Price not right: Harper
Adelaide believes the price is too high for young South Australian Ben Kennedy but GWS says the Crows are working on assumptions
ADELAIDE football operations manager Phil Harper says Glenelg teenager Ben Kennedy is likely to cost the club a "top four or five" player (a price the Crows will not pay) but Greater Western Sydney list manager Stephen Silvagni explains his club is dealing with "fresh air".
Kennedy - a promising South Australian who will be in the 'mini-draft' of eligible 17-year-olds at the end of trade week - is too young to be taken in November's NAB AFL Draft, but can be claimed by an AFL club with one of the four concessionary selections Greater Western Sydney will have to offer.
Adelaide has expressed an interest in the classy left-footer, but Harper told afc.com.au the club wasn't confident of being able to strike a deal with GWS, indicating the Giants' asking price for Kennedy was "far too high".
On Thursday night, Harper said that price was "top-end" players.
"We just tried to get a feel from them [GWS] as to what the sort of thing they would be looking for," Harper told FIVEaa.
"We didn't get to names. [Recruiting manager] Matthew Rendell was more so talking about, 'would you be interested in bottom-end players on our list? Or would it have to be the top players?
"They indicated they'd only be interested in talking about your top four or five players on the list.
"If it was a few players at the bottom-end of our list that might help them [GWS] in their first couple of years we might have been interested, but they were looking at top-end players and we weren't keen to give them away."
Instead of bidding directly for a player, clubs will bid for concessionary selections, with the highest bidder - as determined by GWS - to receive the first pick, and ultimately the 17-year-old of its choice, in the mini-draft.
The Giants can allocate the four selections over the next two years to other clubs for experienced players and/or draft picks, but can't keep a player like Kennedy or highly-rated Western Australian Jaeger O'Meara.
The eligible 17-year-olds have to nominate for the mini-draft by August 1.
Silvagni declined to be drawn into speculation over the compensation the club would expect to receive in exchange for one of the concession picks, saying it was too early to be targeting specific players or picks and that Adelaide was working to an "assumption".
"Our line to all clubs has been that we can't deal until the 17-year-old kids nominate, and probably not until the end of the season until all clubs have finished their season and really all the cards are on the table," Silvagni said.
"In relation to what type of player we would want for those 17-year-old picks, at the minute until we really sit down and know what uncontracted players we've got through and how many of the pre-listed players or previously-nominated players are mature-age bodies, we're really dealing with fresh air.
"We really haven't discussed anything in relation to players or picks or anything with any clubs."
Last month, GWS coach Kevin Sheedy said the club would only part with the concession picks for "superstars" with plenty of time left in the game.
If the Giants aren't satisfied with the bids they receive this year, they have the option of hanging onto some or all of the concession selections and trading them away next year.
It's been suggested the club could retain two or more of the selections and then exchange them for picks next year to bolster its position in what's been dubbed a 'super draft'.
"At this stage, we're in the situation where we're waiting to see which kids nominate by the 1st of August," Silvagni said.
"We've got the ability to do two this year and two next year, or one this year and three next year.
"Maybe, we'll leave all four until next year, or do all four this year. We don't know yet."