A HIGH-FLYING forward with strong football bloodlines may help broker the deal that sends Mitch McGovern from Adelaide to Carlton.
Shane McAdam, the nephew of ex-AFL footballers Gilbert and Adrian McAdam, is attracting significant AFL interest based off his impressive SANFL form for Sturt.
He is one of only two mature-age players invited to next week's NAB AFL Draft Combine, along with Werribee's contested-marking force Josh Corbett.
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AFL.com.au understands McAdam, Corbett and West Adelaide swingman Chris Burgess are Gold Coast's three targets with its three pre-draft concession picks.
The AFL elected to give the Suns, who were initially linked to Corbett's clubmate and ex-Docker Sam Collins, and fellow struggler Carlton access to mature-age talent rather than a priority pick.
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But the clubs also have permission to on-trade the selections, which equate to a mini-free agency-of-sorts rather than a snake draft order.
It is believed the Blues don't want to use the picks and will try to trade them, as they look at ways to appease the Crows to bring strong-marking forward McGovern to Ikon Park.
McGovern nominated Carlton as his club of choice, but the complication is he is contracted until 2020 and the Blues intend to use pick No.1, almost certainly on Geelong Falcon Sam Walsh.
Carlton's next-highest selections are 24 and 25, neither of which is considered enough to satisfy the Crows' demands.
The Blues are aware of Adelaide wanting to recruit McAdam, and could swap one of its pre-draft choices to the Crows and thwart Gold Coast's bid to sign the Sturt star.
That won't be enough on its own to complete McGovern's move, but might nicely complement a suite of other picks in the eventual deal.
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Adelaide previously showed interest in Richmond goalsneak Tyson Stengle and Williamstown VFL forward Ben Cavarra.
Meanwhile, Gold Coast is in the midst of a significant list overhaul designed to get the club on track under first-year coach Stuart Dew.
The Suns are also likely to draft late-blooming WAFL midfielder Marlion Pickett and want to secure fringe Tigers Anthony Miles and Corey Ellis and Geelong's George Horlin-Smith.
Tom Lynch, Aaron Hall and Kade Kolodjashnij are as good as certain to be playing elsewhere in 2019, while Steven May and Jack Martin are linked to Melbourne and Essendon, respectively.
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Gold Coast delisted Michael Barlow, Michael Rischitelli and rookies Josh Jaska, Max Spencer and Mackenzie Willis, on top of ex-Eagle Matt Rosa retiring.
The Suns have committed to re-drafting Rischitelli as a rookie, and AFL.com.au understands Brad Scheer and Harrison Wigg will also likely be shuffled onto the rookie list.
Hard-working midfielder-forward Darcy MacPherson is set to be upgraded to the primary list despite a broken leg largely ruining his 2018 season.
A fourth player might even be moved onto the rookie list to make more room, with Jack Scrimshaw, the No.7 pick in the 2016 draft, drawing little interest from rival clubs.
