I mentioned the trade deal in another thread but it's likely to revolve around our first round picks in this and next year's draft (hopefully pick 15+) and potentially a player with maybe a later pick coming back (2nd or 3rd round pick).
Those picks are very late, there's a big difference between a top 10 pick and something in the late teens so those two alone would heavily favour us (let's not forget Jackson was a pick 3 who has achieved everything in his first 2 seasons as a ruckman/key forward, near unheard of for a tall at that age). A player would be required on top of that for mine and there are 2 options.
Lobb was keen to move last season as his partner picked up a job requiring her to move to Melbourne (her father's workplace) that was reportedly a very good deal. However this season she has been allowed to work from home (Perth) and as a result, they are reportedly pretty happy. It's unknown if that's a situation that could continue for an extended period with Lobb having another year remaining on his contract at around $7/800K while he's playing well at a successful club on the rise. If he and his partner are still heading to Melbourne then he's the obvious out for Jackson.
The second option is Meek heading back to Melbourne. He's never getting past the younger Darcy and is a genuine ruckman opposed to a ruck/forward who can provide plenty in the 70% of time he isn't in the ruck. He is good enough to earn an opportunity to lead the ruck and Max Gawn turns 31 at the end of this season with no real back up other than Jackson. Meek would be a good top up for them if Jackson is intent on heading home.
The only other option I see is Tucker potentially heading back to Melbourne and we use that to improve our draft hand and compensate Melbourne.
The reality is with Jackson out of contract, Melbourne are going to have to accept what is offered. They did it to us when Langdon was out of contract and heading home while Carlton did it to us with Cerra last season. Trades aren't always fair and if we don't have the draft/trade capital, it's not going to stop Jackson heading home.
You also have to remember, the OOFTIT's have little to offer Melbourne either. There's almost no chance they delay their rebuild by years getting rid of pick 2 this season and even then, they'd have to trade back into the first round to do it having not used a first round draft pick in ages (the AFL requires clubs to use 2 first round picks across a 4 year period which the OOFTIT's have not done). That effectively means the best they can offer is their 2nd round pick which will be worse than our offer. It'd also be silly of them to chase a trade when they need draft capital to rebuild, let alone convincing Jackson he should choose West Coast. I can't see the OOFTIT's building a decent case to enter the race for Jackson and force us to pay more than we need to.
Also, please ignore the $1.5M for 7 yrs. It's not a realistic proposition and shouldn't turn people off the trade. Don't by into Sumich's BS.