Hine says that the Magpies are seeking to trade into the draft. Collingwood has not had a draft choice in the top 29 since 2008, instead trading their first round selections for players the calibre of Darren Jolly, Andrew Krakouer and Marty Clarke as well youngsters Jonathon Ceglar and Jamie Elliott.
“At the moment we’re picking at No. 18, and that will probably roll back one given the (Brendon) Goddard selection,” Hine told collingwoodfc.com.au.
“From our side of things, we’d like to get into the draft. We’ve traded out in the last couple of years due to circumstances in picking late and into the mid-20s and so on, so we feel that we’d like to get back into the draft, but having said that, you never say never.
“We’re very aware of a few areas that we’d like to address reasonably quickly, and if the opportunity comes there to address that, we certainly would. But at this point in time, we’re really looking to get into the draft.”
Watch the full interview with Derek Hine on CTV in the video above.
Hine on the futures of Chris Dawes and Sharrod Wellingham
“It must be said (in relation to Wellingham) - and we are talking to West Coast; Melbourne have shown a strong interest - we are obligated to do what’s best for the football club and we’re working through those issues with several clubs, not just West Coast. It’s very similar in Chris’ situation as well.
Hine on the decision to recruit Quinten Lynch via Free Agency
“He’s a really durable athlete. He never misses games. He’s had two seasons where he’s kicked 50-plus goals and he really thrives on being able to go through the ruck so we just felt that it was a better option than what we had at the moment in Chris (Dawes). (He has the) ability to come in and play that deep forward role but also come up high.”
Hine on electing not to sign James Stewart under the Father-Son rule
“It was obviously a very difficult decision for the football club to make. The circumstances presented with both Sharrod indicating a move to West Coast or others and also the Chris Dawes situation, we had no certainty in the picks that we were going to have. So we’d envisage that some earlier draft selections would come in for both Chris and Sharrod which would mean that we would be out of the draft a lot earlier than what we would have had James ranked. Unfortunately…we had no certainty of where we were going to be in the draft so we had to make a decision in the best interests of the football club.
Hine on basketballer Ben Richmond
“Ben’s been down here now for a week or so, doing some testing with the coaches and our sports science staff. It’s been really promising. He’s a 196cm basketballer but he has got a really strong football background. We feel that he could potentially come in and play that Leigh Brown type role if he develops in time.”
