Interesting. Gold Coast did reach out to Sandilands earlier this year so I think they are open to recruiting another tall that can ruck. Zac Smith is really struggling and Hale tore the Suns a new one on Saturday so I'm sure they would at least be looking at the possiblity. Plus he's a Gold Coast local so that's appealing as well. I think he's contracted to Hawthorn beyond this season so it would have to be a trade for it to occur. Just out of curiousity, without getting ridiculous or greedy, what kind of player would the Hawks want from the Suns if this hypothetical trade went ahead?
David Hale is a two time Premiership player: an experienced ruck man that stands at 201cm and 102 kg that can do a surprising amount of running (watch him run McIntosh into the ground). He also gets goal-side and is a great contested mark. His impact on our side can become really pronounced due to his contested marking and sheer physical presence, which Roughead hasn't really had this year.
That being said, he's 31 years old (going on 32 I believe) and has had back problems, to the point where it was expected his career would be unfortunately over. His recovery this year was unexpected and good to see.
He's also not particularly quick and can sometimes fade out of games.
With McEvoy waiting in the wings (and hopefully a kick up his ass to perform), it could be conceivable to trade Hale to the Gold Coast. I wouldn't like it, but it's conceivable given his age. We certainly did it to other players like Renouf and Williams when they had injury queries over them.
In 2012 Hawthorn traded picks 21 and picks 41 to the Bulldogs for Lake and Pick 27. Lake was an established player, but also had injury problems and queries that he would never be "the player he used to be". He came over to Hawthorn and rejuvenated his career.
Best case scenario is probably Gold Coast's second round and third round pick for Hale and our second. This way, Hawthorn gets a substantial upgrade on their second round pick (Gold Coast's second pick is probably going to be in the 19-22 range unless they have a massive form turnaround) and a sweetener with the third. Gold Coast get a pick downgrade on their second, but also get an experienced Premiership ruck man in David Hale. Again, I say this is probably the best case scenario. Worst case is probably Hale+Third (to GC) for Third+Fourth pick.
It also means that Hawthorn have a bit more flexibility when it comes to further trades as they have more of the proverbial weight to throw around with draft picks.
In terms of players, there's really two things Hawthorn probably want: a genuine midfield class or a potential KPF. Gold Coast don't really have players in those departments that they'd want to part with (looking at you Peter Wright and O'Meara), meaning a player for player trade would most likely not occur. Hawthorn could potentially be interested in defender Jack Leslie who's basically a carbon copy of Lake in terms of size, but with Brand and Heatherly coming through the system with high prospects from the coaches I don't think we'd be too interested in drafting key backman and if we were we'd do so through the draft.
If a hypothetical trade went ahead, I'd expect it to probably be for picks alone.