Past #23: Ben McKay - gone to * as RFA - NMFC awarded Band 1 pick #3 compo

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Psicosis said:
Oh, you're accusing me of lying are you? Just ignore what I share if this is the case.
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Fwiw, I have heard from other north ITK sources that we offered an updated contract a week or so ago.

Up to others if they want to believe or not.
 
Psicosis said:
Oh, you're accusing me of lying are you? Just ignore what I share if this is the case.
Click to expand...

Can anyone truly trust a lucha libre?
 
Interesting that not one media report on McKay suggests he is staying at North.
 

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Kangaroos4eva said:
Fwiw, I have heard from other north ITK sources that we offered an updated contract a week or so ago.

Up to others if they want to believe or not.
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This is more recent so maybe he has his offers and is now in negotiation with the club. A sign he is keen to stick around.
 
czero said:
Damn HS and their paywall!
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AFL Trade 2023: All the latest news and intel ahead of the exchange period​

Dustin Martin will not join his old coach Damien Hardwick on the Gold Coast in 2024. See what the future looks like for Dusty and more trade news here.

Jon Ralph
@RalphyHeraldSun

September 9, 2023 - 7:54AM

Essendon is prepared to open up its purse strings to get into the race for North Melbourne full back Ben McKay despite Sydney’s strong interest.
The Dons have always made clear they will not overpay for their free agency and trade acquisitions so they do not burn their $2 million-plus of cap space.

But McKay is aware Essendon has come strongly at him as a suitor as new CEO Craig Vozzo and list boss Adrian Dodoro aggressively try to improve their list.

Sydney is the industry favourite to secure McKay, given they have pushed so hard to replace Paddy McCartin after missing out on GWS defender Harry Himmelberg and West Coast full back Tom Barrass.

But Essendon would need to offer him at least a three-year deal of $800,000 to trigger first-round compensation, which would mean the Roos didn’t match any restricted free agency offer.

Essendon is desperate to secure another key back, with Jesse Hogan kicking nine goals on the club in round 23 and Tom Hawkins twice kicking six goals on defenders, including Brandon Zerk-Thatcher.

By the time the AFL salary cap goes up as much as 15 per cent by 2024, a deal of that size for McKay might seem reasonable value.

So Essendon has made clear to McKay how much it values him, which gives him a decision to make on moving interstate or finding a new home at Essendon or Hawthorn.

Mitchell’s Henry coup only the start​


Sam Mitchell has emerged as Hawthorn’s secret weapon as a recruiting tool in coming seasons as Liam Henry moves towards nominating the Hawks as his club of choice.

Player managers report Mitchell has put together a brilliant pitch to their players as the Hawks hope their recent improvements put them in the picture for a number of big names.

Geelong’s Esava Ratugolea chose Port Adelaide and North Melbourne’s Ben McKay might ultimately look elsewhere.

But Henry is expected to choose Hawthorn over St Kilda, with the Dockers wingman one of a number of players highly impressed by Mitchell.

His overall vision for the club, his specific intel on how he would coach them and his professionalism in selling the future have all been noted.

As a first-year coach, some rivals scoffed when Mitchell contacted opposition coaches himself as the Hawks tried to make moves to get up the draft board.

Yet, if you can’t get players to your club – even when you are rebuilding – it doesn’t matter how talented you are with the tactical and leadership side of coaching.

Hawthorn won’t want to give up a pick in the 15-25 range the Dockers are asking for, so get set for some prolonged haggling.

And Chad signs on​

Hawthorn has signed up Chad Wingard for another season.

The Hawks half forward had only just received a contract offer from the Hawks in the days before he tore his achilles in round 22. But having had successful surgery and dodged any infection, the Hawks have backed him in to return late in the 2024 season.

Wingard has only just turned 30 at a club with only himself, Sam Frost and Luke Breust over 30, so the Hawks are hopeful he has plenty of football ahead of him.

Port young gun going nowhere​

Take it to the bank that Xavier Duursma will not be moving on from Port Adelaide even as the Power try to find the picks to bring in Esava Ratugolea and potentially Brodie Grundy.

The Power gave up their first and second-rounders in the Jason Horne-Francis deal so need to find trade collateral with Ratugolea.

But Port Adelaide list boss Jason Cripps has made clear to Duursma he is central to their plans despite his name being thrown up in trade discussions by former Adelaide captain Mark Bickley.

Duursma, Connor Rozee and Zak Butters are all out of contract at the end of 2024 with the Power keen to sign them away over summer.

He has played only 11, 11 and 15 games in the past three years with injury and form issues but at just 23 years of age the Power would be crazy to let him go.

Dogs emerge as frontrunner for pick 4​


Western Bulldogs ruck Jordon Sweet is happy to wait until the end of the VFL finals to assess his options, despite being offered a two-year deal by the Bulldogs.

It comes as the Dogs emerge as an early favourite to trade up to the Suns’ pick 4 with their offer of picks 10 and 17.

Melbourne also has a strong proposal with their first-rounder and two second-rounders, with both offers handing the Suns an extra 500 points for their academy picks.

But the Suns could trade back to 10 and 17 from pick 4 then field offers for pick 10, so could make even more of a windfall on the deal to accrue points.

The two-year deal for Sweet has been in front of him for some time.

But not only is Tim English in career-best form, there is a chance Sam Darcy will eventually turn into a ruckman, who can play at either end.

West Coast is one of the clubs interested in Sweet but consider the turbulence in the ruck market.

Those with uncertain futures include Sean Darcy, Ivan Soldo, Scott Lycett, Matt Flynn, Brynn Teakle, Sam Hayes, Sweet and Todd Goldstein, who has been linked to Essendon.

Dogs utility Taylor Duryea should get another deal but the Dogs still have to make decisions on Hayden Crozier, Buku Khamis, Roarke Smith and Toby McLean.

McLean has real talent and is an unrestricted free agent, while Tim O’Brien will likely get another one-year deal.

Could Suns even get Dusty deal done?​

Gold Coast is officially out of the race for Dustin Martin given the difficulty in satisfying the Suns on a trade and the Richmond star on his massive salary.

Martin is open to a move north or a different challenge in footy but even before Thursday’s meeting with Damien Hardwick at a Gold Coast pub was aware the Suns move wasn’t happening.

The Suns would ideally like to consider ways for the triple Norm Smith Medallist to become a Sun.

But they couldn’t pay his $1.4 million salary, Richmond isn’t interested in a trade, and they don’t have the picks to satisfy the Tigers even if the first two issues were resolved.

So the club’s football department including Hardwick is on board with the fact that if Martin moves north it will be at the end of next year.

The Suns need to accumulate the points for rivals to bid on their trio of first-round academy selections as early as pick two (Jed Walter), pick 5 (Ethan Read) and pick 10 (Jake Rogers).

North Melbourne has always shown it is prepared to be faithful to its draft order when bidding on academy players so is a strong chance to call on Walter’s name at pick two.

So the Suns will need to preserve their draft hand until after the November 20 national draft _ which is after the trade period.

At this stage there is no clear suitor for contracted top-10 pick Elijah Hollands, who will sit down with the club and his management post VFL finals to assess his options.

No Rance-Dimma reunion​

Alex Rance is likely to move to the Gold Coast after shutting down his Melbourne-based high school but won’t be joining the Suns as a full-time employee.

The Suns are open to specialist coaching roles for the likes of Lance Franklin, and even Rance, if they wanted to help out the club’s young kids.

But Rance is 33, so despite his level of fitness, the Suns haven’t spoken to him about a shock comeback.

They are aware he is considering a full-time move north after shuttering his football-focused school The Academy.

And as the Suns consider their coaching team, they haven’t had meaningful talks with Rance about a coaching role.

No Giant exodus this year​

Greater Western Sydney is more than happy for veteran Nick Haynes to play on next year, despite a back-ended salary that will hit seven figures.

Like many GWS players, Haynes shuffled around money in years of his contract with the last year of a deal expiring next year hitting up to $1.2 million.

But GWS is keen to keep Haynes, with the bigger issue whether he might look for rival opportunities given he has often been used as the sub in recent weeks.

For the first time in many years, GWS has no retention challenges, having signed up a bevy of players including Harry Himmelberg, Lachie Ash, Finn Callaghan, Tom Green, Xavier O’Halloran and Jake Riccardi.

Rival clubs are open to cap dump opportunities to improve their draft hand but it makes no sense for the Giants to give away a quality pick for someone to absorb Haynes’ deal given they have cap space for him.

GWS will go back to the draft with picks six and 12 (and consider using their pick 50) in one of the most settled off-seasons in recent years.
 
I think when you do the maths the best play is to take the high draft pick for McKay. Even if we really rated him.

If we go next year without McKay but would have had to spend 700k a year to keep him we’re essentially netting 700k plus pick three. Then the following year we can offer another free agent 700k per year for say five years plus the 700 we saved in 2024 divided into that next five years - meaning the offer would be 840k ( to put us in the same financial position we would have been if we kept McKay) and again we have obtained pick three.

The gamble is can we find a free agent as good as or better than McKay next year or one of the following years. The other gamble is how much will it hurt in 2024 and will it put our development backwards continuing not be as competitive as we could be.

If Clarko thinks he doesn’t fit our playing style then this looks like a very shrewd move.
 
northbergs said:
Things are eerily silent in here at the moment. Any whispers to break the silence?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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ferris-bueller-ferris-buellers-day-off.gif
 
northbergs said:
Things are eerily silent in here at the moment. Any whispers to break the silence?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
I did hear something through the grapevine the other day....I'll whisper it to ya....

sorry....I forgot
 
Dan said:
I did hear something through the grapevine the other day....I'll whisper it to ya....

sorry....I forgot
Click to expand...
i cant believe i clicked the whole thing
 
Courtesy of GR



NEW FAVOURITE FOR MCKAY?

Sydney might be the strong favourites to secure Brodie Grundy but Essendon has emerged as a leading contender for Dons free agent Ben McKay.

Sydney had pushed strongly and lodged a compelling financial offer but Essendon has now made clear its interest and according to industry sources is the favourite for his services.

Hawthorn is the third option, with McKay now having three strong deals that would all trigger first-round compensation for North Melbourne, which would secure them pick three in the draft.

What is not known is whether they are three or five-year deals.

A three-year deal worth over $750,000 would likely be enough for first-round compensation.

But given the competition the clubs might have to offer longer than three seasons.

It is a remarkable statement about the power of free agents and key defenders given McKay was in extremely modest form early in the year coming off a bone stress fracture.

Now he has his pick of three clubs and could yet secure a long-term deal worth up to $4 million.
 

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Past #23: Ben McKay - gone to * as RFA - NMFC awarded Band 1 pick #3 compo

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