Adelaide Crows coach Matthew Nicks has his sights set on renowned strength and conditioning manager Darren Burgess if AFC’s current head of science and medicine Steve Saunders leaves the club as expected, says Warren Tredrea.
Burgess has previously worked at Port Adelaide and Arsenal and is currently under contract at Melbourne.
Tredders told Rowey & Bicks on the FIVEAA sports show:
“Steve Saunders is going and I’m hearing Geelong. I’m told final negotiations are going now.
“Would Burgo like to come back? I think his kids are based here but he’s contracted to Melbourne. Unless you can somehow get Melbourne to release him and Adelaide to pay him really good money I don’t think it would happen, but hey, stranger things have happened in sport.
“I did hear a whisper that he’s managed by Rob Snowdon who also manages one Crows coach… he’d be a good get. The Port faithful would be nice and peeved if that one came off…
“Make no mistake. If Saunders goes out, Nicks wants Burgess, but I don’t know if you’re going to be able to get him.”
Mark Bickley said off-field moves and budget cuts at Melbourne could see things “reshaped” at the club.
“There’s a lot of machinations that have been happening at Melbourne in the last 18 months. You’ve seen coaches go, McCartney was there for a little while… And the other things is everything is reshaped.
“Melbourne won a bidding war to get Alan Richardson and he was on very good coin, so when you take 30 per cent off the soft cap you wonder whether that might need to be massaged.”
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