Premiership Demon Luke Jackson will request a trade home to Western Australia during his exit meeting with Melbourne on Tuesday, reports The Age.
And while Fremantle has been seen as the clear No. 1 suitor, cross-town rivals West Coast “remain firmly in the frame” for Jackson, according to the report.
Jackson, who was drafted out of WA by Melbourne with Pick 3 in the 2019 draft, is soon expected to confirm one of the AFL’s biggest open secrets of the season and ask the Dees for a trade.
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The off-contract ruck-forward has had an offer from Melbourne on the table for months, but told the club he wanted to put off contract talks until the end of the season.
Now, with the Demons’ 2022 campaign ending on Friday night thanks to a 13-point semi-final loss to Brisbane, the 20-year-old is set to inform the Demons on his trade intentions on Tuesday.
Melbourne skipper Max Gawn said he “wouldn’t hold any grudges” if Jackson departed.
“I’m looking forward to him telling me. he hasn’t told me yet,” Gawn told TV reporters on Monday. “Right now he’s a Melbourne player and I presume he’s here.
“The club is still hopeful and there’s still a chance we can be a ruck combo for the next few years. But that’s the way footy is at the moment with the world we live in and free agency.”
Despite warnings around the “big gamble” of trading in Jackson, the Dockers have reportedly offered the ruck-forward a long-term deal that could fetch up to $900,000 per season.
But The Age reported Jackson was fielding offers from both Fremantle and West Coast — and the Eagles are just as well placed in the race, both contractually and from a trade machinations perspective.
While Fremantle’s first selection this year is Pick 13, West Coast is scheduled to enter the draft at Pick 2 — the club’s first top-10 selection since 2010 when it took Andrew Gaff with Pick 4 — after finishing 17th on the AFL ladder. It also has its natural second-round selection, which sits at Pick 20.
It remains uncertain whether West Coast would want to part with its first pick. Rival recruiters spoken to by foxfooty.com.au suggested the Eagles, who have begun their rebuild and need to draft lots of young talent over the next few years, would be wise to listen to offers from rival clubs that want to move up the draft order and were prepared to offer the Eagles multiple early picks in return.
If the Eagles, though, wanted Jackson and were happy to trade Pick 2 for him, they’d need permission from the AFL to part with the selection after trading away several first-round picks in past years due to the Tim Kelly trade. The Age reported the AFL would allow the Eagles to do so.
But it’s highly likely the Demons will ask Jackson’s preferred club for multiple first-round picks — considering Jackson’s initial draft position (Pick 3 in 2019), AFL feats (2021 Rising Star winner and premiership player), athleticism, age (nearly 21), talent and versatility, it’s a fair starting point for trade negotiations.
Port Adelaide premiership midfielder Kane Cornes believes the Demons can afford to lose Jackson, who was “poor” in Melbourne’s two recent finals losses to Sydney and Brisbane and would’ve been “embarrassed by some of his physical efforts”.
“For a player that hasn’t done a whole lot, we speak about him a whole lot,” Cornes told Channel 9’s Footy Classified. “He plays one good game every 12, I reckon.
“If he goes, I actually don’t think it’s the worst thing for Melbourne because what you’re going to get back is two first-round draft picks for him. So you sure up your future and you get Brodie Grundy in with Collingwood paying a large chunk of his wage — and he’s a much better player than Luke Jackson is.
“Certainly in the short-term — and if they get their drafting right with the picks they get for Jackson — this isn’t a disaster at all, Luke Jackson leaving. I’m still not sure and not convinced he’s a 250-game AFL player.”
MORE TO COME
