Essendon and St Kilda are continuing to try to negotiate a deal for Jake Carlisle. 

The Bombers say pick five is fair, but the Saints haven’t agreed to the deal so far.

To get an idea of whether pick five is appropriate compensation for a player of Carlisle’s age and quality, here are the opinions of three men who should know.

Leigh Matthews won four premierships as a Hawthorn player throughout the 70’s and 80’s.  He then turned his hand to coaching where he won another four flags.  He is an official AFL Legend.

Here is what he told 3AW.

“The idea of trading is we all win, but most people trading think we’ve got to win and you’ve got to lose.

“You’ve got a guy who has been a proven key position player, a very good key position defender.

“Remember you’re drafting 18 year olds – so your first pick if he’s an 18 year old will be a champion in three or four years time.

“I think the industry overrates draft choices.

“I reckon a 24 year old key position player that is hard to find, that’s proven, I reckon I’d be swapping pick five for him if you wanted him.”

Gary Buckenara has been one of the most successful recruiting managers of the last 15 years.  He is the man who helped build the Hawthorn list that has won four premierships in the last eight seasons.  Luke Hodge, Sam Mitchell, Jarryd Roughead, Cyril Rioli and Jordan Lewis were all brought to the Club under his watch.  If anyone knows the value of a draft pick, he does.

Here is what he told the Herald Sun. 

“For me it’s win-win.

“St Kilda gain a young key position player and Essendon get the opportunity of a pick five.

“To get a player of Carlisle’s ability is a win for them (St Kilda) in a critical positional need and Essendon get in to the draft with picks four and five.”

And finally, here are the comments of current St Kilda Coach, Alan Richardson, during an interview with SEN last month.

“I worked with Jake when I was at the Bombers, so I know him very well.

“He’s a good young man, he’s an outstanding player, we know that.

“He’ll play next year at 24, he’s got 10 years of footy left in him, he can play forward, he can play back.

“He’s what every footy club would need, we’re no exception.

“He’s a bloody good player, there’s no doubt about that.”