GWS’ top draft pick Tom Boyd has requested a trade to the Western Bulldogs, with the Dogs confirming they have been contacted by Boyd’s management.
In a statement on the club’s website, the Bulldogs say they are willing to do a straight swap for want-away captain Ryan Griffen, who announced last Thursday that he wanted to leave the club and join the Giants.
But the Giants say that they will not trade Boyd “under any circumstances”.
CEO David Matthews said on the GWS website: “With Ryan Griffen indicating he will seek a trade to the Giants, we are in discussions with the Western Bulldogs. We have been clear with them that despite any speculation or interest, Tom Boyd will not be traded under any circumstances.
“With pick four and potentially another high first round selection we are confident we are in a strong trade position as we enter the week.”
“We will now work with the Giants to do a fair deal in the interests of all parties during the trade period,” the Bulldogs’ statement read.
RELATED: Tom Boyd feature: October 2013
Bulldogs president Peter Gordon said he wanted “unprecedented” compensation for Griffen if he is traded, saying he was the hottest property since Gary Ablett left Geelong for the Gold Coast.
“We’ll deal with it in the smartest and [most] strategic way that we can,” Gordon told radio station Triple M.
“Let’s look at Ryan Griffen, he’s just played his 200th game, captain of the club, All-Australian, one of the most credentialled guys going around.”There wouldn’t be a player, except maybe Gary Ablett, that’s changed clubs in the last couple of years that’s had the cachet and the value that Ryan Griffen has got.
“Dealing with it on a theoretical level, if we agreed to that sort of request, then the sort of quid pro quo we’d be looking at would be pretty much unprecedented in the competition.”
Gordon denied the Bulldogs, who have already lost Callan Ward and Jarrod Harbrow to the expansion clubs, were “cannon fodder”.
“We’re in this to win it,” Gordon said. “It’s been a tough week at the office for us but you can expect us to fight back as aggressively, and as creatively and as strategically as our members are entitled.”
This story first appeared in The Age
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