Adam Cerra has nominated Carlton as his preferred destination during the upcoming AFL trade period.
The Blues will have to strike an agreement with Fremantle for the out-of-contract midfielder, with pick six in this year’s national draft set to be the central component in the deal.
The Dockers will likely chase a second selection, possibly in the second round, in exchange for a player they took at pick five in 2017 and developed over the past four seasons.
Cerra finished third in Fremantle’s best-and-fairest in 2020 and is expected to feature prominently again at this year’s Doig Medal count.
The 21-year-old is originally from Victoria and last month requested a trade to his home state for family reasons.
Cerra knocked back a four-year contract offer from Fremantle worth about $750,000 a season and is expected to sign a long-term deal at Carlton, where he will join gun pair Patrick Cripps and Sam Walsh in a strong midfield unit.
Cerra’s decision follows last week’s appointment of Michael Voss as the Blues’ new coach after an external review of the football department led to David Teague’s sacking.
Premiers Melbourne had also been keen to land Cerra but were unwilling to part with emerging ruck-forward Luke Jackson, who is originally from Western Australia, as part of a deal.
Jackson starred in the Demons’ drought-breaking grand final triumph and has formed a strong partnership with captain Max Gawn.
The trade period opens on Monday, with rebuilding Adelaide set to be active as they attempt to do a deal with Sydney for skilful young star Jordan Dawson.
Contracted Gold Coast pair Izak Rankine and Jack Lukosius are also still on Adelaide’s radar.
But the Crows have just about given up hope of trading for the No.1 draft pick in pursuit of red-hot South Australian talent Jason Horne-Francis.
Wooden spooners North Melbourne hold the first selection at November’s national draft, followed in order by GWS, Gold Coast and Adelaide.
Horne-Francis is rated alongside father-son prospects Nick Daicos (Collingwood) and Sam Darcy (Western Bulldogs) as the best young players in the country and underlined his potential in last week’s SANFL preliminary final.
The 18-year-old kicked 3.3 from 24 disposals against Glenelg and appears ready set to slot straight into an AFL club’s midfield next season.
But that is unlikely to be Adelaide, who don’t expect to be able to prise the top pick out of North Melbourne’s hands.
“We’ve had conversations with every club, but certainly North Melbourne,” Crows list manager Justin Reid told Trade Radio on Wednesday.
“We saw what Jason did last Friday night in that prelim for the Panthers … he’s a quality individual and I wouldn’t have thought North Melbourne are moving too much on their pick one.”
Reid played a straight bat to questions about contracted Essendon defender Aaron Francis, who took mental health leave mid-season and spent time at home with family in South Australia.
Reid said contracted midfielder Matt Crouch “is part of our plans going forward” despite the 26-year-old being talked about as possible trade bait.
Jonboy
Roar Rookie
Cerra ?
Charlie Keegan
Roar Guru
I think it can go that far in a live trade. You want to hold it till the last possible moment
ScottD
Roar Guru
I'd be happy if they picked up Bailey Rogers. He is a mature, solid midfielder who I think they would pick up in the 2nd round. I looked at the numbers and I don't think pick 8 quite has the legs to be 2x late first round picks and apart from Brisbane I don't see anyone else they could do that trade with anyway with, as no one has exactly the picks we'd be looking for. More likely a late 1st round plus a mid 2nd round. Maybe Richmond with picks 15 and 26 if they wanted a top 10 but they'd probably want pick 6 for that? Anyway, hard to see where the pick trade would come from don't you think? Agree with you on Amiss
Johnno
Roar Rookie
Absolutely....you have to be genuine & up front with negotiation No. As a Freo fan I just hope it goes well...for both clubs & Cerra.
Chanon
Roar Rookie
Doesn’t surprise me Johnno, Carlton are tough negotiators but it’s in your best interest to deal with Carlton
Johnno
Roar Rookie
Carlton’s archiles is that they can’t afford Cerra to go to the draft.....North & Hawks await. Added to that is Cerra said he wants Freo to get a fair deal. He is a pretty good bloke apparently, so hopefully that was considered when he said Carlton. The word also is that the 2 clubs are a fair way down the track in negotiations already.
Charlie Keegan
Roar Guru
I thin k freo are clear eyeing off Neil Erasmus and Jye Amiss. I would probably take Amiss first as there aren't as many key forwards in this draft, and then if Erasmus goes they can go for someone like Matthew Johnson. If they were really clever they could split pick eight into two first round selections take Amiss, Johnson, and one of Van Rooynen or Motlop.
ScottD
Roar Guru
Rusty, I agree. Obviously he will be at his best for the next 5 years. The development and risk has been done for them. He has to be worth pick 6 plus something. For mine I would be happy with pick 6 this year plus pick 61 and a 2nd rounder from next year. I say that because Freo only has 2 picks in hand (8, 27) and there are a couple of mature strong body mids in the WAFL that they can get in the 2nd or 3rd round that will help offset Cerra in the short term. We can on trade pick 8 for a late first round pick plus a lower 2nd or 3rd rounder and use the lower first round pick to get Jordan Clark from Geelong at the same time. We still then have pick 6 available to get the best tall forward we can get.
Chanon
Roar Rookie
Haha l like it Pete, your in the box seat they have to let him go for compassionate reasons :laughing:
PeteB
Roar Rookie
We’ll throw in our future 3rd for their future 4th as well Chanon. It’ll only drop us one spot in the draft next year anyways :silly:
Parklane7835
Roar Rookie
The Hulk----sorry you miss me,The Grand Final was great in the First half,Half way through in the 3Quarter,Melbourne demons played well and Really Deserve this year PREMIERSHIP,they were the Best team all season,and also they Broke there 57 Hoodoo.Go Demons 2022... Also Rising up the Ladder in 2022,again will be Melbourne Demons,Western Bulldogs,Essendon,St.Kilda,Richond,Port Adelaide,Brisbane Lions?
Macca
Roar Rookie
If you take a look at those 11, 3 were in the 40 man AA squad this year, Curnow was well on his way to that level before missing 2 years with injury but looked good in the last part of this year, Kemp has been injured almost all his 2 years on the list but looked good in his handful of games, Philp impressed in his first year but missed all his second year with injury, Cuningham has been belted with injury his entire career, Stocker missed the second half of his first year with injury, had mental health issues in his second but looked a quality player this year which leaves SPS (on his way to the Eagles) Dow (played some amazing quarters this year but needs to get fitter - still could be a good player) and O’Brien (made to earn it be Teague and could benefit from a change of coach - has a lot of qualities the blues desperately need but has a lot to work on)
Chanon
Roar Rookie
Cerra is only worth pick 6 Which in reality will fall in at pick 8 Cause of two father/sons going early!
Dean
Roar Rookie
I did a re count and got 14, forgot about Ceglars short stint at the Pies. I really can't find the other two. If we say 16 it's over an extended period of time, Carlton has brought most of those players in a short amount of time and atm are not geling together well enough.
Kane
Roar Rookie
16 at Hawks vs 15 at Carlton says otherwise Dean
Kane
Roar Rookie
Hawthorn have actually traded harder for the big names in last 3-4 years and have performed worse than Carlton. And you might want to re count as there's 16 players that played for other clubs at Hawthorn compared to 15 at Carlton. And yes I absolutely understand we have underperformed for a good while and our players need a good boot up the clacker which I'm hoping the change at the club will do.
Dean
Roar Rookie
I got 13 at the Hawks. Point is Kane is that all these players that have been traded in have hardly had an impact and Carlton imo should be doing better with the players they have got in. Carlton's best players imo are the players they got through the draft, Walsh, Cripps, McKay, Curnow etc. Cerra is a big get but the majority of players like Williams, Martin, Saad to name a few haven't elevated them to the next level. Like l said in a previous comment they may need another 12 months of playing together before they really bond as a team and improve overall.
Dean
Roar Rookie
Point is Col they have traded heavily in the last few years and have hardly improved.
Dean
Roar Rookie
Well l still have 15 without Marchbank. Williams, Martin, Betts, McDonald, Plowman, Kennedy, Fogarty, McGovern, Jones, Docherty, Newman, Pittonet, Newnes, Saad, Setterfield. Thats 15. I remember remarking to a mate that Carlton had a lot of players from other teams. I don't have the time to be going through the year round by round Col, you can look it up if you need to. Might have been pre season not 100% sure. You can't dispute the fact that Carlton have a long list of players from other teams and it hasn't had a major impact so far in regards to a vast improvement.
Col from Brissie
Roar Guru
No point.