"I don't want (draft picks), I want players."
Those were Collingwood coach Craig McRae's words as he attempted to revive the club's premiership chances during the player movement period last year.
And the Pies could well be on their way to doing so again, with Gold Coast midfielder Matt Rowell on the agenda.
Fresh off a finals-less campaign, the Pies went hard in the ready-made player department, landing Dan Houston (Port Adelaide), Harry Perryman (GWS) and Tim Membrey (St Kilda) to launch an all-out assault on a second flag in three years.
But murmuring in the background, it is understood that the Victorian powerhouse club has requested the league to allow them to trade their 2026 first-round selection to help lure a player like Rowell, according to theย Herald Sun's Jon Ralph.
Under the AFL guidelines, clubs are required to take two first-round picks in every four-year cycle.
As it stands, Collingwood has only selected Ed Allan (Pick 19) in the space of three draft periods (2023-2025) and, at this stage, won't be able to select a player in the first round after selling their top 2025 pick to Gold Coast.
Therefore, under the strictest interpretation of the rules, the Pies will have to use their 2026 first-round pick and not use it as trade bait.
Rowell's interest comes as the former Pick 1 selection enters 2025 in a contract year.
The bullocking onballer has reportedly met with Victorian clubs, who are hoping to lure the star back to his home state.
Collingwood's request isn't so farfetched given Port Adelaide was granted a similar piece of business when acquiring Jason Horne-Francis.
The Power were given the exemption to use their first-round selections to land Horne-Francis given he'd only been in the AFL system for 12 months, uUnlike Rowell, who's been in the caper for six years.
However, an underlying, and potentially defining part of this request could be where father-son prospect Tom McGuane lands in the draft at the end of the season.
The Pies will have first access to McGuane, who is the son of premiership player Mick.
McGuane trained with Collingwood over the summer months and was a part of EDFL powerhouse Keilor's premiership-winning team in 2024.
