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Mark Stevens - Herald Sun
THE Western Bulldogs have the salary cap room to mount a free-agency assault on a rival player.
Bulldogs football manager James Fantasia has declared: "There's nothing we can be held back from."
After living close to the brink of the cap in a sustained premiership tilt from 2008-10, the Dogs have been freed up by the loss of Callan Ward to Greater Western Sydney and a string of retirements.
"We're pretty well placed all the way round ... we've stored some good draft picks and we've got a little bit of space in our cap," Fantasia said.
"We're in the right place to be involved in anything. But there's a few clubs that are in the same basket."
Tempering talk of a raid on a big name is the fact new Bulldogs coach Brendan McCartney has constantly declared a strong preference for drafting youth and developing from within.
And with the compensation picks for Callan Ward and Sam Reid activated this year, the Dogs are well placed to take advantage of the much-hyped super-draft.
The Dogs have gently tested the water with Collingwood superstar Travis Cloke, with Fantasia confirming list manager Jason McCartney had spoken to Cloke's agent Ralph Carr.
"Jason has done his rounds. He's met with every manager. He just so happened to speak with Ralph," Fantasia said.
"All we will do is make sure we have covered off everything. We're not going to talk about our players and what we're looking at."
Although free agency has created headlines, several AFL insiders believe their will be little movement among the big fish.
It will be more suited to older players, maybe on the fringes of automatic selection that their clubs, looking for more security elsewhere to finish out their careers.
There is a strong feeling it will take time for clubs to adapt and be more adventurous.
THE Western Bulldogs have the salary cap room to mount a free-agency assault on a rival player.
Bulldogs football manager James Fantasia has declared: "There's nothing we can be held back from."
After living close to the brink of the cap in a sustained premiership tilt from 2008-10, the Dogs have been freed up by the loss of Callan Ward to Greater Western Sydney and a string of retirements.
"We're pretty well placed all the way round ... we've stored some good draft picks and we've got a little bit of space in our cap," Fantasia said.
"We're in the right place to be involved in anything. But there's a few clubs that are in the same basket."
Tempering talk of a raid on a big name is the fact new Bulldogs coach Brendan McCartney has constantly declared a strong preference for drafting youth and developing from within.
And with the compensation picks for Callan Ward and Sam Reid activated this year, the Dogs are well placed to take advantage of the much-hyped super-draft.
The Dogs have gently tested the water with Collingwood superstar Travis Cloke, with Fantasia confirming list manager Jason McCartney had spoken to Cloke's agent Ralph Carr.
"Jason has done his rounds. He's met with every manager. He just so happened to speak with Ralph," Fantasia said.
"All we will do is make sure we have covered off everything. We're not going to talk about our players and what we're looking at."
Although free agency has created headlines, several AFL insiders believe their will be little movement among the big fish.
It will be more suited to older players, maybe on the fringes of automatic selection that their clubs, looking for more security elsewhere to finish out their careers.
There is a strong feeling it will take time for clubs to adapt and be more adventurous.
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