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2026/2027 Draft & Trade Periods

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I think Thomas is the only top 40 draft pick we have taken in the last 3 years that is not from the academy.

It is sad but true that they would be happier if we kept drafting out of Victoria (Humper, Mac, Noah, Rowell, BKing) and they kept trying to lure them back, even if it means they can now draft the Humper equivalent themselves.

I mean, if Humper was in this draft we COULD NOT draft him. He would go to a Melbourne club. FFS, make up your minds.
 
Inevitably some of our good non-QLD players are going to get godfather offers to go home, and some of them we won't be able to keep.

Hopefully like the Giants have done the last decade, we can continue to get top tier draft capital to continue to replenish our talent stocks, to keep us in finals contention over the long term.

Getting the local talent over the last 3 years will be critical in having a core of players that don't have the pull of family, and are happy to play their careers at the Suns.
 
I'm really happy with Craig Camerons and Kal Burns efforts over the last 3 years to get us to the position we were in for this years draft. I didn't actually think we would be able to get all 5 of our academy lads, but to be honest we didn't have to overpay to get them.

Humper will be gone next year, that's inevitable, but at leats we can scalp Melbourne for 2-3 1st rounders, and use those to attract another A grade player who wants to come to the Suns.
 
Sunrise 2009 said:
I'm really happy with Craig Camerons and Kal Burns efforts over the last 3 years to get us to the position we were in for this years draft. I didn't actually think we would be able to get all 5 of our academy lads, but to be honest we didn't have to overpay to get them.

Humper will be gone next year, that's inevitable, but at leats we can scalp Melbourne for 2-3 1st rounders, and use those to attract another A grade player who wants to come to the Suns.
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Not that I want to lose Humphrey. Nor am I resigned to it happening.

But if a player doesn’t go, we don’t have a lot to play with. We traded out of next year’s draft almost exclusively. So we can’t really get anyone in without losing 1-2 players of note.
 

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I think you can pull off the hold them to their deal once without much blow back from the player, but if we did it 2 years in a row, that might start creating problems.

If he doesn't come around to the idea of staying like Papley at the Swans, trade him for some high quality picks which we can trade on for a quality ready made small forward.
 
kreglze said:
I think you can pull off the hold them to their deal once without much blow back from the player, but if we did it 2 years in a row, that might start creating problems.

If he doesn't come around to the idea of staying like Papley at the Swans, trade him for some high quality picks which we can trade on for a quality ready made small forward.
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Dunno about that. He's under contract, in the end it's up to the club.

If he stills wants to go next year then whichever club he wants has to come up with a deal to satisfy the Suns. That's what happens when you take the money on a long term deal. You lose the power to decide. He can sook as much as he likes, but unless the rest of the players feel he's being treated unfairly (unlikely in this case) he'll just have to handle it.

Hard to see what Melbourne can give to interest the Suns. We don't need more high draft picks really, the squad is bursting with talent. Same goes for Hawthorn.
 
kreglze said:
I think you can pull off the hold them to their deal once without much blow back from the player, but if we did it 2 years in a row, that might start creating problems.

If he doesn't come around to the idea of staying like Papley at the Swans, trade him for some high quality picks which we can trade on for a quality ready made small forward.
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That was the case till this year. I feel like Essendon took the power back. Humper may not even try haha
 
Maybe Tomorrow said:
Dunno about that. He's under contract, in the end it's up to the club.

If he stills wants to go next year then whichever club he wants has to come up with a deal to satisfy the Suns. That's what happens when you take the money on a long term deal. You lose the power to decide. He can sook as much as he likes, but unless the rest of the players feel he's being treated unfairly (unlikely in this case) he'll just have to handle it.

Hard to see what Melbourne can give to interest the Suns. We don't need more high draft picks really, the squad is bursting with talent. Same goes for Hawthorn.
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I think half the issue is he really isn't on the 'money' that he is worth and is probably bring paid well below market value
 
kreglze said:
I think half the issue is he really isn't on the 'money' that he is worth and is probably bring paid well below market value
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We don't know the reasons except that he is the key pillar of Moe community but money could be the one. I can imagine his s***t friends telling him he could earn double in Vic.

Let's see how he goes. He came in early.

When I re-watch games I have to say watching him annoys me.
 
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thurls64 said:
so far so good maybe?

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If there was a problem, I hardly think collo is gonna offer it up in an interview.

On the flip side, I doubt the media are gonna just leave marra alone now that he’s up on the coast, if he ****s up, well know
 

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lommy said:
If there was a problem, I hardly think collo is gonna offer it up in an interview.

On the flip side, I doubt the media are gonna just leave marra alone now that he’s up on the coast, if he ****s up, well know
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BUT of all people at the club Collo is the least likely to sugar coat or do a puff piece if the kid was borderline flaky he wouldn't go on record for him, anyway just early days but he is much fitter and hasn't seemingly strayed yet
 
Here is a longer interview

Gold Coast star Bailey Humphrey says his failed push to be traded home to Victoria for family reasons has not soured his relationships at the club declaring “nothing has changed” despite the tense saga that played out in October.
Speaking for the first time since the trade period, during which he was photographed meeting with Demons coach Steven King in Melbourne, Humphrey reiterated that his desire to be traded to a Victorian club was purely about family and had nothing to do with the Suns.

“It got probably a bit overplayed in the media a little bit but from my point of view it was all sort of just about some struggles and stuff that I had back home with family,” he said.


“The conversations I had with the club were it was never about the people at the club. I love the club, I love the people.

“I just thought with the struggles that were going on back home it would be easier to deal with that if Melbourne was an option, to go back.

“But the club were very clear they weren’t going to let it happen and that was very fair of them.

“I probably don’t want to go into too much detail with it just because I don’t want that going out in the media but yeah, it is just a lot of family stuff and I’m a big family person so I just didn’t really want too much of the stress when … if something did happen at home, it is a bit harder to get there and to deal with it so I just thought it would be easier (living in Victoria).”

Humphrey said he was never concerned about returning to the club for pre-season because he knew his teammates understood the reasons why he sought a trade to Victoria.

“The reason it hasn’t been so awkward is because it never was about the people at the club, money … anything about leaving like that,” he said.

“It was all about family and I think the boys sort of understood that.

“Nothing has changed. It was never awkward. We had a heap of optional training sessions that I got to in the off-season as well when I came back.

“It was never like I was scared to show up because it was going to be awkward. I knew it was never going to be awkward just because of the situation and how we had communicated with the club.”


The 21-year-old is contracted to the Suns to the end of the 2028 season after signing a long-term extension in June 2023.

Gold Coast was adamant throughout the trade period that he would not be traded under any circumstances.

Humphrey said after the images of his meeting with King and Melbourne assistant Nathan Jones surfaced “conversations with the club (Suns) were a bit more frequent” regarding his desire to be traded.

“Throughout that whole period the club were still very clear that it (a trade) wasn’t going to happen,” he said.

“After that I sort of understood and let it all go.

“I just tried to get as much sorted (at home) while I could in the off-season.

“It is pretty clear I’m signed. I’ve got a contract to live up to and stuff like that and yeah, I’m just focusing on this season and what I can do best for the team.

“The club have been great, they have understood the whole thing. They made it very clear at the start they weren’t going to trade me – and that is a good thing, it just means they love me and they want me at the club so it’s not like I’m complaining about that.

“They have been very good in understanding what was going on back home and helping me out with some things – more family time up here or if I need a night after a game or something just to see family and stuff they are very understanding which is good.”

Given his circumstances Victorian clubs are likely to monitor Humphrey throughout 2026 and could ask the question once again ahead of next year’s trade period.

Asked whether he would revisit the possibility of a trade request next year and if he understood that there would be noise around him because of how things played out in October, Humphrey said:

“I think that is probably, definitely now a little too far into the future so I don’t really know and I can’t really answer that.

“I’m just focusing on now and how I can be the best teammate and best person around the club.

“It is not about the people or the club or anything like that, it was more just focusing on what I had going on back home but for the future I’m not looking too far ahead.”

But Humphrey is looking forward to the prospect of partnering with ex-Demon Christian Petracca next season.

While Melbourne was courting Humphrey the Suns had already convinced Petracca to a request a trade to the Glitter Strip and instead of swapping clubs as was at one stage mooted, the pair will play together next season.


Humphrey was one of the first people Petracca called once his trade was finalised and the two have already struck up a bond throughout the pre-season.

“He just spoke to me through that period and wanted to reassure me that everything would be all right and that we have got some special things happening up here and he couldn’t wait to play with me,” Humphrey said.

“It was pretty cool to get that phone call.

“For me it’s a little bit scary to have him come in and play my position – he is the best person to play that position in the last five, six, seven years.

“I can’t wait to learn off him. He’s going to be very good for my development over the next couple of years and hopefully I can get to half the player he is.

“I spend a fair bit of time with him. He has been good for a lot of the younger boys, cooking us dinner and stuff the last couple weeks.

“He’s a very personable person. He’s pretty easy to talk to and get along with.

“He is someone I probably looked up to when I was going through all the pathways to sort of play my footy like him because we have similar attributes. I can’t wait to bring them out together and see how we go.”
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