Roos and Swans in Blakey standoff as Dons explore moves for veteran duo

I think that’s where I’m going to leave things for this evening, not a whole lot happening out there.

It’s been a pretty drab day to be completely honest outside of the early Hawthorn-Gold Coast deal.

Let’s hope we have some more movement or news developments tomorrow hey?

Just two more days to go.

Thank you all once again for your suggestions, questions and fake trades!

It’s a good question, Nardo.

I’d certainly be asking the question of Geelong if I’m Essendon.

De Koning will help stabilise a backline that has a hole in it with Jordan Ridley gone.

The Bombers will be hoping Ben McKay has some kind of revival under Mark McVeigh, but would I be betting on that? Absolutely not.

De Koning, still just 25, would be an excellent foil alongside Zach Reid.

Essendon’s new defensive coach Daniel Pratt might also like a shiny new toy in De Koning.

One of Pratt’s biggest jobs will be trying to figure out how to get the best out of McKay.

I highly doubt Melbourne is going to give up pick 14, which they received in the mega trade, for Zane Duursma.

The idea is right though. I think the Kangaroos are going to have to get another first-rounder in this year’s draft in order to appease Sydney.

That’s where the idea behind splitting its pick 6 comes from.

The short answer to this is yes.

There is no telling what the outcome of the police investigation is and there is no doubt North would be doing as much due diligence as is humanly possible.

The flip side of it is that you’re probably not able to get a player of the calibre of Nick Blakey at this price if not for the investigation hanging over his head.

It is the definition of a high risk/high reward move if you’re North.

I’d say given De Koning has one year left on his deal and his form has plateaued a bit over the last few seasons, a late first-rounder is probably about right.

It probably doesn’t help Geelong that the rest of the league seems to know that the Cats don’t mind letting him walk.

Honestly, Matt, it wouldn’t surprise me at this point, given the difference in what North and Sydney’s views are.

This proposal actually seems quite fair. I do wonder whether St Kilda is keen on moving up that much to give up two first-rounders though.

It would be a huge win for North to grab Blakey for essentially two firsts, and De Koning would be an interesting addition for the Swans.

Don’t mind it at all!

It’s a very good point you make, John, about Zorko and Lester getting up there in age.

I think the problem for Coleman (aside from his injury issues) has been guys like Ty Gallop, Jaspa Fletcher and Darcy Wilmot going from strength to strength.

Therefore Coleman’s work off halfback seems like less of a necessity than it did a couple of years ago.

In saying that, I think if he’s healthy, he just about walks into every single line-up around the competition, I think he’s that good.

Fear not, Ames.

I’ll be at Docklands on Wednesday to witness it all in person on deadline day and I’ll be bringing you everything quirky I see behind the scenes.

You’re right, Marlene, Blakey has five more years left to run on his current deal with Sydney.

There have been reports of a relationship breakdown between he and the club, and I’d say their openness to dealing him suggests that the breakdown is pretty serious.

It looks like a few people have been putting in the work on the trade machine!

I think what’s complicated things for North Melbourne is St Kilda indicating that it would be willing to give Sydney three firsts for Nick Blakey, that’s set the market price.

So far North seems like it isn’t really willing to meet that price, but we’ll see how strong the resolve is as the deadline nears.

Sydney will know that North as a club has been starved of adding a proper A-grader, and Nick Blakey is absolutely an A-grader.

The Kangaroos sacked Alastair Clarkson for seemingly not making enough progress, so you’d think adding a guy like Blakey is perfect for a side that is looking to get somewhere near the finals next season.

My opinion is that North is going to have to offer up at least two firsts. They might be able to wriggle their way out of the third, but two will be the baseline ask from the Swans.

A few clubs are looking significantly stronger right now than they were a week ago.

Hawthorn is high on that list with Ben King and Zach Merrett through the door. The Western Bulldogs have landed both Jordon Butts and Zak Butters, and Port Adelaide did a good job of maximising the return for the latter.

Geelong landed Toby Greene, Rowan Marshall and Jordan Ridley. Collingwood now have Lachie Neale and Jesse Hogan on the list.

Those are the five I would have at the top. Who’s at the bottom then? Maybe that’s a discussion for another day.

They’ll get at least one of them. I think they’ll get Blakey, and I think losing Duursma and Goater will, one way or another, make that happen.

I still struggle to see both Murray and Blakey coming in, but there’s still time for them to work some magic. There are also some really promising key defenders in this year’s draft, so if they are able to hold a pick somewhere in the top couple of rounds the Roos could find a solution to that problem there.

Here’s my reading of the Gryan Miers situation with respect to West Coast.

The Eagles showed interest in Miers earlier in the year while he was in the VFL. Geelong got to trade period and realised it needed to find some picks from somewhere to go after its many targets, and suggested to West Coast that Miers might be available, eyeing off pick 21. Miers was never really particularly interested in going to West Coast, but did a medical with the club before going on holiday just in case the Eagles came up with an insane, unignorable offer.

The Eagles like Miers but did not want to pay that much to him, and probably were reluctant to offer up pick 21. And that was the end of that.

Now we get to Essendon, who are now aware that Gryan Miers is available in Geelong’s eyes and who have plenty of picks to potentially get a deal done. Would Miers be interested? He’s probably more tempted to stay in Victoria than head west, though the size of any potential Essendon contract would be key.

Sounds like there’s still much to work through. He’d be a good addition for Essendon, but at what cost?

I don’t mind this idea at all!

I think it comes back to the AFL industry maturing when it comes to player movement at the end of the day.

Another little nugget of news, this time from Sam Edmund of SEN. He says the Crows remain steadfast in their valuation of Murray amid North Melbourne interest and are looking for “something pointy” in this year’s draft.

Edmund also says North Melbourne is yet to make another offer for Nick Blakey. The waiting game continues.

A little tidbit of news from AFL.com.au’s Riley Beveridge, who reports that the Western Bulldogs have made a late play for Kiddy Coleman but aren’t likely to be able to secure a deal.

Beveridge says the Lions are asking for a top-20 pick this year for Coleman. The Dogs have floated future picks, but it’s not got them anywhere.

I was very surprised to hear Essendon had met with Jake Stringer this weekend.

It was less surprising when I learnt that Stringer has a family connection to Mark McVeigh, which led me to believe it was more of an informal catch-up rather than anything else.

Stringer’s not considered to be a model professional veteran, so it seems like an awkward fit with Essendon’s young team to say the least.

He’s much better suited for a veteran team who is looking for a gun for hire to try and win a final or a premiership.

Essendon was linked with a move for Geelong forward Gryan Miers, who has two years left to run on his deal.

Miers’s manager Liam Pickering says he was contacted by Essendon list boss Matt Rosa on Friday afternoon enquiring about the player, but says there has been no dialogue since.

Pickering says at this stage it remains “unlikely” that Miers would join Essendon, but refuses to fully shut the door on a move, saying the ball is in Essendon’s court.

Miers is currently overseas, and Pickering isn’t sure whether Essendon has had direct contact with the 27-year-old.

The big question surrounding Miers is the condition of his knee, and Pickering says Essendon will be easily able to access his medicals if they want to proceed with a deal.

Hawthorn star Will Day is a restricted free agent next summer, but doesn’t look like he’s going anywhere.

There is no doubt that the two South Australian teams would be sniffing around the prospect of bringing him back home, but Hawks list boss Mark McKenzie suggests conversations are ongoing over a new deal.

“He’s a player that is really important to the now and the future of this football club,” McKenzie said of Day on Trade Radio.

Presuming that second rounder is the pick coming from Melbourne for Zane Duursma, that is effectively the offer they’ve already made.

In terms of adding a player to the mix, it would be pretty difficult to get a player to agree to leave the city and head to Sydney at the last minute, particularly if it’s a decent player as the Swans would no doubt demand.

Not impossible though. We saw Ollie Florent and Will Hayward open up the Curnow deal last year late. It might have to be something North explores.