Andrew Welsh, Adam McPhee may roll dice in draft
Mark Stevens From: Herald Sun Tue Oct 27
ESSENDON is yet to re-sign experienced leaders Andrew Welsh and Adam McPhee a month after losing skipper Matthew Lloyd to retirement.
Both Welsh and McPhee are known to be disappointed at the length of the contracts put to them by the club.
Essendon has offered two-year deals, but Welsh and McPhee view the negotiations as the most important of their careers and have been pushing for three years.
The Bombers were prepared to offer a three-year contract to Mark Williams to lure him from Hawthorn during the trade period.
Collingwood has shown interest in Welsh, who like McPhee has the option of nominating for the national or pre-season drafts if a deal can not be struck.
Welsh, 26, will return from Bali later this week for discussions with his management as a deadline on a decision approaches.
Collingwood remains keen on adding Luke Ball to its list despite missing out on him on the final day of trade week.
But if Ball decides to remain at St Kilda, or agrees to cross to Melbourne as pick No. 1 in the pre-season draft, Welsh is believed to be appealing to the Magpies as a potential Plan B.
Collingwood has had preliminary talks with Welsh's management. His manager Dan Richardson, of Elite Sports Properties, remained tight-lipped yesterday.
"All I can say is he is yet to re-sign," Richardson said.
Welsh and McPhee are members of Essendon's leadership group.
The Bombers can ill-afford to lose players of their experience so soon after farewelling Lloyd and another popular veteran, Scott Lucas.
McPhee's manager Paul Connors has been away on holidays and talks are expected to resume soon.
At 27, McPhee is looking to shore up his future. This will be his last opportunity for a long-term contract.
It is understood there were some raised eyebrows at Windy Hill when the Bombers decided to reward Williams with a three-year deal given that at 26 he is in the same age bracket as Welsh and McPhee.
While other names such as Daniel Bradshaw and Luke Ball have dominated talk as the pool of experienced players up for grabs grows before the national and pre-season drafts, Welsh's name has slipped through the cracks.
If they decide to move, Welsh and McPhee have until November 10 to nominate for the national draft or December 1 to put their name into the pre-season draft pool.
McPhee was an All-Australian and best-and-fairest winner in 2004 and recaptured some of that form this year, finishing ninth in the club champion award.
He has played 167 games for the Bombers and Fremantle.
Welsh bravely returned from a broken leg suffered in a pre-season practice game this season and managed 11 games.
He has played 145 games with the club since he was drafted in 2001 and in 2008 emerged as one of the best run-with players in the competition.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/andrew-welsh-adam-mcphee-may-roll-dice-in-draft/story-e6frf9jf-1225791493766