Brisbane enters the fray for BallMELBOURNE may hold the cards to the future of disgruntled St Kilda midfielder Luke Ball if he decides to nominate for the national or pre-season drafts, but it is understood the Brisbane Lions have entered the race and St Kilda officials have pursued him to New York.
The Saints haven't given up hope of retaining Ball, who fell out of favour last season after twice being dropped to VFL affiliate Sandringham, with two club officials reportedly flying to New York to speak to Ball, who is holidaying there.
A source at the Lions yesterday told The Sunday Age that they would be prepared to sacrifice their first pick in the AFL draft (No. 27 overall), which is three selections ahead of Collingwood (pick 30), which is also still interested in Ball after a trade-week deal failed.
The Lions have already netted two midfielders in the trade period - former Saint Xavier Clarke and former Tiger Andrew Raines - along with former Swan utility Amon Buchanan.
But the Demons haven't ruled out plucking Ball with their fourth pick overall (pick 18) in the draft and are also negotiating with Ball's management to potentially take him in the pre-season draft.
Richmond has also said it would gamble its second selection in the pre-season draft for Ball if he was still available, but ruled out using an early pick in the national draft.
Ball's manager Paul Connors told The Sunday Age yesterday that a decision on Ball's preferred destination was still at least two weeks away: ''He's away, I'm away, we'll chat when we're all back.''
http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/rfnews/brisbane-enters-the-fray-for-ball/2009/10/17/1255624774815.htmlVoss must of been a big fan of trading footy cards when he was a kid.