HAVING finally summoned the wherewithal to part with Brendan Fevola, Carlton may not be able to do so for a lack of interest in the wayward full-forward, with clubs high and low on the ladder distancing themselves from the Coleman medallist last night.Be it the incompatibility of a club in a rebuilding phase recruiting a player who will be 29 in January, salary cap constraints for those in contention who could not accommodate his $700,000 a season contract or a general wariness of his troubled past, there was little encouragement for Fevola or Carlton to believe that he will find a new home when the AFL's trade period opens next week.
The Western Bulldogs, an obvious destination given their well-documented need for a key forward, cut themselves out of the picture last night to concentrate on sealing a deal for former Sydney full-forward Barry Hall.
"No. Our focus is Barry Hall. He's committed to us and we're committed to him," Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade said.
Sydney coach Paul Roos offered similar sentiments. The Swans are losing Hall but have the rapidly improving Jesse White coming through and Roos said he wasn't keen to get involved.
"No. We don't want to waste Carlton's time. We don't want to get involved in something we can't complete," he said.
"We've said all along that we want to keep our first picks. So we'll concentrate on the deals we're already exploring."
At Collingwood, a club said to be of interest to Fevola, there is understood to be strong resistance within the football department to the idea of recruiting "Fev", who nonetheless shares a friendship with Collingwood president Eddie McGuire.
The Magpies went through a tumultuous time with Chris Tarrant, who they traded to Fremantle three years ago, and the determination to establish a new discipline at the Lexus Centre was on show again last year when stars Alan Didak and Heath Shaw were suspended for the last six weeks of the season and Rhyce Shaw was traded to Sydney.
Of the other contenders, Geelong has a critical salary cap issue that may yet see the Cats forced into shedding premiership players to solve its problem. St Kilda has a similar quandary and other areas of its game to improve first given the presence of Nick Riewoldt and Justin Koschitzke in the key forward posts.
The Bulldogs, too, are understood to be in a tight salary cap position, with just enough money to spend $300,000 on Hall after setting aside as much as $470,000 per season in an attempt to retain full-back Brian Lake.
Veteran half-forward Jason Akermanis can only be accommodated if he is prepared to accept a pay cut of more than 50 per cent and play next year for approximately $200,000.
The presence of Lance Franklin and Jarryd Roughead in attack, coupled with a commitment to acquire Shaun Burgoyne and Josh Gibson next week, has Hawthorn out of the Fevola market while at the bottom end, clubs such as Melbourne and Richmond are in phases that do not appear to suit either party.
In a statement released by Fevola yesterday, after he had been informed of Carlton's decision to try to trade him out, the full-forward said: "...I will welcome the opportunity to join a new club and look forward to pursuing the dream of an AFL premiership."
By their own admission, the Demons and Tigers, not to mention Fremantle and North Melbourne, are unlikely to be in any sort of "premiership" contention for a number of years.
Melbourne list manager Tim Harrington said that the Demons would not be entertaining the thought of recruiting Fevola.
"Our strategy is to build a young, outstanding group that can come through together. The club is committed to this path and won't be deviating from it," Harrington said.
The Blues issued a brief statement themselves late yesterday afternoon which confirmed their decision but did not outline what they expect or can even hope to get in exchange for Fevola, who is contracted for two more years for at least $1.4million.
Carlton sources were indicating last night, though, that if they are able to unload Fevola they will explore suggestions that Brisbane Lions forward Daniel Bradshaw has an interest in playing out his days in Victoria. "The Carlton Football Club has advised Brendan Fevola and his management that it will be working to secure a trade that will see Brendan join another club during next week's AFL exchange period," the statement read.
In a market of few, if any buyers, the Blues are aware of the possibility that they may have to reconcile with the man who embarrassed the club and the game so deeply with his drunken antics at last week's Brownlow Medal count.
Fevola said as much in his own statement, which was released from Queensland where he is on holiday with his wife and children.
"If this is to be the end of my time at Carlton, I want to thank the Blues fans for their magnificent support over 11 years," Fevola said, clearly suggesting that it is possible he will remain at Princes Park.
"You've meant more to me than I perhaps realised - until now. Also, I want to extend my best wishes to Brett Ratten, Chris Judd and the Carlton players, and thank them for their friendship and assistance.
"I will await with interest the outcome of trade week and will focus solely on the challenges and opportunities ahead.
"I am committed not just to being the very best player I can be but also to rectifying off-field issues. I acknowledge that this is largely of my own doing, I remain remorseful for the events of the past 10 days and once again apologise to those people I have let down - especially family and friends."
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26148266-2722,00.html If they do manage to trade him I could see him at the Crows next season either that or he'll sign for the new Gold Coast team.
