Trade Rumours

Ruckman Mitch Clark is the latest Brisbane Lions player to request a trade, according to separate reports in the Herald Sun and on Channel 9’s The Footy Show.

Clark, 22, is contracted to the Lions, but has requested a trade home to Western Australia, where he hopes to play with Fremantle.

The Lions, who have already lost best-and-fairest winner Michael Rischitelli to Gold Coast, are also reeling from utility Jared Brennan’s decision to leave the club and are unlikely to agree to a trade for Clark.

The Herald Sun also reports the Lions and Suns have struck a deal for Brennan, with the AFL’s 17th team agreeing to relinquish a top-10 draft pick in exchange for the 26-year-old.

The Lions could receive another first-round pick ahead of November’s NAB AFL Draft, with the Western Bulldogs considering on-trading the pick they received as compensation for Gold Coast recruit Jarrod Harbrow to secure Justin Sherman.

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Chris Tarrant has declared Collingwood his preferred club, but that does not mean a romantic return will come easily.

At least three clubs are after his services in an intense race for the veteran defender just six days out from trade week.

Such interest means Fremantle, which has lost the defender after four years because of business and family reasons, is likely to play hardball.

The Dockers will be particular in their needs. In return. they will want a player to fit their list model.

If the Magpies can not satisfy the Dockers, they will be comfortable enough to allow him to nominate for the national or pre-season drafts and lose him for nothing.

It may take a three-way deal to get Tarrant to Collingwood if the Pies can not come up with enough to satisfy the Dockers.

The scenario looms as similar to Luke Ball last year, when the Saints refused to budge and forced the midfielder into the draft. Ball landed at Collingwood, his preferred new home, but he was at risk of being picked up by another club.

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Collingwood ruckman Josh Fraser may join Fremantle in a direct swap for defender Chris Tarrant during trade week.

Fraser, 29 in January, appears certain to be left out of Collingwood’s team for the Grand Final and has probably played his last game for the Magpies.

Fraser, the prized No.1 selection from the 1999 national draft, has played 200 games for Collingwood during 11 seasons, but is out of favour with coach Mick Malthouse and is keen to move to re-energise his career.

He has played nine games this season – and only one since Round 12.

Darren Jolly claimed Collingwood’s No. 1 ruck place after arriving from Sydney and journeyman Leigh Brown is his preferred back-up.

Fremantle chief executive Steve Rosich declined to comment on any Tarrant-Fraser swap deal yesterday, but it appears to suit all parties.

Tarrant, who turned 30 yesterday, this week flagged his wish to return to Collingwood, which is keen to add another key defender to its arsenal.

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Departing Fremantle full-back Chris Tarrant says he would be prepared to rejoin Collingwood in the hope of finishing his career with a premiership.

Tarrant, who will turn 30 on Saturday, is understood to have told Fremantle last week of his plans to return to Victoria for family and business reasons.

Tarrant had kicked 299 goals from 161 games with the Magpies when he was traded to Fremantle at the end of 2006, but made a successful transition to the backline in his last two seasons in the west.

Confident he had as many as three years to offer at AFL level, he said he would be best suited to a club that needed a key defender but was also poised to challenge for a premiership.

Hawthorn has already expressed its interest in him.

“I’ve been chasing the premiership dream now for 13 years. It’s been a long time. I’m still really keen to get a flag. You basically almost go to a club that’s really in that premiership window,” he told The Footy Show on Thursday night.

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