Club’s clamour for star Lion; Dimma shuts down Rioli reports – MASHAHER

A quartet of clubs are reportedly keen on trying to lure gun midfielder Hugh McCluggage away from the Lions.

Meanwhile, Gold Coast Suns coach Damien Hardwick has addressed rumours of the motives for a meeting with Tiger Daniel Rioli.

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CLUBS CLAMOUR FOR MCCLUGGAGE

The Herald Sun’s Jay Clark is reporting that four clubs are in the race to try and lure midfielder Hugh McCluggage away from the Lions.

McCluggage is one of the most-sought after players in the competition at the moment and could command a salary of $1.3 million a year, with reports suggesting St Kilda, Geelong, Adelaide and Essendon are all interested.

“Under free agency rules, a player’s club can match a bid for a restricted free agent after eight years at the club, forcing a bigger return at the trade table,” Clark said.

“The Lions could ask for a top-10 pick plus more, which could turn off rival clubs.”

McCluggage has featured in four All-Australian squads and is a classy operator through the centre of the ground.

AFL Media’s Cal Twomey says clubs are also monitoring McCluggage’s teammate Jarrod Berry.

“Rivals are keeping an eye on it wondering if the promise of more midfield minutes and centre bounce time could sway him, but the Lions have an offer in front of him,” Twomey said.

Twomey expects those discussions to ramp up “mid-year”.

IS DIMMA TRYING TO LURE A TIGER NORTH?

Is Gold Coast Suns coach Damien Hardwick trying to lure a former player north?

Hardwick confirmed he met with defender Daniel Rioli while the Tiger was holidaying on the Gold Coast this week but denied that Rioli had toured the Suns facilities which had been widely speculated.

“I’ve known Dan for 10 years. He lived with me for two or three, so it would be weird if I didn’t catch up with him when he was up here on holidays,” Hardwick said.

“So yeah, we caught up and had a beer together, it was his birthday.”

Hardwick said the catch-up was completely “innocent” and reiterated that he is a contracted player at the Tigers.

“He’s contracted to Richmond for life I reckon, so it was pretty innocent from our point of view.”

Meanwhile, the Herald Sun’s Jon Ralph and Glenn McFarlane are expecting clubs to enquire about Suns utility Joel Jeffrey, despite being contracted until the end of 2028, given the logjam of talls at the Suns at the moment.