ESSENDON will demand a top 10 pick before they grant Joe Daniher clear passage to Brisbane.
The Bombers are also set to pursue a “sweetener” in the form of a later draft pick or a pick swap in any Daniher exchange.
And the club is determined to match the Lions’ offer for restricted free agent Daniher if that Lions contract only gives them an end of first round pick, or worse, as compensation.
Essendon’s first pick in the national draft is six, meaning the best result they can hope for under the AFL’s compensation formula for losing Daniher is pick seven.
The key forward earlier this month exercised his free agency rights to nominate Brisbane as his club of choice, marking the second time in 12 months that he has tried to leave Essendon.
Essendon has consistently showed its intent to keep Daniher, 26, confident he can recapture his peak form and believing he can do that for a long time yet.
The two clubs have held early talks over what a Daniher move would like, with a trade scenario still possible.
The Lions have picks 16 and 17 in next month’s draft.
Essendon is yet to be told what Brisbane’s contract is for Daniher, despite reports of a five-year deal worth around $600,000 a season.
Brandon Ellis last year left Richmond for Gold Coast as a restricted free agent on those exact terms. Ellis is only seven months older than Daniher and the Tigers received a second-round compensation pick – No.39 overall.
When Tom Rockliff departed Brisbane for Port Adelaide at the end of 2017 at age 27 on a four-year contract worth around $650,000, the Lions received an end-of-first-round compensation pick.
The added layer of complexity when it comes to Daniher is how Essendon and Brisbane find common ground on what the injury-plagued forward is worth.
Do they value him at his peak? His wretched last three seasons? Even in his four games this year there was a wild difference between his eye-catching return in Round 14 and his other performances.
But as things stand, the Lions would need to offer a substantial contract to trigger the first-round compensation pick (No.7) the Bombers will demand, or work a trade.
The ball is in the Lions’ court.