Viney flies west to visit Eagles’ nest, Bombers also in the market

Melbourne veteran Jack Viney will fly to Perth on Tuesday to tour West Coast’s facilities as he plots a move away from the Demons.

Having been told opportunities might dry up for him in the midfield next year as the Demons favour younger players, Viney is looking at moving.

He met with West Coast officials in Melbourne in the past week and was impressed with the pitch from coaches.

Essendon have also met with Viney. The Bombers would consider the 32-year-old a ready-made strong-bodied midfield replacement for Zach Merrett, who his likely to move to Hawthorn. Essendon is also attracted to Viney’s leadership, character and training standards to support their young playing group.

Their interest in Viney might now be redoubled after they missed out on securing Adelaide midfielder Luke Pedlar, who has requested a trade to cross-town rivals Port Adelaide.

The Bombers were in the hunt for the 24-year-old, who has not been able to cement a place in the Crows’ line-up, playing just 49 matches since being picked at No.11 in the 2020 national draft and battling a seriess of injury issues.

But Pedlar decided to remain in his home state and join the Power, who have lost star free agent Zak Butters to the Western Bulldogs.

The Bombers have several trade targets as new coach Mark McVeigh settles in the role. Essendon are also interested in Lions’ premiership midfielder Sam Marshall and Geelong midfielder Jack Bowes as they look to recast their midfield with Merrett’s likely exit.

The Bombers could also lose contracted defender Jordan Ridley, who has gained interest from Geelong and the Kangaroos. Ridley has played just 26 AFL matches in the past three seasons.

Melbourne midfielder Trent Rivers is also looking to move with one year left on his contract. He has been interested in joining the Brisbane Lions, given his partner is from Brisbane, but he has also had some interest from West Coast.

The trade period does not officially begin until next Monday, but talks have been underway for several months about possible trades and free agency moves. The free agency window opens this Friday, with the Giants’ Toby Greene, Gold Coast’s Ben King, the Lions’ Lachie Neale and Port Adelaide’s Butters all looking to move as free agents.

Greene and Neale can move as unrestricted free agents, but it remains to be seen whether the clubs losing restricted free agents King and Butters will accept compensation for losing the players or match the offers to force a trade.

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