Darcy Moore's manager Liam Pickering has given an insight into the star Magpie's mindset before signing a new deal that will likely see him stay at Olympic Park for the remainder of his career.
Moore on Thursday morning put pen to paper to take him off the market as one of the hottest free agents of 2022, his six-year contract a big show of faith in Craig McRae just three games into the rookie coach’s tenure.
SEN's Chief Sports reporter Sam Edmund revealed Moore signed on the dotted line for over 900k per season.
Darcy Moore has signed a huge six-year contract at Collingwood. Takes the hottest free agent off the market in a deal believed to be worth more than $900k a season. Great for the Pies, who are expected to formally announce the news in the coming days. More on @WhateleySEN shortly
— Sam Edmund (@Sammy__Edmund) April 6, 2022
The 26-year-old re-signed in 2020 on a two-year deal, however that contract took until late in the year to be finalised as negotiations ran on.
This time around, Pickering – of Precision Sports and Entertainment Group - was determined to avoid a similar situation, getting on the front foot with plenty of time to spare.
“I caught up with Graham Wright (Collingwood GM of football) before Christmas and said, ‘Look, if you can get something to us early, that’ll be a starting point’, because the last contract we did with him dragged right on and it dragged on until nearly the end of the year, it was a bit too much actually,” Pickering told SEN's Dwanye's World.
“So Wrighty (Wright) is a terrific operator, he said, ‘Oh, I’ll get you something by Christmas’, which he did, and then there was some negotiation after that, a bit of toing and froing as you do in these negotiations.
“We thought the term was about right, six years, he’s just turned 26 so it’ll be the long-term deal that will keep him at the club.
“I just thought the term was right and getting in early and just having that offer (was important).
“There was plenty of interest in him, as you’d imagine, I think he’s the hottest free agent going around, so to have him locked away, the Pies will be thrilled.”
When asked what was discussed with him by rival clubs in terms of Moore’s contract, Pickering suggested he’d fielded advanced offers.
“Terms, years, dollars, everything… That’s my job, to field the offers and we did that and in the end, the ball is back in Darcy’s court,” Pickering added.
“(I said) ‘Do you want to entertain a few of these, or do you really want to lock in?’.
“He wanted to get the first month out of the way of the season, just to get a real feel for where the new coaching group are at, where the team is progressing, how he feels the place and the shape it’s in.
“(Then) he rang me on Monday night and said, ‘You know what, let’s do it’. So he went and told Wrighty on Tuesday morning first thing, he wanted to do it himself which is great.”
Pickering also made the surprising admission that Moore had forgone money to stay at Collingwood, adding: “Without going into specific details, there were other clubs prepared to offer him more money, that’s for sure.”
While the Pies will no doubt be buoyed to have won the signature of their All-Australian backman, they stumped up when offering a six-year deal.
There have been numerous examples of longer-term deals coming back to bite clubs in recent years and that was a concern of former Pies assistant Brenton Sanderson.
“That’s the only thing that makes you nervous, because we’ve seen so many times with longer-term contracts where a player gets injured or out of form, and you sort of get stuck to that,” Sanderson said on SEN’S Whateley.
“But I don’t think it’s an issue with Darcy Moore. Yes he had his injury concerns early in his career with some hamstring setbacks along the way, but he’s such a professional, his leadership, he drives culture, very mature young man, that makes me more comfortable to sing a six-year contract.”
Moore’s signature leaves Jordan De Goey and Jamie Elliot as the Pies’ more important free agents un-signed beyond 2022, with Jeremy Howe and Steele Sidebottom also without a contract for next year.
Listen to the full interviews with Liam Pickering and Brenton Sanderson below