North Melbourne’s acquisition of a priority pick is far from a foregone conclusion, according to veteran footy journalist Caroline Wilson.
AFL Media reported earlier in the week that the Kangaroos had asked the league for a priority pick, as well as additional rookie spots on their list.
And while the second part of the request looks like it will get the green light, the priority pick part of the bid isn’t as certain.
Watch every match prior to the AFL grand final Live & Ad-Break Free In-Play on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
North have gone cap in hand to the AFL, having won just nine games in the last three seasons as well as back-to-back wooden spoons for the first time in 87 years.
“My understanding is this is still very much at loggerheads about what North is going to get,” Wilson told Channel Nine.
“I think they’re happy, the AFL, to grant them the rookie list spots because they need to sign a couple of their young kids and bring in some older players.
“(St Kilda’s) Ben Long, I think (St Kilda’s) Brad Hill, are two that they are looking at and (Junior) Rioli from West Coast is another one, surprisingly, but they’re three on (new coach) Alastair Clarkson’s list.”
READ MORE
Old vision of Dustin Martin groping topless woman leaked on eve of Tigers final
‘Generous but a bit confusing’: Lyon responds amid fresh claim in Bombers’ coaching search
‘Gettable’ Dusty the ‘linchpin’ of trade period; Clarko sounds out two more stars: Whispers
But Essendon legend Matthew Lloyd wasn’t enamoured with the type of players Clarkson was chasing.
“All of those players are vulnerable at their own clubs – Ben Long, Junior Rioli, Brad Hill, potentially Liam Shiels,” Lloyd said.
“So I don’t think it gets them too far. The day they can land a (Tim) Taranto, a (Jacob) Hopper, a 24-25-year-old who can take them places, then they’re on the right track.”
As for North’s bid for a priority pick, it has exposed a potential rift in their hierarchy which Wilson believes leaves CEO Ben Amarfio vulnerable.
“Ben Amarfio has been fronting that presentation up until last week when Alastair Clarkson and (new football boss) Todd Viney went into AFL headquarters and had a lengthy meeting with the football bosses at the AFL,” Wilson said.
“But the priority picks have to go to the executive and then the commission. Now, ‘Clarko’ wants an answer now and he’s not going to get it, and I’m just fascinated – Ben Amarfio has disappeared from this negotiation.
“Clearly the fact that (former Essendon and Melbourne CEO) Peter Jackson’s coming in and helping (president) Sonja Hood, helping Alastair Clarkson and my understanding is I think Alastair Clarkson wanted a new broom swept through that football club so watch this space, for mine.
“How much power is Alastair going to be given? Because what I think they need is a really strong CEO which is what he strived best under at Hawthorn.
“There’s a lot of dismissals going on and North are probably lucky some of them haven’t become unfair dismissals, positions made redundant, et cetera.
“Obviously, we know (general manager of football performance) Daniel McPherson, who was highly rated but maybe over promoted, is gone, he’ll get a job elsewhere. But it’s been tough and Alastair has really come in with some pretty strong opinions and I don’t see how it can work with him and Ben Amarfio if they’re not working together from the beginning.”
Former Fremantle and St Kilda coach Ross Lyon added: “Sometimes you’ve just got to sharpen the saw and make the cuts you need to make and move on.”
But the four-time grand final coach also contended that Clarkson taking over the priority pick negotiation might not necessarily be a bad sign for Amarfio.
“The lens that I would apply, though, (is) Amarfio was doing it, but he’s CEO – it’s a football function, so you’re backing in your head of football and your senior coach to present on a football issue,” Lyon said.
“As long as in the background it’s been signed off and everyone knows what they’re presenting.”
Lloyd suggested that McPherson wouldn’t be the last casualty in North’s football department.
“(AFL legend) Leigh Matthews touched on it during the week with what the price tag Alastair comes with,” Lloyd said.
“When you’ve had David Noble who would be on the lower end, you’d think, as a paid coach, come Alastair Clarkson there are going to be some people you’d think that lose their positions based on what Todd Viney and also Alastair come with.”
