AFL trade news: Swans pushed to chase Charlie Curnow as Carlton weighs trade demands

The Swans should do whatever it takes to secure the signing of Charlie Curnow, while Carlton needed to be much more aggressive in their demands to trade the Blues forward, according to 7 AFL analyst Kane Cornes.

Geelong and Sydney appear to be the most likely clubs able to strike a deal with Carlton with the Cats able to offer forward Shannon Neale, while Sydney are in desperate need of a consistent goal kicking full forward.

The Swans have said they would not trade one of their gun midfielders such as Errol Gulden, Chad Warner or Isaac Heeney but other stars such as Will Hayward or pocket rocket Tom Papley could be players the Swans might be willing to part with.

Cornes said the Swans needed to go all out on getting Curnow, who was contracted at the Blues until 2030 and has not formally requested a trade as of yet.

“Publicly they have said they will put forward a trade they think is fair and they have said they will not overpay but for this one, I think he’s worth overpaying for,” Cornes told AFL Trade Radio.

“How often does a player that can kick you 70 goals a season want to come to your club. They have a great mix of youth and experience; they have played in a Grand Final a season ago.

“Sydney are after a high profile key forward, that’s the history of the club, it puts bums on seats and makes them relevant.

“Give more than you can, I am adamant Charlie Curnow will be the biggest pick up this trade period. Sydney – give a bit more than you’re comfortable giving, don’t waste this opportunity.”

But if Carlton could not get a deal done with Sydney they should demand a lot from Geelong to move the dual Coleman Medallist to the surf coast.

“If I was Carlton I would identify the two or three Geelong players I want,” Cornes said.

“Let’s say for example I would approach Shannon Neale and say ‘this is the eight-year contract we have for you worth $850-900k, this is the role we see you playing’.

“I would be selling the farm – I don’t know if they’re interested in Neale – but you get his head around a once-in-a-lifetime contract. That’s how I would do it. That’s the only way I see this happening whether it’s Neale, Ollie Dempsey or Gryan Miers.

“I think the Blues need to be a little bit nasty and aggressive and ruthless in this and not sit back and just wait.

“How about you get on the front foot, identify the players you want and go to their management and get their heads around going to your club.”

On Monday Carlton football manager Chris Davies expected Curnow to remain in navy blue next year.

“The club’s made it really clear that from our perspective Charlie’s got four years on a deal and we expect him to be at Carlton for those four years,” Davies said when the trade period officially opened on Monday.

“I don’t think it’s going to be helpful for me to go into hypotheticals right now.”

Sydney list boss Chris Keane confirmed the Swans are interested in Curnow and have spoken to him directly.

Geelong football boss Andrew Mackie conceded the Curnow trade “realistically is going to be hard to do” for the Cats.