Lachie Schultz trade to Collingwood Magpies, deal, manager speaks, reason, other clubs interested, latest news

Lachie Schultz’s manager has admitted Collingwood had to “overdeliver” to secure the gun forward from Fremantle during the trade period.

Schultz moved from the Dockers to the Magpies in exchange for a future first-round pick and Pick 34 in one of the biggest moves of the exchange period that bolsters the premiers’ forward line.

It came despite the 25-year old having 12 months to run on his contract at Fremantle, opting to return to Victoria for family reasons.

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Instead of holding out hope of landing Schultz for nothing as a free agent at the end of the 2024 season, Collingwood moved to bring him in after learning of his plans by handing over the big haul, which some believe was overs.

Speaking on AFL Trade Radio, Schult’z manager, Jason Dover from TLA, noted the Dockers needed to get something significant in return to get the deal over the line.

“The first conversation Lachie and I had was: ‘Well, you’re contracted mate and Fremantle would have to be willing to do the right thing’,” Dover said.

“But also, if we can’t get a deal that’s right for them, he is contracted and we’d honour that contract and he would have gone back, albeit potentially under trying circumstances.

“We knew that Fremantle had to co-operate and we then had a conversation with them to say: ‘What can we do to make it worth your while?’ (Magpies footy boss) Graham Wright was terrific and the conversations he and (Dockers list manager) David Walls had the from the outset were very amicable.

“Collingwood weren’t mucking around and they knew they had to probably overdeliver in terms of coming with trade assets to Fremantle. I think that’s what allowed it to gather some momentum and actually in the end become a deal.

“If we hadn’t have been realistic in the first place and know that we had to overdeliver in terms of the trade assets for Fremantle, then we probably wouldn’t have got a hearing.”

Though losing Schultz, who finished sixth in the Freo’s best and fairest this year and was its second-highest goalkicker with a career-best 33 goals, as well as Liam Henry leaves huge voids at the Dockers, the club is now armed with a huge hand in next year’s draft including holding three first-round picks.

Dover said Fremantle over the last 12 months had been aware of Schultz’s desire to get back Victoria when he was next out of contract due to personal reasons, with the goalkicking forward originally from Moama.

And so a trade at least ensured the Dockers could at least get something in return.

“There were personal family reasons behind it. I won’t go into the exact detail because I don’t think that’s appropriate, but (Fremantle) had been aware of it for at least 12 months that there were some underlying issues there,” Dover added.

“In the end, getting back at the end of the season and having some time back there with his family and his girlfriend, I think the ties back home just grew even stronger. They realised if they could make it happen now, it’s probably the right time to try to do it rather than wait for 12 months.

“That’s when we went to Fremantle and had the conversation and said: ‘If there’s something we can do now to deliver you better value than you’d get in 12 months’ time as a free agent, is it something you’d look at and consider doing with us?’”

The Magpies recruit’s manager also revealed they’d had discussions “four or five” other clubs plus inquires from two non-Victorian sides that had interest in Schultz during the season.

But Collingwood emerged as the frontrunner after the grand final after it became apparent the club was prepared to stump up in a trade.

“Lachie had a contract that had a trigger in it for next year and he hit that about seven or eight games into this season just gone,” Dover said.

“Along the way clubs knew he might be either coming out of contract or had that trigger … he had a real desire to stay at Fremantle if we could make things work.

“Collingwood came up really late in the piece. Post grand final, Graham Wright and I had a conversation. We’d been in touch along the way but it really started to seem like it was something they could do.

“They felt like they had the assets they could bring to the trade table with Fremantle and it accelerated pretty quickly late the week before the trade period and then over that weekend.

“We ended up making contact with Fremantle on the Monday to broach the subject and see if it was something we could entertain.”