FREMANTLE failed to lure boom forward Jesse Hogan home, but the Dockers remain on track to secure Cam McCarthy after entering "good faith discussions" with Greater Western Sydney.

However, the clubs are still haggling over the 21-year-old goalkicker's value ahead of the upcoming NAB AFL Trade Period.

The Dockers offered two first-round picks for McCarthy last year but were knocked back as the Giants made a stand about player retention.

Fremantle is set to land McCarthy at a significantly reduced rate after he stood out of football this season to deal with mental health issues, however Giants list manager Craig Cameron said a deal is yet to be struck.

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"We are having good faith discussions with Fremantle on him, but we haven't reached an undertaking that that's where he'll land," Cameron told NAB AFL Trade Radio.

"We have a value on him and we're discussing it with Fremantle.

"He's still got a year to run on his contract … so a trade has to be done for him to land where he wants to land."

Cameron said West Coast was "possibly" in the mix for McCarthy, who could be one of several Giants youngsters to depart the club during the trade period.

Rangy forward Will Hoskin-Elliott and tough nut Jack Steele are weighing up their futures, while big man James Stewart and young defender Caleb Marchbank might both be headed to Carlton.


Collingwood hopes to secure Hoskin-Elliott but Cameron said the Giants would talk to any interested suitors for the former No.4 draft pick.

"We haven't gone anywhere down the track in terms of talking to Collingwood," he said.

"It doesn't necessarily have to be Collingwood, we're happy to talk to anyone in regards to giving some of our guys a bit more opportunity to play.

"We've got to reduce (our list) by two (players), so next year we'll be in the same position as every club.

"We reduce back to 40 players, our salary cap comes back to the normal levels. So that creates a little bit of tightness from a list number perspective and Will probably hasn't played as many games as he would've like to have played this year."

Key dates for the NAB AFL Trade Period

St Kilda is interested in Steele, who played 10 games this season but didn't feature in the Giants' finals campaign.

"He's probably in the same position as Will where he's not playing as many games as he'd like, so he might be looking for opportunity," Cameron said.


Carlton appears to be the frontrunner to secure Stewart and Marchbank.

"We're still happy for James to remain at our footy club but he has indicated to his manager that he would look for opportunity," Cameron said.

"At this stage, we're not sure exactly where.

"The negotiations on (Marchbank) are moving fairly smoothly. It won't be done overnight, but I'm sure it will be done."

Indicative draft order: What picks will your club take to the draft

Cameron said the Giants want to improve their draft position – they currently hold picks seven, 15 and 16 in the first round – and confirmed the club has discussed securing the No.1 pick from Essendon.

The Giants are confident they will have enough draft points to secure their academy products, headlined by top-10 prospects Harry Perryman and Will Setterfield. 

Meanwhile, Cameron said no clubs has "come at us strongly" for yet-to-debut speedster Jarrod Pickett, who was taken with pick No.4 from South Fremantle in the 2014 draft.