North Melbourne has knocked back a second offer for this year’s No.1 pick, this time from Richmond.
Like Adelaide, the Tigers were unsuccessful in their audacious play for the prized selection, as the Kangaroos eye selecting talented youngster Jason Horne-Francis with the first pick.
AFL Media’s draft expert Cal Twomey discussed the details of Richmond’s offer.
“The other one is Richmond, wanting to play in the Jason Horne-Francis market,” Twomey told AFL Trade Radio’s The Early Trade.
“They offered North Melbourne pick 7, 15, 26 and Callum Coleman-Jones just for pick 1, and North Melbourne said no to that.
“They’re pretty steadfast, clearly.”
The Crows recently made a huge bid for North Melbourne’s No.1 pick, tabling pick 4 along with their 2022 first-round pick and Melbourne’s 2022 first-round selection, secured in last week’s four-way pick swap.
Horne-Francis, a South Australian talent, turned heads playing for SANFL side South Adelaide this season.
“He’s a pretty special player,” Twomey said of Horne-Francis.
“It’s a lot to give up because often three is better than one, but the detail in the deal is worth acknowledging.
“The first-round pick that’s tied to Melbourne next year, we all expect Melbourne to finish in the top four again next year, so it’s a 15-plus pick.
“Is that going to be that much different to North Melbourne’s future second-round pick? Which I think most people would say that North Melbourne will be a bottom four side again next year.
“It’s basically two first-round picks and then a slide of eight picks, in the ballpark of that.
“It’s three first-round picks – which is an extraordinary offer – but there is a bit of a slide there as well.”
No club has traded the No.1 pick since Fremantle in 2001.