THE dominoes are set to fall over the last two days of the AFL trade period, with GWS set to play a big part despite shedding players.
The Giants salary caps woes are well known and the side will likely lose Dylan Shiel, who nominated Essendon and Tom Scully to Hawthorn for picks.
But the club may also help West Coast get Geelong’s Tim Kelly, with the Cats looking for a first-round pick to send Kelly home.
The Herald Sun reported the Shiel deal may not be done until deadline night with the Giants and Bombers at an impasse.
There have also been calls by clubs to block Scully’s proposed trade to Hawthorn for pick 53, including Port Adelaide great Kane Cornes, who called Scully “an elite midfielder in the competition”.
However, the dominoes may have fallen the way they have on the back of Shiel’s selection of Essendon according to foxfooty.com.au reporter Tom Morris.
It has also been revealed the Giants may be worried about Scully’s ability to get back to full strength after a season-ending ankle injury in round two.
“My understanding is that he (Scully) originally wanted to go to Essendon — at least that was his strong preference at the start. Then Dylan Shiel, looks like he’s going to go to Essendon, so he said ‘I’d like to go to Hawthorn’,” Morris told Fox Footy’s The Trade Lowdown.
“Certainly other clubs in Victoria were told that Essendon was his club and then it became Hawthorn, so they were left a little bit bemused as well.”
Scully was put through a medical with Hawthorn last week and reportedly passed after the season-ending injury.
Herald Sun journalist Jon Ralph said the Giants still had major concerns over Scully’s fitness.
“When he ripped that syndesmosis, this was an injury some compared to Dane Swan’s season-ender (in 2016). That’s the reason why they are giving him up for only Pick 53,” Ralph said on The Trade Lowdown.
“They have serious reservations about his capacity to get back anywhere close to 100 per cent.
“As was discussed to me, ‘if you think a trade is seriously imbalanced, there is a very good reason for it’ — that was the phrasing that was put to me.”
The Giants are draft pick rich and GWS could be key in helping the Eagles land Kelly.
Geelong are looking for a top 10 pick for the first-year star and West Coast hold the pick 20 and 22, which is unlikely to be enough for Geelong.
But it’s expected the Giants will receive pick 9 for Shiel from Essendon, should the deal go through, and pick 11 for Rory Lobb from Fremantle.
“Tim Kelly’s deal with the West Coast footy club will go down to the wire, but his management is confident that a club like GWS will step in as the unlikely saviour,” Ralph said on The Trade Lowdown.
“It’s not just a homesickness issue, there are issues within his family and with his kids, which make it an absolute priority to get home. But if the Giants do the Shiel and the Lobb deals, they’ll have (Picks) 9 and 11, so West Coast could trade 20 and 22 for one of those picks.
“(Kelly’s) manger Anthony van der Wielen is really confident it will happen. West Coast are still saying to Geelong ‘Just take 20 and 22, Stephen Wells, he’s a star!’
“I think something will certainly get done.”
Last week, Ralph revealed Kelly would rather see out his contract with Geelong in 2019 than go to Fremantle, but the Dockers, who hold pick 11, are still trying to lobby the Cats.
