WESTERN Bulldogs coach BrendanMcCartney has ruled out trading star midfielder Ryan Griffen in a bid to secure this year'snumber one draft pick.
McCartney admits he "wouldn'tmind" snaring a key forward in the off-season to help bolster his side'sattack.
Burly Victorian youngster TomBoyd is the hot tip to be selected with the first pick in the NAB AFL Draft,but to get access to him the Dogs would have to negotiate a trade with theholder of the No.1 selection, likely to be Greater Western Sydney.
However the coach has ruled outusing Griffen as trade bait.
"I don't think we'll quiteplay as well without Griff, do you?" McCartney said on Wednesday.
"There's a lot of talk aboutforwards in the paper at the moment, and the young Eastern Ranges boy who'sgetting so much written about him, and he hasn't even been drafted yet orplayed against men. There's a lot of things to play out yet."
"It's a bit early for us tobe talking about our list strategy and our list management."
McCartney believes inexperienceis the real Achilles heel for his forwards, and their struggles are a byproductof what is happening across the field.
"We've got a lot of youngforwards, and more than any other part of the ground young forwards willfluctuate and have inconsistencies.
"They usually occur when theteam's not playing that well, in terms of moving the ball, and they're playingon more seasoned defenders."
The Western Bulldogs have alreadybeen linked to Essendon forwards Scott Gumbleton and Stewart Crameri.
"We are no different to anyother club, looking for ways to get better," McCartney said.
"There's three ways to getbetter with list development, that's free agency, the trade and the nationaldraft."
Jacqui Reed is a reporter with AFL Media.Follow her on Twitter @JacquiReedAFL
