Relax boys and girls
By Sebastian Hassett and Tim Clarke
MELBOURNE, Oct 2 AAP - West Coast today poured cold water on speculation it would pursue an AFL trade for Collingwood forward Chris Tarrant.
The end of the season means behind-the-scenes negotiations between clubs will now intensify ahead of trade week, which starts next Monday.
While the Magpies say Tarrant is a required player next season, there has been talk that the Eagles are interested in trading for the gifted but controversial goalkicker.
Talk of a possible trade has persisted since he was involved in an early-morning brawl this year outside a Port Melbourne nightspot, with the club fining Tarrant and team-mate Ben Johnson for the incident.
But Eagles chief executive Trevor Nisbett said today Tarrant did not fit into their trading strategy.
"I don't know if there is any chance of getting a player of that quality, because when you have a quality player up you have got to give a quality player back," Nisbett said.
"That makes it extremely difficult when you are dealing at the top end of the spectrum.
"Obviously our policy has always been to draft underneath.
"We have been specific in getting Tyson (Stenglein) and Daniel (Chick) to the club, when we have traded for them, but we would have to go through the process first ... whether we could fit Chris in.
"Certainly from our point of view our policy remains intact. We will more than likely draft underneath."
While Tarrant at this stage seems likely to stay at Collingwood three other high-profile players definitely on the move are Michael Gardiner, Peter Everitt and Jason Akermanis.
Nisbett said he was yet to hear from other clubs about Gardiner, whose drunken car crash in July ended his time with the Eagles.
The Eagles hope to trade him, but a club could pick up the ruckman in the pre-season draft.
Sydney coach Paul Roos today said the player leadership group - rather than the coaching staff - would have the final say on whether Everitt would join the Swans.
"We've spoken about (Everitt) this morning, we'll speak to the leadership group tomorrow about him and we'll probably proceed on whether the leadership group says yes or no," Roos said.
"He certainly expressed a desire to come to Sydney last year and we'll need to identify with his management whether or not we're a club he's interested in talking too.
"But it's no good pursuing Peter if the leadership group say, for whatever reason, `we're not interested in going after him'."
Meanwhile, the Western Bulldogs are still keenly interested in Akermanis, but have also made it clear he needs to curb his tongue.
Akermanis angered the Bulldogs, his preferred destination, with comments last Thursday night on The Footy Show.
The Brownlow Medallist again made several comments about his old club Brisbane, with which he split acrimoniously this year.
He remains the No.1 trade priority for the `Dogs, but they have made it clear he needs to abide by team rules.
By Sebastian Hassett and Tim Clarke
MELBOURNE, Oct 2 AAP - West Coast today poured cold water on speculation it would pursue an AFL trade for Collingwood forward Chris Tarrant.
The end of the season means behind-the-scenes negotiations between clubs will now intensify ahead of trade week, which starts next Monday.
While the Magpies say Tarrant is a required player next season, there has been talk that the Eagles are interested in trading for the gifted but controversial goalkicker.
Talk of a possible trade has persisted since he was involved in an early-morning brawl this year outside a Port Melbourne nightspot, with the club fining Tarrant and team-mate Ben Johnson for the incident.
But Eagles chief executive Trevor Nisbett said today Tarrant did not fit into their trading strategy.
"I don't know if there is any chance of getting a player of that quality, because when you have a quality player up you have got to give a quality player back," Nisbett said.
"That makes it extremely difficult when you are dealing at the top end of the spectrum.
"Obviously our policy has always been to draft underneath.
"We have been specific in getting Tyson (Stenglein) and Daniel (Chick) to the club, when we have traded for them, but we would have to go through the process first ... whether we could fit Chris in.
"Certainly from our point of view our policy remains intact. We will more than likely draft underneath."
While Tarrant at this stage seems likely to stay at Collingwood three other high-profile players definitely on the move are Michael Gardiner, Peter Everitt and Jason Akermanis.
Nisbett said he was yet to hear from other clubs about Gardiner, whose drunken car crash in July ended his time with the Eagles.
The Eagles hope to trade him, but a club could pick up the ruckman in the pre-season draft.
Sydney coach Paul Roos today said the player leadership group - rather than the coaching staff - would have the final say on whether Everitt would join the Swans.
"We've spoken about (Everitt) this morning, we'll speak to the leadership group tomorrow about him and we'll probably proceed on whether the leadership group says yes or no," Roos said.
"He certainly expressed a desire to come to Sydney last year and we'll need to identify with his management whether or not we're a club he's interested in talking too.
"But it's no good pursuing Peter if the leadership group say, for whatever reason, `we're not interested in going after him'."
Meanwhile, the Western Bulldogs are still keenly interested in Akermanis, but have also made it clear he needs to curb his tongue.
Akermanis angered the Bulldogs, his preferred destination, with comments last Thursday night on The Footy Show.
The Brownlow Medallist again made several comments about his old club Brisbane, with which he split acrimoniously this year.
He remains the No.1 trade priority for the `Dogs, but they have made it clear he needs to abide by team rules.
