• Draft order: Your club's provisional picks
• NAB AFL Trade Hub: moves, rumours and your reaction
• Tune in to Trade Talk for LIVE trade coverage every weekday
• Check out every confirmed move on the Trade tracker
VERSATILE Hawthorn midfielder Brendan Whitecross met with Greater Western Sydney coach Leon Cameron this week as the Giants consider making a play for the unrestricted free agent.
Whitecross struggled for senior opportunities in 2015 after returning from his second knee reconstruction early in the season.
He played his first senior game since the 2013 preliminary final in round three against the Western Bulldogs, but after playing four consecutive games was dropped and spent the rest of the year in the VFL.
It is understood the Hawks are open to retaining the 25-year-old, but opposition interest is growing and Whitecross might opt for a fresh start to rejuvenate his career.
The Brisbane Lions have also met with Whitecross, who is open to a return to his home state, Queensland.
However, the Lions' interest is complicated by the fact they have received a free agency compensation pick (No.39) for ruckman Matthew Leuenberger.
Picking up Whitecross as a free agent could see that pick slide down the draft order, so the Lions are more likely to try to snare him in a trade or in the draft.
The Giants, on the other hand, do not have any free agents on their list, so could claim Whitecross via free agency without any adverse implications.
Whitecross joined the Hawks via pick No.27 in the 2007 NAB AFL Draft.
He was a regular senior player in 2011-12 before rupturing his right anterior cruciate ligament in the Hawks' 2012 qualifying final win over Collingwood.
Whitecross has played just 16 senior games since, having missed the entire 2014 season after rupturing his right ACL again in the 2013 preliminary final against Geelong.
In his 15 VFL games this season, Whitecross was named in the Box Hill Hawks' best players seven times.
