Geelong football boss Andrew Mackie has revealed that the club is open to the possibility of trading its open draft selection of Pick 7 in the hopes of something better in return.
While Geelong fell short of returning to the finals after becoming premiers last season, all eyes will be on what they can achieve this off-season to boost them back into premiership contention in 2024.
Mackie spoke withย AFL.com.au's Gettable podcastย stating that their first-round pick in the upcoming draft will be up for grabs depending on the assets that may be included in a trade proposal, but also states that the club is very much okay with retaining the pick as well.
"Yeah Definitely, as I said before we are open to that. To be clear, it's got to appease a lot of what we need to be doing and as I said there are parts on the ground that I think we need to attend to over the next little bit, but we are open to it, but we aren't open to everything," he said.
"We've had options in the last little bit and we are sorta holding tight with what that looks like, at the same time we're always open to other options. There's been clubs ringing about trading for the pick without players, just for the pick.
"There's all sorts of things and discussions that happen through this period and we are no different to a lot of teams. We're open to a lot of things but I must say it's landed in a really good spot for us that pick, so whichever way we decide to go I think we will get a really good outcome."
The trade request of Esava Ratugolea may also play a role in Geelong's draft plans, whether the Cats attempt to take some draft capital from Port Adelaide in return or whether they scout other clubs in the hopes of finding a replacement player of a similar calibre with selections they currently have at their disposal.
The Cats also had the seventh pick last year thanks to the Gold Coast's Suns salary dump, where the Kardinia Park club acquired the top 10 pick along with Jack Bowes.
The trade period begins on Monday the 9th of October at 9am AEST.
