HAWK TALK

Today when I read Melissa Ryan's dramarticle on Trent Croad's return to Hawthorn....

When Trent Croad walked back into Hawthorn yesterday after two tumultuous years at Fremantle, there were more than a few nerves fluttering inside the young man who had been forced out of the club in perhaps the most noisily protested trade ever conducted.

....it suddenly occurred to me I'd forgotten to trumpet the AGB's diligent ~~rumour mongering~~ news gathering abilities.

Eager young Western Australian news hounds should always remember there's a chunky source of cheap footy copy here at the AGB. Vis a vis....

It will come as no surprise to anyone if Trent Croad leaves Freo and is traded back to a Victorian club. He was offered to Geelong during the last draft period but no suitable trade could be arranged. And he'll certainly be offered around this year with Freo likely to put less of a price on his head than last year.

In pure footballing terms I don't consider him the most talented player who's ever gone around, but as an athletic big man there are plenty of clubs that would have him if the price was right. I'd have him at Melbourne.

So, given the right circs there's a chance he could end up at one of many Victorian clubs. Never the less, you'd think the one club that would rule him out would be Hawthorn. You'd think. But there's a whisper out there that the Hawks are more than interested in enticing him back to Glenferrie.

Just remember: You heard it hear first!

With that in mind....you heard this here first....

Via the same source I hear that because of the deal done to force Jade Rawlings into the draft, Rawlings has the hump with both Hawthorn and the Western Bulldogs.

That ties in nicely with Peter Ker's article, also in today's Age, which suggests the Dawgs haven't been able to schedule a "sit down" with Rawlings.

Doing the myths I put one and one together and came up with a John West Tuna Tempter.

Firstly, my source tells me Rawlings definitely doesn't want to go to the Bulldogs. Secondly, bearing in mind the firstly, I can accurately - to within a quorth of a millimoter - read between the lines and discern he's obviously being evasive. He's also informally tendered a price considered extravagant in footy circles, some say $550K per year over three, but done so predominantly as a deterrent.

So how does this affect the upcoming Pre-season Draft?

At present it's assumed Rawlings will go to the Dawgs with pick one, Nick Stevens to Carlton with pick two and the third pick to Melbourne.

This could change.

The Bulldogs are weighing up their options. They don't want to pay over the odds for Rawlings, especially if he doesn't want to play there, so they they could go for Nick Stevens. Unfortunately he's also indicated he doesn't want to go to the Bullies and he's also put a high price on his head. It may end up they opt for the next big man. Possibly Ray Hall.

This in turn has unsettled Carlton. They've put plenty of work into the former Port onballer, and it's generally assumed they'll take Stevens with their second pick but they haven't been able to commit to him because the Bullies might yet take him with pick one.

So, instead of a draft that reads Rawlings (1), Stevens (2), Whoever (3), it may read Stevens (1), Rawlings (2), Whoever (3).

We all live in hope though. My source also told me Rawlings wants to play at Melbourne. Therefore, as a Demons supporter I hope it reads Whoever (1), Stevens (2), Rawlings (3).

The opening gambits of the Pre-seaon Draft now rest on whether the Bullies are prepared to risk big money on either one of two reluctant players.

I'm sure they will go for one of the two. They'd be lynched by angry fans if they didn't after giving up pick six for a nobody in trade week. It may just be that it's not in the expected order.

All in all, the present situation is a good reason the AFL may seek to restrict grossly eneven trades in future seasons. And it would be a good laugh if Rawlings stood on his digs and pulled out of footy for a year.