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.