‘Very much in their sights’: No.1 Devils target revealed in $15m mega plot… and it’s not Daicos

Nick Daicos? No, thanks. Instead, it’s another prolific ball-winner that the Tasmania Devils are said to have at the top of their wish list.

Collingwood father-son superstar Daicos has repeatedly been linked to the Devils, having put off signing a long-term extension at the Magpies.

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But now, a Giants midfielder is reportedly Tasmania’s target name as it prepares to enter the competition in two years’ time.

Herald Sun and Fox Footy reporter Jon Ralph explained the Devils’ mindset regarding Daicos and their signing-bonus fund, with the club shifting its focus to hard-nosed contested ball-getter Tom Green.

“Nick Daicos was in Tasmania across the weekend — you’d probably have to pay him $2.5 million if you were to secure him in a couple of years — and I think the Tassie view is that they’re really flattered by that interest … and at least him considering it, but the price would be too high,” Ralph said On the Couch.

“They want to spread out their $5 million signing bonus over multiple players. I don’t think anyone feels it’s really likely that he (Daicos) would be there.

“Jay Clark is reporting tonight that Tom Green is very much in the sights of Tasmania. Of course, an elite contest player … an elite target, and you’d imagine that there’ll be many players like him in that window that they’ll be asking about.”

Green, a product of the GWS Academy and regarded as a future captain in the competition, is eligible for restricted free agency at the end of the 2027 season.

Clark reports that the 25-year-old, who’s lost four finals at GWS, could attract a deal from the Devils of more than $15 million total — prospectively an eight-year deal of at least $1.8 million per year, plus a piece of the signing-bonus pie.

Probed on whether Green was the sort of player the Devils should look to build their list around, Geelong assistant and Tasmania coaching candidate Nathan Buckley offered his thoughts.

“I think the rhetoric that’s coming out of the club is right — you want to recruit leadership first,” Buckley said on Fox Footy’s On The Couch.

“And that has to be some part of the talent package that you’re looking at.”

Buckley also shared his potential strategy for spreading out the $5 million bonus purse so that no Devils player felt excluded.

“And I also agree, if it’s accurate, with spreading that $5 million — outside of TPP (total player payments) — bonus over the first two years across the list, rather than just … I think everything is on the table,” he said.

“I’ve looked at it, and I’d suggest that you sort of nearly do it pro rata.

“Say the TPP is $20 million, and someone earns $2 million, that’s 10 per cent of the TPP, well then they get 10 per cent of the $5 million.

“If someone earns $200,000, then they get 1 per cent of it, so potentially there is a lick in it for any one of the inaugural Devils players without creating any animosity in the locker room.”

While Green will sit out the entirety of this season with a torn ACL, he’s played at least 21 games in each of the past four seasons, including averaging 29.7 last season as the Giants surged to the finals.