![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/poster-fallback.png\"\/)
<\/p>\n
PIES\u2019 PLAN B IN KING PURSUIT?<\/p>\n
Collingwood could turn its attention to Hawthorn free agent Mitch Lewis if its Ben King pursuit proves unsuccessful. <\/p>\n
That\u2019s according to Seven\u2019s Mitch Cleary, who reports the Magpies inquired about Lewis last year and could turn in his direction again in 2026 if King opts against a Collingwood move.<\/p>\n
Lewis has played in all six Hawks games thus far and kicked 10 goals, after managing a combined 13 goals across the past two seasons. <\/p>\n
Regarding talks with the Hawks on a new deal, the out-of-contract Lewis told Triple M last Sunday: \u201cNo, we haven\u2019t had any conversations yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cleary says both sides are willing to be patient as it pertains to another deal. <\/p>\n
\u201cPretty rare it gets to Round 7, a player of his quality, no dialogue (around a new contract),\u201d Cleary said. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think both parties are pretty happy with where it\u2019s at right now, because Hawthorn wants to see him build a bit more consistency with his body. He obviously is building his value in price right now, so that\u2019s going to continue to go up. <\/p>\n
\u201cCollingwood, I understand, at least asked the question in a preliminary sense last year. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re into Ben King \u2014 I think if (Ben) King stays at the Suns, watch them (Collingwood) shift their interest to a player like Mitch Lewis.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cleary added that given Lewis is only about to turn 28, he could \u201cpush for five (years)\u201d on his new deal. <\/p>\n
The 84-game key forward is eligible for unrestricted free agency this year, meaning he could walk to the club of his choice without any Hawthorn resistance. <\/p>\n
FREE AGENT WHO\u2019S \u2018VERY UNLIKELY\u2019 TO STAY<\/p>\n
Out-of-favour Giants ruckman Kieren Briggs is reportedly \u201cvery unlikely\u201d to remain in Sydney beyond this year. <\/p>\n
The 26-year-old, who was omitted after Round 3 and hasn\u2019t yet earned a call-up to Adam Kingsley\u2019s side, is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. <\/p>\n
AFL Media\u2019s Riley Beveridge reports Briggs is highly likely to be playing at a rival club next year, with \u201cruck-needy\u201d Victorian clubs potentially in the frame. <\/p>\n
\u201cRight here, right now, it\u2019s very unlikely that Kieren Briggs would be at the Giants next year,\u201d Beveridge told AFL Media\u2019s Gettable. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s become a player of interest to clubs chasing rucks as an unrestricted free agent at season\u2019s end. <\/p>\n
\u201cSpent the last two weeks out of the side \u2026 there are some ruck-needy clubs, particularly in Victoria \u2014 Richmond is one of them, the Western Bulldogs are another. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m expecting more clubs to enter this market for Kieren Briggs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Instead of the Pennant Hills product, Kingsley has opted to reward the likes of Nick Madden and even Leek Aleer with opportunities in the ruck. <\/p>\n
Not among the league\u2019s most athletic ruckmen, Briggs is now seen as a second-ruck commodity in the competition. <\/p>\n
A club such as Richmond, which has long relied on ageing captain Toby Nankervis as its sole tapster, could prospectively utilise Briggs as a bridging player while the likes of developmental talls Ollie Hayes-Brown and Tom Sims continues to develop. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Hawthorn forward\u2019s name has been raised as a backup plan for the Magpies, should their Ben King…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":623597,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[1142,638,64,63,689,55,639,302099,11295,302104,12923,10133,1127,2105,7492,301986,12169,302100,647,12937,12182,673,139253,677,302103,217011,302101,28008,302102,85,670,17992,11236,12920,45262,660,698],"class_list":{"0":"post-623596","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-afl","8":"tag-adam-kingsley","9":"tag-afl","10":"tag-au","11":"tag-australia","12":"tag-australia-and-new-zealand","13":"tag-australian-football-league","14":"tag-australianfootballleague","15":"tag-backup-plan","16":"tag-ben-king","17":"tag-chasing-rucks","18":"tag-chris-scott","19":"tag-collingwood-magpies","20":"tag-fox-footy","21":"tag-getty-images-inc","22":"tag-hawthorn-hawks","23":"tag-illicit-drug-policy","24":"tag-kieren-briggs","25":"tag-magpies-interest","26":"tag-melbourne","27":"tag-mitch-cleary","28":"tag-mitch-lewis","29":"tag-new-south-wales","30":"tag-nick-madden","31":"tag-oceania","32":"tag-pennant-hills","33":"tag-plan-b","34":"tag-preliminary-sense","35":"tag-quinn-rooney","36":"tag-ruck-needy-clubs","37":"tag-sports","38":"tag-sydney","39":"tag-toby-nankervis","40":"tag-trade-news","41":"tag-trade-whispers","42":"tag-triple-m","43":"tag-victoria","44":"tag-western-bulldogs"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=623596"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623596\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/623597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=623596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=623596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=623596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}