mojon95
7 Oct 2008, 16:41
ESSENDON is chasing youth, but that doesn't rule out Sydney Swan Ryan O'Keefe while and Andrew Lovett remains in the trade mixer.
Lovett is on the table after two club-imposed suspensions during the season, while new Swans life member O'Keefe is expected to make a decision on Monday about his immediate future.
O'Keefe will be 28 before the start of next season, but Bombers coach Matthew Knights says that doesn't rule him out of calculations.
"We'll be open-minded about it this week – we've got a philosophy to add to our young talent, whether that be through the draft or through the trade period," he said.
"That's the way we're looking at it this week, very open-minded. [It is my] second-year as head coach, last year it was all very new.
"We'll have a look at things and see how things evolve this week.
"We won't rule anything out, but we would like to think that we would be able to add a certain age demographic.
"But you just never know what can evolve this week, and we're not sure what Sydney is looking at, or whether Ryan actually is going to leave yet, until we sit down and talk to them about that."
On the other side of dealing is Lovett, who may be heading elsewhere for a fresh start.
"I think Sydney have certainly expressed interest in Andrew, but until we sit down face-to-face with Sydney today [Monday] and workout where they're at, I'm a little bit none-the-wiser with that.
"For these deals to happen, there are a lot of things that have to occur.
"We'll just see what evolves this week with Andrew – he's got a year to run on his contract, and we'll just see the degrees of interest from other clubs, and whether they're really serious or not.
"There's no minimum or maximum. I guess Essendon's had a perception that we've been hard to deal with over time, so we'll really work out whether that's the case this week, because we want a fair deal, whatever the case is, because he's a year under contract.
"So we'll be wanting a fair deal for the Andrew Lovett trade, if it is to go ahead."
Lovett is on the table after two club-imposed suspensions during the season, while new Swans life member O'Keefe is expected to make a decision on Monday about his immediate future.
O'Keefe will be 28 before the start of next season, but Bombers coach Matthew Knights says that doesn't rule him out of calculations.
"We'll be open-minded about it this week – we've got a philosophy to add to our young talent, whether that be through the draft or through the trade period," he said.
"That's the way we're looking at it this week, very open-minded. [It is my] second-year as head coach, last year it was all very new.
"We'll have a look at things and see how things evolve this week.
"We won't rule anything out, but we would like to think that we would be able to add a certain age demographic.
"But you just never know what can evolve this week, and we're not sure what Sydney is looking at, or whether Ryan actually is going to leave yet, until we sit down and talk to them about that."
On the other side of dealing is Lovett, who may be heading elsewhere for a fresh start.
"I think Sydney have certainly expressed interest in Andrew, but until we sit down face-to-face with Sydney today [Monday] and workout where they're at, I'm a little bit none-the-wiser with that.
"For these deals to happen, there are a lot of things that have to occur.
"We'll just see what evolves this week with Andrew – he's got a year to run on his contract, and we'll just see the degrees of interest from other clubs, and whether they're really serious or not.
"There's no minimum or maximum. I guess Essendon's had a perception that we've been hard to deal with over time, so we'll really work out whether that's the case this week, because we want a fair deal, whatever the case is, because he's a year under contract.
"So we'll be wanting a fair deal for the Andrew Lovett trade, if it is to go ahead."