JUSTIN Sherman's determination to get to the Western Bulldogs may be thwarted by the fact the Brisbane Lions think they can get a better deal elsewhere.
The Bulldogs have offered the Lions the end-of-first-round selection they received as compensation for losing Jarrod Harbrow to Gold Coast - which is expected to be pick 28 or 29 should it be used in next month's NAB AFL Draft.
But the Sydney Swans, also desperate to land the hard-running midfielder, have offered the Lions their first-round selection (No.21).
After requesting a trade from the Lions, Sherman nominated the Bulldogs as his preferred club and in recent days said he was not interested in playing for the Swans.
Talks between the Lions and the Bulldogs appear at a stalemate heading into the finals days of AFL trade week, despite the Dogs' desire to recruit him.
Trade week finishes at 2pm Monday and Bulldogs football manager James Fantasia said his club may need until the last minute of that deadline.
"They (the Lions) want a first-round draft pick, which we're going to give them, but they want to get something a bit earlier than that and he (Sherman) doesn't want to go anywhere else," Fantasia told afl.com.au.
With Sherman contracted for 2011, the Lions are prepared to hold off and get the best-possible deal.
Lions national talent manager Rob Kerr said the club was wary of the calibre of players it had already lost, with uncontracted pair Michael Rischitelli and Jared Brennan having joined Gold Coast.
However, the Lions will be well-placed on draft day, with picks five, 25 and 27 seemingly guaranteed.
It means Kerr and coach Michael Voss must decide whether they free up further salary cap space and just let Sherman go to the Bulldogs, or see if he is so desperate to leave that he eventually agrees to join the Swans.
"From our side the Sydney offer's a better offer," Kerr told afl.com.au.
"So our position is if he doesn't go to Sydney, then he'll come back to Brisbane.
"He's saying that if he can't get to the Bulldogs then he will stay with us."
The Bulldogs have already used their first two live picks in the draft on father-son selections Mitch Wallis and Tom Liberatore.
The Lions have limited room in their salary cap to accept players from the Dogs, and Kerr said that sweetening any deal with the Harbrow compensation pick seemed unlikely.
"They (the Bulldogs) don't have any players that are of great appeal, at this stage," he said.
Follow our complete coverage of the 2010 AFL exchange period from October 5-11. No trades are official until paperwork has been accepted by the AFL and formally recognised after 2pm on Monday, October 11.
Join the AFL trade conversation on Twitter: use #tradeweek in your tweets.
