2026 Trade / FA Thread

[GreekLunatic]

Tracey looks like a gun player at lease the has a heart and doesn’t go missing much

 

[Chrispiesssss]

We should keep an eye on Will Dawson from the Kangas. He’s a good player, and OOC.

 

[Apex36]

Butts is a free agent, but I think he will hold his spot and thus not be an easy get. Butts as the anchor and Keane and Worrell to do their thing looks great for them. So Murray might become the one who is gettable, but would require a trade.

I’m working on the assumption he’s not in their highest payed players and thus unrestricted, so I don’t see any reason why he wouldn’t be gettable if we gave him the right deal.

 

[sr36]

I’m working on the assumption he’s not in their highest payed players and thus unrestricted, so I don’t see any reason why he wouldn’t be gettable if we gave him the right deal.

Likely gettable - I more meant that he won't be cheap.

 

[Dtennent94]

I’m working on the assumption he’s not in their highest payed players and thus unrestricted, so I don’t see any reason why he wouldn’t be gettable if we gave him the right deal.

Could be worth a Perryman-esque deal if he comes for free. Could be risky, but I think it’d be worthwhile.

 

[Tadpole]

Could be worth a Perryman-esque deal if he comes for free. Could be risky, but I think it’d be worthwhile.

No risk, no reward.

 

[Apex36]

Likely gettable - I more meant that he won't be cheap.

Cheap and good generally don’t come in the same package if you’re trading or offering for a free agent. Butts is good so I don’t mind paying a bit over the odds for him. Will still be far cheaper than the likes of King, Butters or Bailey.

 

[Dtennent94]

Cheap and good generally don’t come in the same package if you’re trading or offering for a free agent. Butts is good so I don’t mind paying a bit over the odds for him. Will still be far cheaper than the likes of King, Butters or Bailey.

My trepidation with this one would be that we will have Moore and Frampton who should be out go-to guys next year. Howe most likely retired. Can we afford/is it wise to bring in a KPD on 900k who might effectively be depth?

Maybe if we were open to Moore playing forward in the case that Frammer and Butts could hold down the defence on their own?

My guess is that if Moore has a stop-start year with injury, then we’d strongly consider it.

 

[Apex36]

My trepidation with this one would be that we will have Moore and Frampton who should be out go-to guys next year. Howe most likely retired. Can we afford/is it wise to bring in a KPD on 900k who might effectively be depth?

Maybe if we were open to Moore playing forward in the case that Frammer and Butts could hold down the defence on their own?

My guess is that if Moore has a stop-start year with injury, then we’d strongly consider it.

Butts is a significant upgrade on Frampton, and Moore’s body is becoming less trustworthy. Howe will likely retire at the end of the year. He would be in the 22 regardless of Frampton, likely would be Frampton and Reef fighting for the 3rd tall spot.

 

[manicpie]

Wilson from the saints would be just dandy

 

[sr36]

Wilson from the saints would be just dandy

Lance Collard will be going cheap ...

 

[Pistol Night]

Wilson from the saints would be just dandy

 

[Go Woods]

How could we have possibly satisfied Blues in a trade for him? What a joke. And he's not exactly setting the world on fire at Swans.

Exactly, they would have asked for 4 1st round picks as a starting point.

 

[footballsack35]

Trent Rivers out of the Melbourne team.

lipinski 2.0
No thanks

 

[gouki88]

lipinski 2.0
No thanks

So a weekly best 23 premiership player? Let’s grab him!

 

[Vankri]

People talk about Tassie hoarding draft picks like a big bogeyman, but the AFL doesn’t want them uncompetitive for years learning from Giants and GC so will make it highly desirable for them to on trade their picks for players.

We may not be able to get our hands on the top of their crop picks as we won’t give star players (don’t even go there with Nick) but this means there’s an opportunity for smart list managers to get inflated prices on B graders as part of a list refresh.

It’s the perfect opportunity for us really with Nick hitting his peak, we just have to be ready to part with some good players and fan favourites and players coaches love (ie McReery, Bruz for leadership in old age).

Before you jump at me I love Beau and Bruz and it could be other players, but just a note that I suggested early last year that we trade Bobby back to WA for a high price to use on Rowell, before the whole saga happened, because of positional depth and need for picks. We’d be sitting pretty…

You’ve got to get players to want to go there but money talks especially in peak earning years and if we’re smart we’re already laying the ground work.

 

[Dtennent94]

People talk about Tassie hoarding draft picks like a big bogeyman, but the AFL doesn’t want them uncompetitive for years learning from Giants and GC so will make it highly desirable for them to on trade their picks for players.

We may not be able to get our hands on the top of their crop picks as we won’t give star players (don’t even go there with Nick) but this means there’s an opportunity for smart list managers to get inflated prices on B graders as part of a list refresh.

It’s the perfect opportunity for us really with Nick hitting his peak, we just have to be ready to part with some good players and fan favourites and players coaches love (ie McReery, Bruz for leadership in old age).

Before you jump at me I love Beau and Bruz and it could be other players, but just a note that I suggested early last year that we trade Bobby back to WA for a high price to use on Rowell, before the whole saga happened, because of positional depth and need for picks. We’d be sitting pretty…

You’ve got to get players to want to go there but money talks especially in peak earning years and if we’re smart we’re already laying the ground work.

Every team needs players like Dan McStay, HDM and Jakob Ryan. Would pain me to part with them, but if it assists with the list refresh, I’ll let them reluctantly go for a few end of R1 picks, I suppose.

 

[nickyds35]

Mentioned this in the other thread, but seems to be a dearth of depth accross the league and 6-8 poor teams.

- New cellar dwellers (Port, Essendon, Carlton)
- On way up (North, Richmond, West Coast)
- Could go either way (Melbourne, St Kilda)

Having a think about how we can make the most of this situation for season 2026 and beyond.

In hindsight, pickups like Perryman, Schultz and Houston look better. Where many of the above teams only bat to around 12 to 16 players before it tapers off, we seem to have a very solid 18-20 players.

 

[Rorzza]

Zac Bailey

33

Zac Bailey

Age

26

Ht

181cm

Wt

84kg

Pos.

M/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

12.7

3star

K

6.9

3star

HB

5.9

4star

M

3.0

3star

T

2.2

4star

CL

0.9

3star

D

12.9

3star

K

7.3

3star

HB

5.6

3star

M

3.9

4star

T

2.4

3star

CL

0.7

3star

D

13.4

4star

K

6.6

3star

HB

6.8

5star

M

3.2

4star

T

2.8

5star

CL

0.6

3star

Cup Thursday night, I hope CFC can hold on.

 

[Apex36]

Every team needs players like Dan McStay, HDM and Jakob Ryan. Would pain me to part with them, but if it assists with the list refresh, I’ll let them reluctantly go for a few end of R1 picks, I suppose.

You lost me at HDM and Ryan. What does every team need with VFL level list cloggers?

 

[Toast of Melbourne]

Mentioned this in the other thread, but seems to be a dearth of depth accross the league and 6-8 poor teams.

- New cellar dwellers (Port, Essendon, Carlton)
- On way up (North, Richmond, West Coast)
- Could go either way (Melbourne, St Kilda)

Having a think about how we can make the most of this situation for season 2026 and beyond.

In hindsight, pickups like Perryman, Schultz and Houston look better. Where many of the above teams only bat to around 12 to 16 players before it tapers off, we seem to have a very solid 18-20 players.

it's time for the AFL to start thinking about cutting a few teams from the comp to counter this lack of depth. I'm nominating St Kilda (irrelevant) and GWS (will never grow a supporter base). I'm good with Essendon, Carlton and Richmond filling up the bottom four spots for the next decade or so..

 

[Vankri]

Every team needs players like Dan McStay, HDM and Jakob Ryan. Would pain me to part with them, but if it assists with the list refresh, I’ll let them reluctantly go for a few end of R1 picks, I suppose.

You lost me at HDM and Ryan. What does every team need with VFL level list cloggers?

I think he was just being facetious! The equation works with trading B grade at an A grade price, but D or E grade for C grade price doesn’t make sense and no one is buying anyway.

 

[Toast of Melbourne]

I think he was just being facetious! The equation works with trading B garder at an A grade price, but D or E grade for C grade price doesn’t make sense and no one is buying anyway.

it took me until R1 picks..

 

[Harry O]

That second rounder we got for Tay Adams is looking like highway robbery

 

[WanderingDude]

Tay Adam’s was good for the Pies. I hated to see him go and wished him well. Sad to see him struggle.