2026 Trade / FA Thread

[footballsack35]

We desperately need a KPD.
Moore is the most injury prone player on our list at the moment (behind reef)
This is likely Howe's last year.
Frampton is also 29, not exactly young.
We should be going after Butts hard

 

[Harry O]

Need Picks more then Players

Ed Allan and HDM were picks. Just saying

 

[SchuPie]

Ed Allan and HDM were picks. Just saying

So were Sidey and Beams. Just saying.
Edit: I just think the absolute guns at clubs tend to come from being drafted there - to bring them in usually costs enormously in terms of draft and cap capital

This is circular.

I think it's ok to think trading is the best way to go.
I think it's ok to think drafting is the best way to go.
I think it's ok to think balancing a mix of drafting + trading is the best way to go.

It prob depends on many different factors - more than I can list.
I would suggest everyone has different opinions on where they see the list / future at.

 

[sr36]

We should be going after Butts hard

 

[MoreMoore]

I said this about 3 weeks ago and everyone derided me. I suggested bringing in Butts and cashing in on Moore (not a realistic suggestion as I don’t think the club would do it under any circumstances).

Improves our cap, improves our age profile, likely improves our performance and we get to shed an injury prone player.

In that case, you also keep Howe for another year if he’s happy to play for chips.

I forgot about Butts
Would be incredible to go all in for King, Neale and Butts as free agents .
Give Moore a refresh and play him as second ruck behind Steene and he can play his loose interception role around the ground without being responsible for a forward.
Could then look at trading Cameron to WC for Hewitt and still have a potential high first round pick.
Freo could also be interested in Cameron with Darcy cooked and out of date and Cox coming to the end.

 

[sr36]

Need Picks more then Players

Picks become players. We need to turn our picks into players and get the best value we can - either through trade or draft - who cares which way. It's whether or not you turn them into good players that matters. There is no right way.

 

[Roverjg]

Really well argued points
I don’t fully agree with them but this is why I enjoyed reading this board and getting alternative viewpoints

At the end of 2023 and getting the flag, I thought we needed to start get in a young key forward / fast tough mids (not easy I know) as the next wave so I’d have done it differently - but that may have played out worse - but I won’t shy away from what I thought was right

Schultz / Houston are great acquisitions but I wouldn’t have paid up for them - just IMO - but I can see why the club others thought it was the way to go — just thought it should have been YTT
Perhaps I’d look at these trades more favourably if I was so annoyed at picks we did make around that time and it’s transference of frustration

Perryman I loved this - only hit to our cap and super versatile

Anyway, it’s done

If Howes and West can take the next step it will be really help our build - and we need them to

Now it’s about getting in UFA that are going to support Nick and finding a way to trade talent in cheaply or draft some speed, toughness

So what do we do at the end of 2026?
Kelly’s comments seem to suggest we’ll use our picks and try to bring in more (no how yet)
I’m not convinced picks won’t go out again

Here’s hoping we absolutely nail the picks we do keep

Schu,

I was responding to NickyD’s comments that “Other teams recruit what they need (Smith to Geelong, Lynch to Tigers, Daniher/Neale to Lions), we just recruit what falls into our lap in trade week (Houston, Perryman, Schultz)” – Negligent list management. He just used the wrong examples to support his view.

I think your overall point is spot on — the issue isn’t simply “we traded for established players,” because every successful club does that at times. The problem is the cumulative list management strategy and the opportunity cost attached to it.

Geelong brought in Jeremy Cameron and still kept regenerating talent. Brisbane added Neale and Daniher while simultaneously building youth underneath. Richmond landed Lynch after already assembling a young premiership core. Those clubs supplemented strong pipelines.

Our issue is that we’ve repeatedly tried to extend contention without adequately replenishing the next wave.

The club clearly backed:
• the Daicos era as a flag window that should be attacked aggressively,
• gradual management of the ageing profile,
• experienced role players over partial reset/rebuild,
• and immediate contention over future draft capital.

From that lens, Perryman, Schultz and Houston are understandable decisions. Perryman especially makes sense structurally because of his versatility and reliability. The bigger concern is whether we were already too old and too slow before adding more mature-age pieces.

Like you, I don’t think the issue is one individual deal in isolation — it’s the accumulation:

• missed draft opportunities
• poor retention/development in certain periods
• lack of speed and explosiveness added over multiple drafts
• then needing to spend more picks bringing in ready-made players to patch holes.

That’s why our earlier mistakes become magnified.

The Beams trade is still probably the clearest modern example. It wasn’t just the picks themselves — it was the downstream damage:
• loss of premium draft capital,
• salary cap distortions,
• Treloar restructuring his deal,
• teammates taking pay cuts,
• and eventually the ugly fallout that followed.

Likewise the Sam Murray situation hurts more in hindsight because Rowbottom became exactly the type of hard, two-way midfielder we’ve lacked around the Daicos core.

And I think your final point is probably correct too: if a genuine A-grader becomes available that fits the Daicos timeline, I fully expect the club to move future picks again. They’ve consistently shown they value staying in the window over preserving draft flexibility.

The gamble is obvious: Can we regenerate on the run long enough for Nick’s prime years to produce another flag before the age profile finally collapses?

 

[MoreMoore]

Schu,

I was responding to NickyD’s comments that “Other teams recruit what they need (Smith to Geelong, Lynch to Tigers, Daniher/Neale to Lions), we just recruit what falls into our lap in trade week (Houston, Perryman, Schultz)” – Negligent list management. He just used the wrong examples to support his view.

I think your overall point is spot on — the issue isn’t simply “we traded for established players,” because every successful club does that at times. The problem is the cumulative list management strategy and the opportunity cost attached to it.

Geelong brought in Jeremy Cameron and still kept regenerating talent. Brisbane added Neale and Daniher while simultaneously building youth underneath. Richmond landed Lynch after already assembling a young premiership core. Those clubs supplemented strong pipelines.

Our issue is that we’ve repeatedly tried to extend contention without adequately replenishing the next wave.

The club clearly backed:
• the Daicos era as a flag window that should be attacked aggressively,
• gradual management of the ageing profile,
• experienced role players over partial reset/rebuild,
• and immediate contention over future draft capital.

From that lens, Perryman, Schultz and Houston are understandable decisions. Perryman especially makes sense structurally because of his versatility and reliability. The bigger concern is whether we were already too old and too slow before adding more mature-age pieces.

Like you, I don’t think the issue is one individual deal in isolation — it’s the accumulation:

• missed draft opportunities
• poor retention/development in certain periods
• lack of speed and explosiveness added over multiple drafts
• then needing to spend more picks bringing in ready-made players to patch holes.

That’s why our earlier mistakes become magnified.

The Beams trade is still probably the clearest modern example. It wasn’t just the picks themselves — it was the downstream damage:
• loss of premium draft capital,
• salary cap distortions,
• Treloar restructuring his deal,
• teammates taking pay cuts,
• and eventually the ugly fallout that followed.

Likewise the Sam Murray situation hurts more in hindsight because Rowbottom became exactly the type of hard, two-way midfielder we’ve lacked around the Daicos core.

And I think your final point is probably correct too: if a genuine A-grader becomes available that fits the Daicos timeline, I fully expect the club to move future picks again. They’ve consistently shown they value staying in the window over preserving draft flexibility.

The gamble is obvious: Can we regenerate on the run long enough for Nick’s prime years to produce another flag before the age profile finally collapses?

I think we can
Spend our war chest on King, Neale and Butts
Trade Cameron to WA
Compo pick for Mcreery
High first round pick this year

2028.
B. IQ. Butts. Maynard
HB. Perryman Frampton. Houston
C. Steele. Degoey. Jaicos
HF. Hill. Buller. Hayes
F. Saxena. King. West

R. Steene. Naicos Neale

Int. Anderson. Allan. Howes HH Moore(ruck)

 

[gouki88]

I think we can
Spend our war chest on King, Neale and Butts
Trade Cameron to WA
Compo pick for Mcreery
High first round pick this year

2028.
B. IQ. Butts. Maynard
HB. Perryman Frampton. Houston
C. Steele. Degoey. Jaicos
HF. Hill. Buller. Hayes
F. Saxena. King. West

R. Steene. Naicos Neale

Int. Anderson. Allan. Howes HH Moore(ruck)

Why does Cameron want to go to WA?

 

[SchuPie]

Schu,

I was responding to NickyD’s comments that “Other teams recruit what they need (Smith to Geelong, Lynch to Tigers, Daniher/Neale to Lions), we just recruit what falls into our lap in trade week (Houston, Perryman, Schultz)” – Negligent list management. He just used the wrong examples to support his view.

I think your overall point is spot on — the issue isn’t simply “we traded for established players,” because every successful club does that at times. The problem is the cumulative list management strategy and the opportunity cost attached to it.

Geelong brought in Jeremy Cameron and still kept regenerating talent. Brisbane added Neale and Daniher while simultaneously building youth underneath. Richmond landed Lynch after already assembling a young premiership core. Those clubs supplemented strong pipelines.

Our issue is that we’ve repeatedly tried to extend contention without adequately replenishing the next wave.

The club clearly backed:
• the Daicos era as a flag window that should be attacked aggressively,
• gradual management of the ageing profile,
• experienced role players over partial reset/rebuild,
• and immediate contention over future draft capital.

From that lens, Perryman, Schultz and Houston are understandable decisions. Perryman especially makes sense structurally because of his versatility and reliability. The bigger concern is whether we were already too old and too slow before adding more mature-age pieces.

Like you, I don’t think the issue is one individual deal in isolation — it’s the accumulation:

• missed draft opportunities
• poor retention/development in certain periods
• lack of speed and explosiveness added over multiple drafts
• then needing to spend more picks bringing in ready-made players to patch holes.

That’s why our earlier mistakes become magnified.

The Beams trade is still probably the clearest modern example. It wasn’t just the picks themselves — it was the downstream damage:
• loss of premium draft capital,
• salary cap distortions,
• Treloar restructuring his deal,
• teammates taking pay cuts,
• and eventually the ugly fallout that followed.

Likewise the Sam Murray situation hurts more in hindsight because Rowbottom became exactly the type of hard, two-way midfielder we’ve lacked around the Daicos core.

And I think your final point is probably correct too: if a genuine A-grader becomes available that fits the Daicos timeline, I fully expect the club to move future picks again. They’ve consistently shown they value staying in the window over preserving draft flexibility.

The gamble is obvious: Can we regenerate on the run long enough for Nick’s prime years to produce another flag before the age profile finally collapses?

Really well put and I think we're on the same page

 

[MoreMoore]

Why does Cameron want to go to WA?

Possibility of a flag at freo?
With the new ruck changes, Moore as second ruck and link up around the ground could give us a new look.

 

[gouki88]

Possibility of a flag at freo?
With the new ruck changes, Moore as second ruck and link up around the ground could give us a new look.

Why would Freo want him? They have arguably the best ruck in the comp and the new rules don’t suit DC, particularly on a presumably big salary. They’re already stuck with Sean Darcy on a long deal.

WC makes more sense, but I can’t see any reason DC would want to go there which nixes the deal.

I do think Moore would suit the new rules, but I think the ship has sailed. He’s 30, often injured and hasn’t rucked frequently for almost a decade.

 

[MoreMoore]

Why would Freo want him? They have arguably the best ruck in the comp and the new rules don’t suit DC, particularly on a presumably big salary. They’re already stuck with Sean Darcy on a long deal.

WC makes more sense, but I can’t see any reason DC would want to go there which nixes the deal.

I do think Moore would suit the new rules, but I think the ship has sailed. He’s 30, often injured and hasn’t rucked frequently for almost a decade.

Darcy is completely cooked and outdated
Cox is at the end
Frees up Jackson

 

[gouki88]

Darcy is completely cooked and outdated
Cox is at the end
Frees up Jackson

Darcy is cooked, I agree. But he’s still contracted to 2030. And DC would be on big money too, as would Jackson. How much coin is Freo happy to invest in rucks, one of whom the new rules actually suit?

 

[Rorzza]

OMG.....This thread all of a sudden is sailing towards Grundy territory!

 

[sr36]

Why would Freo want him? They have arguably the best ruck in the comp and the new rules don’t suit DC, particularly on a presumably big salary. They’re already stuck with Sean Darcy on a long deal.

WC makes more sense, but I can’t see any reason DC would want to go there which nixes the deal.

I do think Moore would suit the new rules, but I think the ship has sailed. He’s 30, often injured and hasn’t rucked frequently for almost a decade.

Plus they don't actually need his big strength which is dropping back to help out in the air.

 

[Bianconeri]

Need Ben King desperately.

The leading craft of our forwards is non existent and IMO it’s not something most players can properly learn. It’s innate.

After Gunston, Ben King is best in the league.

Our midfield will look miles better when they actually have a player who can manage to get separation and space to kick to

I think our leading craft is fine, the issue is the blokes kicking it.

Aside from Nick, none of our mids are good enough to create space to get into as position hit up our forwards and Nick is burning our forwards half the time with poor shots on goal.

 

[Rusty Beam]

I think our leading craft is fine, the issue is the blokes kicking it.

Aside from Nick, none of our mids are good enough to create space to get into as position hit up our forwards and Nick is burning our forwards half the time with poor shots on goal.

Not for me. I think it’s the complete opposite.

None of our forwards have the ability to get any space on our opponents which means our mids end up bombing to the contest. Then that mindset gets entrenched in the rest of the team.

That’s not to say we don’t need more midfield talent. We desperately need that too.

 

[Carlthetruth]

Why does Cameron want to go to WA?

He doesn't but we're currently in the realm of fantasy football and giving up 30 year olds for better players or high draft capital, it normally kicks in after a loss.

 

[pablo disco bar]

I like mcreery however if he goes to tassie and we get well compensated I say you ripper.


If naicos goes to tassie (heartbreaking) the positive will be all the draft picks we get (you would want to nail them however)

 

[OniAu]

I like mcreery however if he goes to tassie and we get well compensated I say you ripper.


If naicos goes to tassie (heartbreaking) the positive will be all the draft picks we get (you would want to nail them however)

Im of a belief, if the player you want from draft picks is the player you are trading , its a crazy move. Naicos the prime example. Generational talent top player in league , no amount of draft picks will find another of him

 

[HFF]

List management is going to be critical in the next 24 months

Need to bring in young talent and at the same time need to nail some from other avenues too.

We need to transition the list real fast to avoid a full blown capitulation

 

[Dtennent94]

I think we can
Spend our war chest on King, Neale and Butts
Trade Cameron to WA
Compo pick for Mcreery
High first round pick this year

2028.
B. IQ. Butts. Maynard
HB. Perryman Frampton. Houston
C. Steele. Degoey. Jaicos
HF. Hill. Buller. Hayes
F. Saxena. King. West

R. Steene. Naicos Neale

Int. Anderson. Allan. Howes HH Moore(ruck)

Seems like a waste to delist Schultz.

 

[granniewolf]

I think we can
Spend our war chest on King, Neale and Butts
Trade Cameron to WA
Compo pick for Mcreery
High first round pick this year

2028.
B. IQ. Butts. Maynard
HB. Perryman Frampton. Houston
C. Steele. Degoey. Jaicos
HF. Hill. Buller. Hayes
F. Saxena. King. West

R. Steene. Naicos Neale

Int. Anderson. Allan. Howes HH Moore(ruck)

I doubt JDG will be playing in 2028, his contract finishes next year.
He might be a gentleman farmer after that or just build houses and sell them.
Think Zac McCarthy will be in the team.
Hopefully so will Prindable, Cochran and Swadling, Ryan

 

[satty]

List management is going to be critical in the next 24 months

Need to bring in young talent and at the same time need to nail some from other avenues too.

We need to transition the list real fast to avoid a full blown capitulation

That's what I have been saying. We are looking at 2 season of being in the 7-12 ladder position before we will be ready to shoot back up again.

I can't fault our list decisions too much until this point because we made it to last years prelim , only losing to the eventual premiers.

What's concerning is the precipitous drop in talent and skill of a whole host of senior players.

Jaicos, moore, sidebottom, lippa, Elliot(has had his moments,but those have been outweighed by his copious mental errors), Beau, shoota(not short of effort but his skills have been bad).

Fortunately we are starting to turn things around with our drafting. Our last 2 draft classes look promising.

Trying to trade in players will be more difficult due to the inflation of player value, simply because of the recently introduced rule being able to trade picks 2 years into the future. We have already seen that with mid level players like simpkin being valued as 2 first round picks. The prise we payed for schultz was too high.

I think Collingwood will be very cautious when it comes to trading for players due to our recent history in giving up first rounders too easily. Craig kelly even alluded to that fact recently.