Sydney warned the Giants before placing their shock bid on Academy prospect Harry Rowston on Monday night, hoping to convince them to give up valuable draft collateral.
The bid was the talk of the first night of the draft, but there was more to the story that unfolded between the cross-town rivals. The Age can reveal the Swans’ behind-the-scenes AFL draft play to effectively hold Greater Western Sydney to ransom, with Giants recruiting manager Adrian Caruso standing firm.
The idea was for GWS to give up extra picks to Sydney for the right to climb to what had become pick 16 and get ahead of any Rowston bid.
Giants list boss Jason McCartney and his team had a busy start to the AFL draft.Credit:Getty Images
The Swans moved on to Hawthorn – who made it well known pre-draft they wanted to secure a second top-20 pick – after GWS rejected their proposal.
They followed through on bidding on prolific midfielder Rowston – stunning most of the industry – before also placing a bid on Adelaide’s father-son defender Max Michalanney, which was predicted.
Sydney have made the equal-second-most bids (six), with Adelaide, Western Bulldogs and North Melbourne, since the AFL introduced the system in 2015. Richmond leads the way with eight.
The Hawks subsequently shipped pick 27 and future second and third-round selections to the Swans to secure what was then pick 18 and use it on Oakleigh Chargers defender Josh Weddle.
Harry Rowston handballs during a NAB League match between Eastern Ranges and Calder Cannons. Credit:Kelly Defina, AFL Photos
Sydney’s series of moves mirrored what Carlton did in 2019.
The Blues placed consecutive top-10 bids on Academy players Liam Henry (Fremantle) and Tom Green (Giants) that year before striking a deal with Gold Coast that saw them move down the order but acquire a stronger draft hand.
Meanwhile, the Giants had to use their pick after the Swans’ to absorb the Rowston bid. There was never any hesitation about doing so, even with the bid coming earlier than expected.
After Collingwood grabbed Western Australian slider Ed Allan, who was tipped to be the draft’s biggest bolter, Sydney drafted Gippsland Power small forward Jacob Konstanty with their other first-round selection.
GWS were interested in Konstanty, so draft commentators felt the Swans bested their NSW rivals again, but Caruso said after the first round that Darcy Jones, who they selected next, was actually higher on their board.
No.1 pick Aaron Cadman joined Harry Rowston at the Giants.Credit:Justin McManus
“We’d always come into the night knowing that we wanted to bring in Harry Rowston,” Caruso said. “We looked at our draft hand of five players who we wanted to acquire in the national draft, and it was [No.1 pick Aaron] Cadman, Harry Rowston and three other players.
“Ultimately, where the bid came hasn’t really affected the other players that we’re going to bring in.
“We were rapt to bring Darcy Jones in with the last pick tonight, and he was a player we identified as the prime target with our first pick, anyway, and now we sit here with a super hand heading into [Tuesday] with the first pick in round two, then pick 34, which I feel like we actually could get someone slide through.”
Jones projects as a high half-forward for Adam Kingsley’s Giants, with the 175-centimetre teenager’s breakneck speed and agility set to be a perfect fit in the ex-Richmond assistant’s planned chaotic game style.
A number of clubs, including Melbourne and Essendon – who hope to pick before father-son prospect Alwyn Davey jnr attracts a bid – are set to make a play for the GWS selection at the start of round two.
Caruso foreshadowed either keeping the selection or trading back only a few spots, with the price to convince the Giants to do so set to be a future second-round pick.
Three players expected to be in Caruso’s sights are Murray Bushrangers forward Brayden George – who suffered an ACL rupture in August – Oakleigh Chargers swingman Max Gruzewski and Sandringham Dragons forward Charlie Clarke.
