Keeping up appearances
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Dealing for Ottens drags on
5:59:31 PM Thu 7 October, 2004
Paul Gough
Sportal
Richmond football director Greg Miller remains confident the Tigers can secure two first round picks - including one in the first ten - for Brad Ottens even though the disgruntled ruckman's immediate future remained unclear on Thursday night with just one day of AFL trade week remaining.
With the deadline for all trades being 2pm Friday, Geelong - the club Ottens has publicly declared he wants to play for - remain the clear favourites to land the best player available in this year's trade period.
However after four days of negotiations the Cats and Tigers have still yet to reach an agreement meaning there is still a chance Ottens could fail to reach his preferred club and be forced into the pre-season draft - as was the case with Jade Rawlings and Nick Stevens last year.
The Cats are still working to get another first round pick, besides their own pick at number 16, in order to secure the deal with Richmond but are reluctant to give up any of their young stars to do it.
After rejecting the option of giving Collingwood talented forward Steve Johnson in exchange for its number seven pick, the Cats are now unlikely to secure a top ten pick.
Their best options now appear to be either to get pick 11 - which Fremantle has exchanged to Port Adelaide as part of the Josh Carr deal - or pick 12, which now belongs with Melbourne after Adelaide traded it for the Demons for Scott Thompson.
It is believed Port wants Corey Enright in exchange for pick 11 while Melbourne wants Brent Moloney in exchange for pick 12.
Should the Cats agree to either deal they would then be able to offer the Tigers two first round draft picks for Ottens, although neither pick would be in the top ten.
Miller maintained on Thursday that the Tigers would not water down their demands for Ottens.
"We still want a (draft) choice under ten," he said.
With Sydney now out of the chase for Ottens after instead agreeing to a deal for Melbourne ruckman Darren Jolly on Thursday, Geelong football operations manager Garry Davidson admitted his club had the frontrunning to secure the services of the big Richmond ruckman.
"You would have thought so but we have still got to do a deal with Richmond and get them to accept what we come up with," he said.
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