North Melbourne have made an aggressive play for Sydney star Nick Blakey, offering an eight-year deal worth $12 million.
Blakey met with North as well as Gold Coast and Geelong on Thursday, as he continues to decide on his preferred destination.
The All-Australian half-back flanker has five years left on his Sydney contract, worth more than $1 million per season.
North, where Nick’s father John won two premierships back in the 1990s, are better positioned than the Suns both in draft capital and salary cap space, but the Suns, should they continue their pursuit, will likely have pick seven from the compensation of losing star forward Ben King to Hawthorn, plus the money saved from King’s exit.
Gold Coast were prepared to take on Blakey’s deal from the Swans, which lasts until 2031, but are not prepared to make that sort of offer to the speedster, while the Cats effectively ruled themselves out of the race when they used their first pick to land the Saints’ Rowan Marshall.
The eight-year, $12 million deal offered to Blakey represents smart business from North, given that Blakey and Sydney were working on a contract extension just weeks before the Pullman Hotel scandal.
Essendon remain a chance to make a pitch given their personal connections with Blakey while the Saints are considered long shots despite their keenness for a running defender.
All clubs considering Blakey can be expected to seek board approval for the gun defender because of the well-documented fallout from the Pullman, when Blakey was among five players suspended by Sydney for breaching the club’s behavioural standards.
A separate Victoria Police investigation into the incident remains ongoing. No charges have been laid. All five players involved in the incident deny criminal wrongdoing.
Elsewhere, the Western Bulldogs are yet to officially lodge their massive nine-year free agent offer for Port Adelaide superstar Zak Butters to the AFL, which is due by 5pm on Friday.
A five-way mega deal has been forwarded to the AFL for approval in principle. The deal involves the Bulldogs, Port Adelaide and Melbourne, and to a lesser extent Hawthorn and Carlton through the requested movement of Finn Maginness and Hudson O’Keeffe to the Bulldogs.
Port Adelaide have 72 hours to match the contract offer for Butters, if they wish, from the time of lodgement.
The industry view is that they will accept compensation (pick five).
It comes on a day when Geelong renewed their premiership credentials by finally adding established ruckman Marshall to their list.
Marshall farewelled St Kilda as he finally got his move to Geelong, 12 months after his first failed attempt.
The Cats parted ways with pick 14 in exchange for Marshall and a future third-round pick from the Saints.
In a statement released by the Saints on Thursday, the 30-year-old, who was drafted as a mature-age pick in the 2016 rookie draft and played 177 games for the club, said he left with great memories.
“I have loved my time at the Saints and always wanted to leave the club in a better place through my contributions on the field,” he said.
“The club’s passionate supporters have shown me so much love and support over the past decade, which always made me determined to make them proud.”
Marshall had declined to attend the Saints’ best and fairest on Monday night as he sought an exit.
Lenny Hayes, St Kilda’s general manager of football, acknowledged they “would have liked for Rowan to see out his career at the Saints” and were intent on getting fair compensation.
“While we respected Rowan’s desire for a fresh environment, it was important the club received adequate compensation for someone who’s played at a consistently high level over the course of the past decade,” Hayes said.
“We are pleased to have achieved this by bringing in another first-round selection, alongside our existing pick eight.
“Rowan has provided terrific service and been an admired figure within the St Kilda Football Club over the past decade.
“While we would have liked for Rowan to see out his career at the Saints, we wish him the best for this next chapter and thank him for the role he’s played within our club – both on and off the field.”
Andrew Mackie, Geelong’s executive general manager of football, was thrilled with Marshall’s addition having already secured Jordan Ridley from Essendon, and GWS captain Toby Greene in the post-season. “We are delighted to bring in someone of Rowan’s calibre, he is a talented player who brings a wealth of experience to our ruck and key position stocks,” Mackie said.
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Jake Niall is a Walkley award-winning sports journalist and chief AFL writer for The Age.Connect via X or email.
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