There remains some uncertainty surrounding the logic of Collingwood’s Dan McStay pursuit.
It continues to be widely reported that the Magpies are set to sign the Lions forward this trade period on a deal believed to be around $600,000 per season over five years.
The club’s push to bring McStay in could perhaps come at the cost of ruckman Brodie Grundy, who is in the third year of the monster seven-year contract he signed in 2020.
The Grundy situation brings with it some mystery.
Reports continue to circulate that the two-time All-Australian and dual Copeland Trophy winner could be on the way out this off-season with Melbourne heavily linked.
Former Magpies coach Nathan Buckley can’t quite determine why his old club would be seeking the services of McStay if it has no positive benefit to their salary cap, especially if it means saying goodbye to Grundy while not freeing up vital cap space.
“From the outside, and I don’t have any inside knowledge, I don’t understand the McStay stuff,” Buckley said on SEN Breakfast.
“I keep asking ‘Fieldy’ (Sam Edmund), I asked Jon Ralph and they believe it’s a done deal.
“But if Brodie Grundy leaves Collingwood and Collingwood brings in Daniel McStay and the net effect on the salary cap is nil, I don’t understand that at all.
“I don’t have any inside knowledge, I don’t know what the plans are or the commitments that have been made, but if that ends up happening, then I can’t see how that is a win.”
Buckley was quizzed on whether he believes the club currently has an issue with their salary cap which could be forcing Grundy out.
“There was when we had to make those calls at the end of 2020 and it wasn’t a great result for the club,” he said, succinctly.
In the case of Grundy, it is clear that Collingwood captain Scott Pendlebury is keen for the star ruckman to continue his career in the black and white, even in the midst of the modern-day wave of free agency which clearly favours the playing fraternity.
He said as such on Sunday night at the Brownlow Medal count.
“Brodie knows he’s got a really big future if he wants it at our football club,” Pendlebury said on 7News.
“But also we understand the business of football. Free agency is what the players wanted, it’s come in and it’s still pretty raw and guys are getting used to it.
“It is what it is in that space but Brodie makes us a better football side.”
Of course, the club would want to keep Grundy, he is a star tall after all, and they are hard to come by.
But the money he is on is prohibitive and the club may have specific plans to shape their list away from him.
Have the Pies encouraged him to explore his options due to his gigantic salary they want to rid themselves of?
Parallels must be drawn to Adam Treloar who wanted to remain a Magpie, but was offloaded to the Western Bulldogs in their 2020 trade period fire sale.
The Grundy case seems eerily similar.
But if McStay does happen to make this way to the AIA Centre, the club would want a positive impact on their crowded cap if Grundy is to leave.
Otherwise, plenty of questions will be asked by the black and white army. And rightfully so.