Some AFL Trade Rumours news broke on Thursday that two Victorian clubs are targetting Collingwood’s Jordan De Goey – the St Kilda Saints and the North Melbourne Kangaroos, both of whom are known to have a large amount of salary cap room to spare.
The unique specifics of the situation look set to make it a difficult one for Collingwood to navigate.
De Goey has played 51 games of AFL football in a little over three seasons at the highest level now but despite his talent is most well known for his highly publicised incidents of misbehaviour over the past two seasons.
In the 2017 preseason he told Collingwood he had broken his hand playing with his dog, but it was later revealed that he had lied to the club, and the injury had been sustained in a fight. Then in February this year he was caught drink driving.
Ordinarily under those circumstances a club would likely expect a player to work hard and earn back the trust of his teammates and coaches, and hopefully produce a solid body of work at AFL level, before opening up negotiations for a contract extension.
However Collingwood is between a rock and a hard place here because the longer they choose to go down that road the more time they give to St Kilda and North Melbourne to whisper in his ear – but if they choose to depart from it early, they risk not fully impressing on De Goey the importance of fulfilling club expectations.
We don’t know at this stage just how serious the interest from St Kilda and North Melbourne might be.
Both clubs have tried hard to land big-name opposition players over the past few years, but neither has had any great deal of success in these endeavours.
While I don’t put any doubt on the idea that they would both have an interest in De Goey, I would suspect he’s probably just one of a dozen or more players that both clubs have on their radar.
Reports were that both clubs could look at making offers valued at around $500,000 per year. That may sound like a lot, but it’s important to remember that under the AFL’s increased salary cap, it isn’t quite so much as it used to be.
The average AFL wage is now north of $370,000 per year, so $500,000 is probably pretty close to the mark for what a top-five draft pick should be looking to make in his fifth season of AFL football.
Can Collingwood match that? A well-managed salary cap should have that much room available for a maturing player of De Goey’s ilk – but does Collingwood’s?
(AAP Image/Dean Lewins)
Collingwood’s thorough review of the club’s processes last year identified the need for a new salary cap model as well as a significant restructure of the list management team.
We’ve seen the latter happen publicly, but the former is presumably something only those inside the four walls are privy to.
My suspicion is that if Collingwood are willing to do so, they should be able to find a commensurate amount of cap space with which to retain De Goey.
St Kilda or North would probably have to go significantly higher than $500,000 if they wish to blow them out of the water.
Of course one other big consideration for the Saints and the Roos would be exactly how they’d get a trade done, if it goes that far.
A pick in the teens would probably be about the going rate, but as things stand neither club is all that likely to have one – both sides will probably finish in the lower part of the ladder, probably giving them a top-ten pick (too much) and a pick in the 20s (too little).
North Melbourne, who have to match bids for Tarryn Thomas and possibly several father-son players this year, would be especially reticent to give up valuable 2018 draft picks. Future selections could be an option.
Ultimately though one expects that the matter will come down to the quality of relationship that currently exists between De Goey and the Collingwood Football Club.
By all reports since February’s incident De Goey has done everything asked of him, culminating in a successful return to the senior side last week.
If I was to make a prediction now it would be that he will in time re-sign with Collingwood for the longterm – but this is certainly still one to watch.