AFL Trades: Geelong set to cut trio, Magpie Tyson Goldsack in limbo

[Hogg]

THREE Cats have been encouraged to explore their footy future options at rival clubs.

Plus a Magpie with a remarkable story could be forced out due to other defenders re-signing.

CATS TRIO TOLD TO LOOK ELSEWHERE
GEELONG has told three players, including forward Daniel Menzel, to look elsewhere, reports The Australian.

Menzel, as well as fringe players Jordan Murdoch and Jackson Thurlow have reportedly all been encouraged to explore their footy future options at rival clubs.

St Kilda appeared prime to provide Menzel, an unrestricted free agent, with a lifeline last month but then withdrew its initial two-year offer.

The Australian reports that there’s a strong possibility Menzel will be without a club in 2019, despite being 27 and kicking 104 goals from his past 52 games.

Murdoch played 16 games for the Cats this season but struggled to cement his spot in the club’s best 22 during his seven-seaosn stint.

Thurlow was a key member of the Cats’ best 22 in 2015 to play 19 games, but a knee injury sidelined him for 2016 and has only managed 17 games from the past two years.

The Cats have already delisted Aaron Black, Stewart Crameri, Ryan Gardner, Cory Gregson, Matthew Hayball and Timm House.

Midfielder George Horlin-Smith is set to join the Gold Coast Suns, while Lincoln McCarthy is likely to land at Brisbane.

Gun first-year player Tim Kelly remains strongly linked with a desire to move home and join a WA-based club.

FEEL-GOOD PIES STORY COULD BE FORCED OUT
THE likely retentions of Darcy Moore and Tom Langdon could force charismatic veteran defender Tyson Goldsack out of Collingwood, reports the Herald Sun’s Jon Ralph.

After being linked to Sydney for most of the season, Ralph told Fox Footy’s Trade Lowdown that Moore was set to sign a two-year deal, while Langdon should also soon recommit despite having ample interest from rival clubs.

But Ralph said the “collateral damage could fall at the feet” of Goldsack, who ruptured his ACL in the pre-season before remarkably returning to play in all four of the Magpies’ finals.

“Very much the cap crunch is on,” Ralph told Fox Footy.

“(Collingwood list manager) Ned Guy is trying to find out how many key-position players he can afford.

“We know Steven May is in the market and Marcus Adams is another contender. Cap space is only finite.”

Goldsack’s manager Anthony McConville told Ralph that he would meet with Collingwood on Friday but the early signs weren’t positive.

“There is nothing in concrete at this time and I am not sure where that is going to land. I don’t know where Collingwood sits there and there are a lot of moving parts,” McConville told the Herald Sun.

“I don’t know the specifics other than I don’t have anything positive from them at this point.”