2026 Trade / FA Thread

[Jen2310]

Some relevant info from this article

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/inside-collingwoods-plans-for-nick-daicos-agrade-targets-and-managing-the-age-of-the-list/news-story/27cd826cedef2be9afabcd3ace3a3aca

 

[Pragmatic Shill]

Some relevant info from this article

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/inside-collingwoods-plans-for-nick-daicos-agrade-targets-and-managing-the-age-of-the-list/news-story/27cd826cedef2be9afabcd3ace3a3aca

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Suggest you also post the info from that article about Nick's deal and the situation with the Daicos family as it's relevant to trade/free agency.

 

[Pragmatic Shill]

Suggest you also post the info from that article about Nick's deal and the situation with the Daicos family as it's relevant to trade/free agency.

Full text of the article has been posted here:

 

[Eric Shin]

Love that the club is wanting to hold onto it’s draft picks.

 

[SchuPie]

Man I wish all those players were UFA

Rowell will be at end of next year?

 

[legendstatus]

I don't reckon King is the real answer for what it would cost, still think West will come good for us and Buller needs more time in our system, would rather gun midfielders. We are really struggling in center clearances and Naicos needs a chop off big time!!!

 

[nickyds35]

Tbh,

If we can get to the end of the year, and all of West, Steel, Harrison, Hill and maybe one or two of the others are in the team and playing good footy, then it alleviates some of the speed/transition and age demographic concerns we have and gives us more options going forward.

It means we can approach the off season in a more methodical way (not scattergun) and only deal on a free agent or trade if it is a good deal for us.

 

[Scodog10]

Man I wish all those players were UFA

Rowell will be at end of next year?

Rowell is eligible for UFA status in 2029.

 

[WanderingDude]

Tbh,

If we can get to the end of the year, and all of West, Steel, Harrison, Hill and maybe one or two of the others are in the team and playing good footy, then it alleviates some of the speed/transition and age demographic concerns we have and gives us more options going forward.

It means we can approach the off season in a more methodical way (not scattergun) and only deal on a free agent or trade if it is a good deal for us.

Agree. Playing some youngsters at the right times, improving current players and adjusting to rule/game plan changes will go a long way. If 4 new players are established this year would be great. The few games and the lack of elite traits in our youngsters hurt at the moment. Improvement this year and end of year list changes are crucial.

 

[SchuPie]

Rowell is eligible for UFA status in 2029.

Blah - that sucks

Great cap space - we need UFAs

 

[soreplums]

Which best 23 player(s) would we consider trading to Port if it had to be part of a deal for Butters?

 

[Jen2310]

cal says dogs for butters. We are 3rd or 4th in line
Best we forget about him

 

[gouki88]

Feels like we are trailing in the race for all 4 of those players:

• Butters (behind Geelong and Bulldogs)
• King (bedding Gold Coast and Hawthorn)
• Humphrey (behind Hawthorn and Melbourne)
• Bailey Humphrey (behind Hawthorn)

Despite being a massive club since the turn of the century, we have always struggled to get the a-grade recruits we have really wanted, despite having significant needs (see Lynch, Cameron ect).

Let’s hope this is the year that changes.

Getting 1 or 2 of any of these 4 players completely changes the trajectory/outlook for the club (i.e. hushes the old list list), particularly if we can get 1 of them without being matched.

Unless you think Hawthorn can realistically pursue all 3 of Bailey, Humphrey & King, then we’re not really in a bad spot

 

[nickyds35]

cal says dogs for butters. We are 3rd or 4th in line
Best we forget about him

Said this last year on the forum after speaking to a very close family member of his.

At that stage, he only had serious approaches from western bulldogs and Geelong.

We had not even made an approach.

Unfortunately, like Lynch and Cameron, we are again late to the party.

- Considering we are the biggest club in the league, and have one of the biggest player managers in the country taking care of our affairs, seems like we are again all over the shop with our approach.

Annoying.

 

[stormskye]

Said this last year on the forum after speaking to a very close family member of his.

At that stage, he only had serious approaches from western bulldogs and Geelong.

We had not even made an approach.

Unfortunately, like Lynch and Cameron, we are again late to the party.

- Considering we are the biggest club in the league, and have one of the biggest player managers in the country taking care of our affairs, seems like we are again all over the shop with our approach.

Annoying.

You keep posting this same thing over and over about our trading. Outside of missing a couple of big names we’ve traded very well for the most part.
Butters cost in both $ and trade will be ridiculous and far to much anyway for one player regardless how good he is.

 

[Peters_Nuts]

You keep posting this same thing over and over about our trading. Outside of missing a couple of big names we’ve traded very well for the most part.
Butters cost in both $ and trade will be ridiculous and far to much anyway for one player regardless how good he is.

Trying to think of the last big name we missed out on to another team.

We were never getting Jezza or Baz because of the Geelong lifestyle factor. Petracca sounded like he needed a fresh state interstate.

Tom Lynch is the last one I remember where we were close.

 

[nickyds35]

You keep posting this same thing over and over about our trading. Outside of missing a couple of big names we’ve traded very well for the most part.
Butters cost in both $ and trade will be ridiculous and far to much anyway for one player regardless how good he is.

Geelong, Hawthorn, Brisbane, Sydney and even Adelaide have added good players consistantly over the last 10-15 years.

As an example, next year, 3 of Adelaide's top 4 players (Rankine, Dawson, and potentially Bailey) could be players they have acquired via trad from other clubs in the last 3-4 years.

We missed out on Lynch and Cameron, despite having the worst key forwards in the league as an example.

The best clubs consistantly attract the best players (and usually at a cheaper price than the poorer-run clubs do).

I think we have been good at attracting good B+/A- level players (Treloar, Houston, Schultz), but I think a lot of holes in our team have been masked by the fact that older gunds (pendlebury, sidebottom, howe) have player to a higher level for longer than we anticipated.

 

[nickyds35]

Unless you think Hawthorn can realistically pursue all 3 of Bailey, Humphrey & King, then we’re not really in a bad spot

Sorry typo:

• King (favoured to stay at GC)
• Butters (WB)
• Humphrey (Hawthorn)
• Bailey (Adelaide the frontrunners)

 

[Pistol Night]

Which best 23 player(s) would we consider trading to Port if it had to be part of a deal for Butters?

Beau

 

[sideswipe]

Geelong, Hawthorn, Brisbane, Sydney and even Adelaide have added good players consistantly over the last 10-15 years.

As an example, next year, 3 of Adelaide's top 4 players (Rankine, Dawson, and potentially Bailey) could be players they have acquired via trad from other clubs in the last 3-4 years.

We missed out on Lynch and Cameron, despite having the worst key forwards in the league as an example.

The best clubs consistantly attract the best players (and usually at a cheaper price than the poorer-run clubs do).

I think we have been good at attracting good B+/A- level players (Treloar, Houston, Schultz), but I think a lot of holes in our team have been masked by the fact that older gunds (pendlebury, sidebottom, howe) have player to a higher level for longer than we anticipated.

Sounds like you are looking for clouds in a silver lining.

 

[Dtennent94]

Which best 23 player(s) would we consider trading to Port if it had to be part of a deal for Butters?

Every team needs a player like McStay.

 

[nickyds35]

Sounds like you are looking for clouds in a silver lining.

TBH sometimes I ramble on abit about list management and it might sound more negative then I intend it to be.

Overall, I think we are not in as bad a place as the media paints us (although I do think we have some holes).

If we can get to the end of the year and all of West, Harrison, Steel and Hill are back in the team (and maybe 1 or 2 of the other younger guys) and playing good footy, then I think it alleviates some of the speed/transition and age demographic concerns we have, and will leave us well positioned considering the core of our best players are still between 27-31.

------------

From a strategy/higher level point of view, my critisisms of the list management side of the club over recent years are that:

1. We don't seem to put ground work into players 12-24 months ahead of time and its meant we have missed out on some of the very top tier players (e.g. Richmond were putting work into Lynch 2 years out). Our strategy seems to be be to wait until the back end of each season and see what opportunities there are (Cal Twomey even said this on Gettable last year). Both Houston and Schultz trades came this way.
2. Also wish we leveraged the fact that were are the biggest team with the biggest crowd better. In any other sport (even those with salary caps), the best players in the league gravitate towards the biggest clubs. We play in front of 70,000+ most weeks at the MCG, however, this has rarely translated to us attracting the best players.

 

[sideswipe]

TBH sometimes I ramble on abit about list management and it might sound more negative then I intend it to be.

Overall, I think we are not in as bad a place as the media paints us (although I do think we have some holes).

If we can get to the end of the year and all of West, Harrison, Steel and Hill are back in the team (and maybe 1 or 2 of the other younger guys) and playing good footy, then I think it alleviates some of the speed/transition and age demographic concerns we have, and will leave us well positioned considering the core of our best players are still between 27-31.

------------

From a strategy/higher level point of view, my critisisms of the list management side of the club over recent years are that:

1. We don't seem to put ground work into players 12-24 months ahead of time and its meant we have missed out on some of the very top tier players (e.g. Richmond were putting work into Lynch 2 years out). Our strategy seems to be be to wait until the back end of each season and see what opportunities there are (Cal Twomey even said this on Gettable last year). Both Houston and Schultz trades came this way.
2. Also wish we leveraged the fact that were are the biggest team with the biggest crowd better. In any other sport (even those with salary caps), the best players in the league gravitate towards the biggest clubs. We play in front of 70,000+ most weeks at the MCG, however, this has rarely translated to us attracting the best players.

"We don't seem to put ground work into players 12-24 months ahead"

That's your imagination.

 

[gouki88]

Sorry typo:

• King (favoured to stay at GC)
• Butters (WB)
• Humphrey (Hawthorn)
• Bailey (Adelaide the frontrunners)

Adelaide? Have I missed something? Feels like we are just as in it for Humphrey and Bailey as anyone.

Agree that GC has the obvious advantage in retaining King. But it’ll squeeze them elsewhere

 

[Scodog10]

Blah - that sucks

Great cap space - we need UFAs

The way the system is structured UFA’s are rarely as desirable as RFA’s so I don’t share your opinion.