MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - JULY 26: Brodie Grundy of the Magpies looks on during the 2019 AFL round 19 match between the Collingwood Magpies and the Richmond Tigers at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on July 26, 2019 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
The Geelong Cats are poised to make a play for contracted duo Brodie Grundy and Jacob Hopper in the upcoming AFL trade period.
Grundy, 28, is signed to a $1 million-per-season contract with Collingwood until 2027, although it is understood that the Pies are willing to contribute as much as $300,000 of his annual salary according to Fox Sports.
Hopper, 24, is contracted for the 2023 season at the Giants, but GWS Football GM Jason McCartney was coy on his future in a recent interview on SEN Breakfast.
"Jacob is contracted and that [whether he will be at GWS in 2023] will be something we’ll need to sit down with Jacob and work through with his management," McCartney said.
The Cats are no stranger to significant coups, having lured Patrick Dangerfield to the club in 2015 and snared Isaac Smith from Hawthorn in 2020.
Accomodating two sizeable contracts would be an administrative feat given the star-power on their list.
However, some timely retirements may enable them to accomodate the roughly $600,000 and $700,000 a year contracts Hopper and Grundy would command respectively, according to SEN's Sam Edmund.
“Jacob Hopper and Brodie Grundy are the two names that keep coming up at Geelong."
"Higgins and Dahlhaus [are] coming to the end of their careers this year... that frees up some money."
"Could the Cats even back-end a Grundy deal coinciding with the eventual retirements, whenever they might be, of Hawkins, Selwood, Isaac Smith and the like?"
Geelong are this year's minor premiers and the current premiership favourite heading into week one of the AFL finals.