Gold Coast and the Western Bulldogs have engaged in the second official move of this year’s trade period with a swap of picks.
The Suns sent their coveted pick four to Whitten Oval alongside picks 46, 51 and a future third-round selection, with the Dogs parting with picks 10, 17 and a future first-rounder.
It sees Gold Coast come out well on top in terms of the points value attached to each pick, should the Bulldogs and Suns finish in similar ladder positions next year.
But with the Suns likely to match bids on four academy prospects in the first round and the Bulldogs making moves of their own, a little more clarity arises.
Bulldogs list manager Sam Power explained his side of the deal to AFL Trade Radio.
“A number of reasons. We get (pick) four back, a couple of third-rounders this year and a future third from Gold Coast as well,” Power began.
“It’s really with how highly we rate the top end of the pool this year, the types of players that are there in that group really align to our needs.
“Also taking into consideration academy bids, father/son bids, that’s part of our decision making.”
While on face value it doesn’t look a great deal for the Western Bulldogs, SEN’s Tom Morris moved to explain the decision.
Both clubs are looking to avoid academy and father/son picks swallowing up higher draft picks.
“It’s important to understand that the Gold Coast Suns and the Western Bulldogs have different priorities,” he began.
“While the Western Bulldogs are looking to get father son Jordan Croft in and the Suns are looking to recruit their academy picks, by and large the Dogs want a pick at the top of the draft to get at least one elite talent…
“They hope the Croft bid won’t come in the top four, but the Gold Coast Suns want a suite of picks that equal however many points they think is needed to match the bids that come for the four academy players.
“I think 10 and 17 are so strong that they’ll be able to package them up… you might ask why have the Suns done this deal with the Dogs now when other deals could have come… they have given clubs plenty of notice, so given there was no better deal than 10, 17, a future first and a swap of late picks (it’s a win-win).
“Although Jordan Croft hasn’t yet nominated the Dogs, the Dogs are very confident that he will and if and when he does, they’ll have enough picks to be able to match whatever bid for him, which won’t come in the top four.”
AFL Media’s Cal Twomey rated Croft as the 11th best prospect in his September Phantom draft rankings.
Croft has until the end of October to signal his intentions of joining the Bulldogs, while the Suns hope to match bids on academy prospects Jed Walter, Ethan Read and Jake Rogers, all likely to come in the first round.