2026 Trade / FA Thread

[NoRebuilds]

If you assume we won't have the trade capitol for King or Butters then I'd target Bailey, Brisbane has said they won't match so it's a free hit. Then I'd go after a pair of bookends, ideally Butts and Lewis, also free hits. For the midfield I'd be in Wardlaw's ear, he's not contracted for next year and he'd come relatively cheap compared to a Butters.

 

[manicpie]

**** me the guys basically a 3 year older version of Naicos and you’d dither over a couple of players with 7 matches total to their name?? They could quite legitimately ask for 4 top 10 picks + a best 22 player and I’d pay it. Butters would be as big an addition for us as Buckley was and with him alongside Naicos we’d potentially be premiership favourite Rd 1 2027.

I have to disagree. Our flankers lack quality as do our KPP. Butters alone won't have that big of an impact. There's quite a few sides with 2 quality midfielders that haven't had much success. If we got Butters and King, I would definitely agree. I reckon we'll pick up a couple of lesser known players. If we give up steene then we're stuck with a flat footed Cameron and will get smashed in the middle anyway. Our draft picks alone won't be enough and we might have to give up 2 players like Steene and McCreery. That would leave us thin for depth. I want Butters but I doubt we're in the game.

 

[Johno9911]

He’s a good fit for them. But this suggests he’s playing like Josh Treacy. His stats are on par with mcstay. My view is the club can’t win. Trying to get younger, moves one on, now the media query it. If he’d stayed, he’d be included in the oldies the media talk about

I viewed the moves and decisions last year as "who could we move that was replaceable?" It was all good and well to have the media (rightly tbf) say we needed to move older/30+ guys on, and the ones that we did move on we felt were at least "more replaceable" than the ones we kept.

WHE and Titch (retired/delisted) - we clearly looked at targeting younger midfielder types in the draft last year, along with the improvement of Ned (particularly in regards to Tom) last year meant the services of WHE and Titch weren't required in 2026

Cox and Mihocek - we knew Buller was coming in and internally have really high hopes on Steene and West. Steene already paying off this year and hopefully the emergence of West isn't too far down the track in 2026. Coxy/Checkers both had opportunities elsewhere and took them - that's just what happens in the AFL industry, especially for guys over 30

Of those we kept - Sidebottom and Pendles at times were our most important midfield pieces in '25, behind only Nick - while Jamie had an AA caliber year and with the Bobby Hill situation unknown at the time, simply had to be kept.

While it's a shame to see the likes of Brody and Mason playing in other colours - I think looking beyond the first 6 games of this season, we made the right decisions on our playing at the end of last year.

 

[Dtennent94]

I have to disagree. Our flankers lack quality as do our KPP. Butters alone won't have that big of an impact. There's quite a few sides with 2 quality midfielders that haven't had much success. If we got Butters and King, I would definitely agree. I reckon we'll pick up a couple of lesser known players. If we give up steene then we're stuck with a flat footed Cameron and will get smashed in the middle anyway. Our draft picks alone won't be enough and we might have to give up 2 players like Steene and McCreery. That would leave us thin for depth. I want Butters but I doubt we're in the game.

They can take Cameron and De Goey then and we will keep one of the 1sts.

 

[manicpie]

They can take Cameron and De Goey then and we will keep one of the 1sts.

Don't temp me, I'd do that.

 

[Scodog10]

I have to disagree. Our flankers lack quality as do our KPP. Butters alone won't have that big of an impact. There's quite a few sides with 2 quality midfielders that haven't had much success. If we got Butters and King, I would definitely agree. I reckon we'll pick up a couple of lesser known players. If we give up steene then we're stuck with a flat footed Cameron and will get smashed in the middle anyway. Our draft picks alone won't be enough and we might have to give up 2 players like Steene and McCreery. That would leave us thin for depth. I want Butters but I doubt we're in the game.

None of those teams without success are pairing Butters and Daicos. We’d take a big weakness (our clearance game) to a big strength in one move. All for basically no cost outside McCreery.

Even if we disagree on what the outcome is for our mix of trading for him I think we can all acknowledge that Butters is the second most valuable trade commodity in the game and what was being discussed as enough for him wouldn’t even get a seat at the table for the most valuable in Naicos (the starting point would be circa 4 x top 5 picks for him). It was ridiculous.

 

[manicpie]

None of those teams without success are pairing Butters and Daicos. We’d take a big weakness (our clearance game) to a big strength in one move. All for basically no cost outside McCreery.

Even if we disagree on what the outcome is for our mix of trading for him I think we can all acknowledge that Butters is the second most valuable trade commodity in the game and what was being discussed as enough for him wouldn’t even get a seat at the table for the most valuable. It’s ridiculous.

Yeah true but we'll be losing probably 3 veterans at the end of this year and that will shrink our depth even more. It's too much outlay for one player.

 

[NoRebuilds]

We need a haul like 2023 Frampton McStay Mitchell Hill Markov, none of them massive names at the time sans Mitchell who was past his prime, in fact a few were labelled spuds. Low cost, high output.

 

[Pistol Night]

They can take Cameron and De Goey then and we will keep one of the 1sts.

Hmm would have said no way 5 weeks ago but Oscar has me a lot more confident about our ruck stocks going forward with DC getting on a bit. Jordy i just couldn't stand to lose for some Stockholm Syndrome like reasoning. Saddens me that he'll never be the player we saw glimpses of being an out and out superstar of the comp

 

[NoRebuilds]

Hmm would have said no way 5 weeks ago but Oscar has me a lot more confident about our ruck stocks going forward with DC getting on a bit. Jordy i just couldn't stand to lose for some Stockholm Syndrome like reasoning. Saddens me that he'll never be the player we saw glimpses off being an out and out superstar of the comp

I'd hold on to Jordy and turn him into the Elliott forward pocket when Billy retires.

 

[Pistol Night]

I'd hold on to Jordy and turn him into the Elliott forward pocket when Billy retires.

Yeah hes too talented to just give away for a token draft pick

 

[Harry O]

I'd hold on to Jordy and turn him into the Elliott forward pocket when Billy retires.

If he has lost his speed and agility , then his utility as a forward will be diminished as well

 

[JLC]

With De Goey, It's about removing the salary as much as it is about the return in terms of picks.

If we assess De Goey and think his midfield days are done then he probably needs to be moved on.

We might have missed the opportunity to trade Cameron in terms of getting a decent return. Might just have to make the best of a not so perfect situation.

Ditto McStay - would be getting his dollars off the books as well.

 

[satty]

With De Goey, It's about removing the salary as much as it is about the return in terms of picks.

If we assess De Goey and think his midfield days are done then he probably needs to be moved on.

We might have missed the opportunity to trade Cameron in terms of getting a decent return. Might just have to make the best of a not so perfect situation.

Ditto McStay - would be getting his dollars off the books as well.

We missed the boat on trading JDG. We are not going to get anything for him and the best we can hope for is a club to take at most 30% of the remainder of his contract that he is owed.

Given where we are as a list, we are better off keeping him around and use his expertise and skill to train and sharpen the next generation.

We are better off keeping dan and cameron for the same reason.

 

[soreplums]

With De Goey, It's about removing the salary as much as it is about the return in terms of picks.

If we assess De Goey and think his midfield days are done then he probably needs to be moved on.

We might have missed the opportunity to trade Cameron in terms of getting a decent return. Might just have to make the best of a not so perfect situation.

Ditto McStay - would be getting his dollars off the books as well.

I agree mostly.
Is McStay still in $600k?

 

[JLC]

I agree mostly.
Is McStay still in $600k?

I would say $600k ish but no idea if front ended or back ended.

McStay isn't a natural forward so I don't think he has the craft of a Gunston or Darling where he could help the younger players. Also doubts on his durability.

We cleared the path for Steene with Cox departing.

Now we need to do something similar for West. If McStay is some amazing role model or leader around the club then possibly you could retain. Then I would move Membrey.

 

[JLC]

We missed the boat on trading JDG. We are not going to get anything for him and the best we can hope for is a club to take at most 30% of the remainder of his contract that he is owed.

Given where we are as a list, we are better off keeping him around and use his expertise and skill to train and sharpen the next generation.

We are better off keeping dan and cameron for the same reason.

You could be right.

JDG is a solid citizen now a days so much less off field risk. I would be more than happy if JDG returned to the team and killed it up forward for the remainder of the season.

 

[satty]

It seems like most clubs are well positioned to match any free agent deal if they want and force a trade.

 

[WanderingDude]

Why do we need Richards back?

I’d take the high quality, high IQ, tall, who can play either end and would be cheap - Tod Marshall

Especially now that he has filled out and added bulk.
But not sure of contract status.

Doesn’t Todd Marshall have serious concussion history? I thought the move to defender was to protect him. Care required.

 

[Go Woods]

I would suggest Zak Butters is not worth that kind of price for where we are. We finally unearth some young players who look like they are up to the level and can be part of our team for the next 10 years... and we immediately look to ship them off (plus our current and future FR picks, plus one of the only speedy runners in our team)? I think that would be utterly ridiculous list management.

Yeah, we can't afford to gut our next 3 years of 1st round picks available to us & potentially give up Steene, Anderson & Beau for one player, we know Butters is almost at Naicos''s level, just to bigger price to pay.

 

[Jen2310]

 

[soreplums]

Do We Get a good draft pick?

 

[BigVic]

Beau just turned 25 2 days ago. He will be 26 in 12 months time and won a flag with us not too long ago. Let's see what we can get if he is to leave

 

[Exambolor]

Beau while important is not a million dollar player atm

 

[Pragmatic Shill]

It makes sense for the Devils to target someone like McCreery.