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THE MANAGER of Brisbane Lions midfielder James Aish accepts his client may be forced into the draft if a deal can’t be struck between the Lions and Collingwood.
Aish, 19, informed the Lions of his desire to play for the Magpies on Thursday, but the club rejected his request, instead offering the choice of a new deal to stay in Brisbane or to go into the national or pre-season drafts.
On Friday, Collingwood football chief Neil Balme blasted the Lions' hardline stanceon Aish's trade request.
"I think Collingwood are way down the list of priorities in terms of what happens here, but where's the individual's right?" Balme said of the impasse on radio station SEN on Friday.
"What's the right thing for the club to do? I mean, what sort of an environment would you be providing if you're making people stay?
"It doesn't make a lot of sense to me."
On Saturday, Aish’s manager Liam Pickering said it was definitely possible that his client may head to the draft if the Lions kept playing hardball.
"We'll discuss [those options] post the trading period. If he doesn't get traded, there's obviously three options," Pickering told SEN.
"We'll have to work through all that. At the moment it's a long way off.
"We've requested a trade at Brisbane, and Collingwood will have to do a trade if it's to happen."
Currently, players sign a two-year contract with a club when drafted, which Pickering said he didn't expect to change.
Lions director of football Leigh Matthews said earlier this week the club would not budge on their position with Aish, as there was "no use" drafting a player and trading him out two years later.
Pickering said the Lions needed to be realistic with their current list.
"It's not about out-manoeuvring Lethal. It's about whether the two clubs can get together and do a deal," he said.
"If they can't, they can't.
"They need to look at their list. They've got two really good Academy kids coming in, they're going to need points … (and) they're happy to move on Jack Redden and he's got a year to go.
"[James] is out of contract … [should] he just stay because the club says they don't want to trade you.
"If someone requests a trade and they're out of contract, you either do a trade or there's other options.
"He's keen to play in Melbourne and he's keen to play with Collingwood, so it's pretty straight forward, I would have thought."
