Trade talk: Why Hodge is "scratching his head" over Pies recruitment plan

Collingwood are willing to splash the cash to acquire one of the game’s modern greats… and the move has left Luke Hodge scratching his head.

Reports broke early this week that the Magpies were preparing to launch a three-year, potentially $3 million contract for two-time Brownlow Medallist Lachie Neale, whose current deal at Brisbane is set to expire at the conclusion of the 2026 season.

The Pies aren't the only club rumoured to be interested in acquiring Neale, as the two-time premiership captain weighs up a potential future outside of Queensland.

A return to the Fremantle Dockers initially appeared the most likely of landing spots, before Collingwood’s rumoured offer blew their measly two-year, $1.2 million deal out of the water.

While he certainly has plenty of good footy ahead of him – at 33, Neale is still averaging over 30 disposals and seven clearances a game – Hodge couldn’t help but wonder why the ageing Pies would target a star on the verge of decline.

“Considering their list, and where they’ve tried to move their list to get younger, I was scratching my head when I did hear that,” Hodge told SEN Whateley.

“The fact that they’ve got Scott Pendlebury, they’ve got Steele Sidebottom, they couldn’t commit to Brody Mihocek even though their biggest weakness this year has been their forward line and they couldn’t commit to Mihocek because of the funds that Melbourne was offering him.

“Whether they were leaving some money there for Ben King to come back to Collingwood, because it was touted that he had been speaking to them as well.

“I did scratch my head at their age and where they are list wise.

“As good a Lachie Neale is, I don’t think he will get them straight back into a top four contender, but who knows.

“Obviously, they like what they see, and everyone has liked what they’ve seen from Lachie this year, his season so far has been as good as any.”

At the beginning of the season, the Pies were ranked number one for average age across their list at 25.6, with an average experience of 94.7 games also ranking top of the competition.

As it stands, Collingwood have struggled to match their September tilt of last season, currently residing in 13th place with just five wins from 13 games.