2026 Trade / FA Thread

[TradeDraft]

Lachie Neale would be an exceptional get IF he is truly interested in getting to Collingwood. Costs nothing and at 32, while he is older he certainly looks like he has 3-4 years left in him.

It’s a big IF though. I won’t believe it’s a story just because Tom Morris said so on SEN. These journos are just guessing as well.

Not Worth Listening too until both ours and Brisbane Lions Seasons End

 

[tmpies01]

Fev doing a victory lap after yesterday’s Tom Morris prediction lol

 

[WanderingDude]

I reckon a good mid sized forward is a much safer bet. Morris, Georgiadis, Gunston, Waterman, Voss and Pods

Gruzewski
(Hogan has still not signed. Not a mid)

 

[Apex36]

I think JUH, Smith and Oliver were special cases. Huge potential and huge risk. All three were very clear about where they wished to
Land.

99.9% of players are very clear about where they wish to land, so that’s not a factor that separates them. Walter is also high risk, high potential having been an early draft pick that’s not shown much after being drafted, but having an athletic profile to become great. In a football sense he’s a far higher risk than those 3 given their respective careers at trade time, despite being somewhat of a cleanskin.

 

[Carlthetruth]

Jed Walter and Ben King AFL Stats Comparison

Jed Walter and Ben King AFL Stats Comparison.

www.footywire.com

2020 King v 2026 Walter, maybe factor in Jed is only just getting started! And quit it with the mediocre player bundles and picks suggestions he's worth a first rounder minimum and any thing less than that isn't being serious.

 

[Jen2310]

Schultz said tonight that people underestimate how hard it is to come across to a big club, the spotlight is immense.

 

[legendstatus]

Walters will cost any team a first rounder and potentially 2 - that's the ask no matter what we think, the kid is still young, you could almost draw similarities to when Hogan was young and look how he turned out, no brainer for Pies to go hard after a power forward.

Walters and Neale would be super off season acquisition

 

[well left]

Gruzewski
(Hogan has still not signed. Not a mid)

Gruzewski is the other one I’d look at. Think he’s more likely to fit how we play.

 

[tmpies01]

Schultz said tonight that people underestimate how hard it is to come across to a big club, the spotlight is immense.

More so if you know the club gave up a fair bit to get you.

 

[Exambolor]

Lachie Neale would be an exceptional get IF he is truly interested in getting to Collingwood. Costs nothing and at 32, while he is older he certainly looks like he has 3-4 years left in him.

It’s a big IF though. I won’t believe it’s a story just because Tom Morris said so on SEN. These journos are just guessing as well.

If we did get him it’d be the Tom Mitchell move but better.

Help for Nick and helps bridge the gap while we get some more young talent and draftees in

 

[unplugged]

Schultz said tonight that people underestimate how hard it is to come across to a big club, the spotlight is immense.

Where'd he say this? He'd do well to not say this type of thing for the sake of future recruits!

 

[Apex36]

Forwards are seemingly being way overvalued this year. We know what Amartey offers, and Walter is largely unproven - both of them either hitting six figures or very close to it. I'd genuinely rather stick with McStay.

Assuming you mean 7 figures, $750k is still a fair way off that. Armatey is getting dumb offers because he’s a FA and having a decent season, Walter won’t get that type of money.

 

[gouki88]

I reckon a good mid sized forward is a much safer bet. Morris, Georgiadis, Gunston, Waterman, Voss and Pods

Would be over the moon if we poached Georgiades

 

[Jen2310]

Where'd he say this? He'd do well to not say this type of thing for the sake of future recruits!

Club 42 event.

 

[Scodog10]

Walters will cost any team a first rounder and potentially 2 - that's the ask no matter what we think, the kid is still young, you could almost draw similarities to when Hogan was young and look how he turned out, no brainer for Pies to go hard after a power forward.

Walters and Neale would be super off season acquisition

If he were contracted I could agree, but coming OOC GC don’t have the leverage to seek such a rich price (unless he blossoms by years end). It’s also worth remembering who’s into him to pay such a price. Carlton don’t have the picks, Essendon won’t split theirs or part with their 2027 1st for Walter, Geelong have too many fingers in other pies and their pick won’t have value anyway and given the breadth of list needs we have I doubt we offer a top 6-10 pick.

I think we’ll see the ranger come out in Leppa this trade period if Walter chooses us and the draft threat will flag very quickly.

FWIW enough of the Hogan comparisons! Hogan had 100+ goals to his name after his first three seasons. The only current forward near Hogan at a similar career stage is Morris who actually would be worth the high end picks if he were on the market.

 

[PiesHateU2]

I don't know about Walter. Sure, he's got potential but I'm really tired of seeing the Pies go to the national draft year after year with nothing in the first round. The cream is usually gone by the time our name comes up in the late 20s early 30s.

My view is we either package up multiple first round picks for an out and out superstar of the comp (like Butters) who immediately makes an impact for us on-field, or go moneyball like we did in 2022 and find the best available but cheap-trade options to fill gaps in our list, of which there are several, and take pick 8 (based on current ladder position) to the draft and get an exceptional young talent.

And if you can get a player like Neale as an UFA then you're paying a high salary but nothing for trade... and I don't think Neale on 900K is a bad deal when Pez is probably getting paid the same. Pez is increasingly becoming a key cog in our system but Neale is undoubtedly at the next level, so

 

[PiesHateU2]

The other thing I wonder about is, looking at the way we play, would a gun key forward such as Jeremy Cameron

5

Jeremy Cameron

Age

33

Ht

196cm

Wt

94kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

12.5

3star

K

9.0

3star

HB

3.4

3star

M

5.4

5star

T

1.6

4star

G

2.6

5star

D

10.0

3star

K

7.1

3star

HB

2.9

2star

M

4.6

4star

T

2.0

3star

G

1.9

5star

D

8.2

2star

K

5.0

2star

HB

3.2

3star

M

4.6

5star

T

2.4

4star

G

2.0

5star

or Ben King

34

Ben King

Age

25

Ht

202cm

Wt

98kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

7.2

2star

K

5.0

2star

HB

2.2

2star

M

3.5

4star

T

0.5

3star

G

1.3

5star

D

7.5

2star

K

5.6

2star

HB

1.9

1star

M

3.6

4star

T

0.3

1star

G

1.5

5star

D

6.8

2star

K

4.4

2star

HB

2.4

3star

M

3.2

4star

T

0.2

3star

G

1.0

4star

actually be as effective in our system as they are in their current clubs?

I don't understand the game well enough to point to the exact issue but what I do see match after match is the shocking quality of delivery inside 50, where our targets are constantly outnumbered 2 to 1. I don't know how many times I've seen McStay for example get held up by a defender while the second (free) defender gobbles up the mark. Or is it that our forwards don't actually have elite running patterns and don't know how to create the right kind of leads.

Don't know... I just have an inkling that our current system is not built for the power forward types, and it will likely take a genuine 60-70 goal forward and convert them into a 30-goal forward. Have heard Fly say himself a few times, we don't rely on one guy kicking 5-6 goals. Fair enough, but then we don't seem to have enough firepower collectively to kick more than 10 goals consistently either. So should our system change to more forward-focus? Look at Sydney, Geelong, Freo, Doggies, Suns, even the Hawks and tell me that they don't really rely on (or feed) their forwards for their scores.

 

[scplaya42]

Hello Bigfooty!

The selling point for me with Neale is that he wouldn’t take away from any of our prospective midfielders. Jordy's form has been superb but he is simply not reliable physically. I'm keen for the club to give more time to our young key forwards before targeting a ready made forward. Buller deserves a block of games to see what he's capable of. Geelong did it with Shannon Neale when he wasn't up to it and now look at him.

 

[sr36]

Walters will cost any team a first rounder and potentially 2 - that's the ask no matter what we think, the kid is still young, you could almost draw similarities to when Hogan was young and look how he turned out, no brainer for Pies to go hard after a power forward.

Walters and Neale would be super off season acquisition

Hogan was a gun in his first season.

 

[Scodog10]

Hogan was a gun in his first season.

First 3. He averaged 2 goals a game across his first 3 seasons in a dreadful Demons team. Speaking of dreadful how’s about ol mate Carlthetruth comparing King’s COVID year reduced match time numbers when GC were coming off a spoon against Walter’s in the current GC side which should be a premiership favourite…

 

[MooreDaicos]

Hello Bigfooty!

The selling point for me with Neale is that he wouldn’t take away from any of our prospective midfielders. Jordy's form has been superb but he is simply not reliable physically. I'm keen for the club to give more time to our young key forwards before targeting a ready made forward. Buller deserves a block of games to see what he's capable of. Geelong did it with Shannon Neale when he wasn't up to it and now look at him.

I remember when D Cameron came over, he wasn't that great either, talls take longer, so anything is possible. From what I can gather, it takes awhile to settle in with our system, unless you're coming from a team that plays similar, and the huge attention might take even longer to get used to for some.
I think it took Schoota a season to come good, so patience might be what we have to endure with most new recruits. The ones with good footy smarts may adjust quite quickly.

 

[Scodog10]

My take on comparisons to Walter both positive and negative against others who were the first selected KPF in the draft would be Kennedy, Patton and Boyd. A further positive comparison who was slow out of the blocks without the high draft profile is Treacy. You could chuck Schache in there I guess, but he was always more flanker than KPF, IMO.

 

[MooreDaicos]

Hello Bigfooty!

The selling point for me with Neale is that he wouldn’t take away from any of our prospective midfielders. Jordy's form has been superb but he is simply not reliable physically. I'm keen for the club to give more time to our young key forwards before targeting a ready made forward. Buller deserves a block of games to see what he's capable of. Geelong did it with Shannon Neale when he wasn't up to it and now look at him.

Oh and hi, I didn't see that you are new. Welcome!

 

[Scodog10]

Hello Bigfooty!

The selling point for me with Neale is that he wouldn’t take away from any of our prospective midfielders. Jordy's form has been superb but he is simply not reliable physically. I'm keen for the club to give more time to our young key forwards before targeting a ready made forward. Buller deserves a block of games to see what he's capable of. Geelong did it with Shannon Neale when he wasn't up to it and now look at him.

Welcome aboard as well.

I’d just like to point out that Neale is 2 years younger than Buller and that Buller had that block of games at Sydney late in 2025. It hasn’t helped him at all with us considering the significant flaws he’s shown in his game. I would acknowledge though that he’d be better than Long at least. Although that isn’t saying much considering an inanimate carbon rod could trump Long as a forward…

 

[yeah man]

Assuming you mean 7 figures, $750k is still a fair way off that. Armatey is getting dumb offers because he’s a FA and having a decent season, Walter won’t get that type of money.

haha I'm having a shocker today, not sure why. But yes I meant 7 figures. My lucidity has escaped me today