A hefty price: Why the Pies’ pursuit of Houston is risky business

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Collingwood are ahead of Carlton in the tender for the services of Dan Houston, but to be “in the box seat” for Houston also means boxing yourself in to a deal that carries significant risks for the Magpies.

Collingwood are ahead of Carlton in the tender for the services of Dan Houston, in large part because the Magpies are willing to pay a heftier price for the All-Australian defender.

That said, if you’ve listened to Collingwood this year, it has been plain that there is a prevailing view that the draft’s gravitational pull can be circumvented, like a tree in the fairway, and they can remain in premiership contention by a mix of trading, free agency and with less reliance on the draft. The impression given is that the draft will not be their one wood.

Houston had expressed a preference for Carlton but the Blues, unlike the Pies, have baulked at the draft cost – they don’t wish to forfeit their 2024 first pick.In some quarters, Carlton’s caution has prompted criticism. It is noteworthy, though, that Carlton – a mature team, but with a younger core than Collingwood – have imposed more restraint on how much access to quality youth they will sacrifice for even an All-Australian half-back.

Further, it’s questionable that Houston, 27, fits Collingwood’s most urgent immediate and long-term needs, which are for key position players at each end and prime midfielders to support Nick Daicos. The decision to pay the Perryman six years on more than $850,000 was partly to redress the midfield, but also for Perryman’s flexibility, which is prized in new list manager Justin Leppitsch’s ratings system.

But father-sons or not, the majority of the top dozen players in their 2023 flag were still drafted – the Daicos brothers, De Goey, Moore, Maynard, Pendlebury and Sidebottom.

 

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