POTENTIAL incomings, our draft hand, the latest on Matthew Kennedy and more.
Head of List Management Nick Austin spoke to media on the opening day of the Continental Tyres Trade Period.
Here's what he had to say.
On mooted interest in Dan Houston:
“Dan’s a very good player obviously. He’s contracted to Port Adelaide, he hasn’t nominated a club yet. There’s where it sits, there’s a bit to work through. He’s a Port Adelaide player: they’ve made it clear they’ve got a few things to work through.
“He hasn’t nominated a club: he wants to come back to Melbourne, that’s clear. He hasn’t nominated us officially yet, we’ll wait and see.
“A bit of run, a bit of ball use. We were probably guilty a few times late in the year when things weren’t going our way of going too straight. That ability to overlap and take the ball off the line is important. As I said, he’s contracted, so we’ll wait and see how that goes.”
On adding to the Club’s draft hand:
“We’ve been clear from the start that we really want to go the draft. Our pick, which is pick No.12 now, is in a really good spot.
"There are quality kids that address some needs, there’s lots to choose from. We feel that’s a part of the draft we want to attack, so that’s important as well. We haven’t put anything to the Suns yet, they’re working through their options and I’m sure Collingwood is in the mix as well. We’ll see where it goes.
“We’ll wait and see, Gold Coast haven’t put up an asking price for that pick. We’ll catch up with them at some stage and see how it goes.”
On retaining a presence in the draft:
“We’re using it at the draft, definitely. That’s our priority. There are some quality kids there that will be a 10-12 year player for our footy club. We’re really comfortable with that.
“We’re working on getting another pick in, and that can open up possibilities.
“We’re keen to get another pick in anyway, it’s a really strong draft and an even group. There are lots of positional needs available, whether it’s pick No.12 or onwards. We’d love to get another pick in between [Nos.12 and 34].”
On the Camporeale twins:
“Trade period is the focus now. They’ve been in the Carlton Academy for a number of years and done a lot of work with them. We’ll turn our attention to that once we get through trade period.”
On Matthew Kennedy’s status:
“Matty Kennedy is a much-loved player, he won our Best Clubman award last night. He’s a fantastic guy that plays for the team. We had a conversation where he wants to be an inside midfielder — he’ll explore that.
“Selfishly, he’s a really important player for us with his midfield depth and also in front of the ball.”
On Matthew Owies:
“Owies is another one, haven’t spoken to his manager over the weekend in terms of where the interest lies. Like a lot of clubs, list spots are really tight. We want to prioritise the draft, so we need some flexibility going through the window.
“Our front half is going to look a lot different next year. Jack Silvagni missed the whole year, Zac Williams will train as a forward for the first time, we want to get some games into Ashton Moir as well — he showed a lot late in the season.
“We’ve got faith in Jesse Motlop and Corey Durdin, they’re only 20 and 22 but have had some injury troubles this year. We need to create a pathway for those guys to step up and take the responsibility.”
