2026 Trade / FA Thread

[yeah man]

I reckon Port would love McCreery. Even Adelaide. Maybe we could use him to help get butters

Clubs won't be interested in receiving McCreery if he's getting a serious offer from Tasmania, and he won't want to go anywhere besides Tasmania because he's not likely to receive the same type of offer from any other club besides Tas. If not for Tasmania I'd agree with you.

 

[stormskye]

Let’s tank and get bottom 4 for draft picks. Imagine all the free agents that will want to flock to us.

 

[soreplums]

This was annoying to see

It’s annoying that we didn’t pick up Holmes and Neale that draft along with Beau

 

[iggs_hip_2024]

Midfield. That's where it starts and ends.

do you think collingwood will look at harley reid then? he'd no doubt provide star power for collingwood that only the likes of like daicos, butters and durham could bring

edit: smith probably as well sorry should have listed him

 

[soreplums]

do you think collingwood will look at harley reid then? he'd no doubt provide star power for collingwood that only the likes of like daicos, butters and durham could bring

edit: smith probably as well sorry should have listed him

Are you offering him?

 

[yeah man]

do you think collingwood will look at harley reid then? he'd no doubt provide star power for collingwood that only the likes of like daicos, butters and durham could bring

edit: smith probably as well sorry should have listed him

He's contracted until 2028, it's a bit early for that. Can't see Collingwood having much to do with him given the timing of our needs being sooner and the ending of his contract being later.

So no

 

[Peters_Nuts]

After the past few weeks and how West, McCarthy and Howes are developing plus how Buller is getting better...I'm officially on board getting a premium midfielder over a key forward as a priority. No point bringing in 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

if we can't get the ball to him.

The absolute dream is Neale + a gun key forward.

 

[sr36]

Let’s tank and get bottom 4 for draft picks. Imagine all the free agents that will want to flock to us.

The AFL is changing the matching system and giving bottom teams an extra pick when somebody gets matched, because teams are getting stuck at the bottom and then getting worse with their draft hand having effectively been weakened by academy matching and their salary cap effectively being less because it costs more to retain or recruit players. But people are really keen for us to race to the bottom ...

 

[manicpie]

The AFL is changing the matching system and giving bottom teams an extra pick when somebody gets matched, because teams are getting stuck at the bottom and then getting worse with their draft hand having effectively been weakened by academy matching and their salary cap effectively being less because it costs more to retain or recruit players. But people are really keen for us to race to the bottom ...

Surely we'll use our first pick to get a player in. Although the top 10 is very exciting this year.

 

[sr36]

Surely we'll use our first pick to get a player in. Although the top 10 is very exciting this year.

Yeah I think we'll target FAs and keep our pick - but who knows if someone really good becomes gettable.

Your job manic is to troll through draft videos and your contacts and find us a genuine clearance winning tackling mid who can run to get excited about.

 

[WanderingDude]

We just need to make tough decisions, example move out a bunch of the older guys like Howe, Sidebottom, McStay and Pendles (maybe) etc, trade some players that may have capital, Lipinski, Cameron and Allan to WA, McCreery (Tas) or back to SA, I think everyone outside Naicos is tradable so we need to be super aggressive

We either get to top 4 or we drop down to bottom 6, anything in the middle is another bullet in the heart for the draft

GC vs Geelong
125 vs 69
First round 2026
How dare those fat cats choose not to fold in the first round and heck the club for 5 years. This may be a cliff. It seems funny the team should be trashed when even 2 Daicos players can’t kick.
Fix the problems. Build player confidence. The game plan changes need to be nailed down. A fire sale will net SWA and ain’t tough. A fire sale is weak. IF things are stuffed in 2 months time take intelligent actions then. No grand sale and no unicorns.

 

[Dtennent94]

Yeah I think we'll target FAs and keep our pick - but who knows if someone really good becomes gettable.

Your job manic is to troll through draft videos and your contacts and find us a genuine clearance winning tackling mid who can run to get excited about.

Let’s keep our picks and bring in Danger, Greene and Neale as FA’s for 2 years each and see what happens

 

[stormskye]

Yeah I think we'll target FAs and keep our pick - but who knows if someone really good becomes gettable.

Your job manic is to troll through draft videos and your contacts and find us a genuine clearance winning tackling mid who can run to get excited about.

11 - Ethan Drever (GWV Rebels, utility)

A powerful, bullocking inside midfielder who runs a 2.90 20-metre sprint is compelling for all clubs. He was hyped throughout pre-season as a potential riser and has delivered in spades. A prolific ball-winner, Drever has carried significant responsibility in the GWV midfield and shown an ability to power out the front of clearances and find space and buy time in congestion. The comparison which keeps coming up is GWS' Finn Callaghan who bolted significantly in his draft year and Drever is following a similar trajectory. Has great aerobic power and traits transferrable across the field

 

[TradeDraft]

Surely we'll use our first pick to get a player in. Although the top 10 is very exciting this year.

That what we normally do

 

[ChubbyGallon]

The Last Dance!
Try and get King otherwise Mitch Lewis (Free)
Lachie Neale

9

Lachie Neale

Age

32

Ht

177cm

Wt

84kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

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Last 5

D

27.0

5star

K

11.5

4star

HB

15.5

5star

M

4.0

4star

T

3.7

5star

CL

5.9

5star

D

28.3

5star

K

13.9

5star

HB

14.4

5star

M

4.6

4star

T

4.0

5star

CL

5.9

5star

D

12.0

3star

K

4.6

2star

HB

7.4

5star

M

2.0

3star

T

1.0

3star

CL

0.4

3star

(Free), Toby Greene

4

Toby Greene

Age

32

Ht

182cm

Wt

85kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

22.7

5star

K

12.5

5star

HB

10.2

5star

M

4.8

5star

T

3.0

5star

G

1.2

4star

D

17.5

4star

K

9.5

4star

HB

8.0

4star

M

4.8

4star

T

1.0

2star

G

2.3

5star

D

26.6

5star

K

12.4

5star

HB

14.2

5star

M

4.8

5star

T

3.6

5star

G

0.0

1star

(Free) or even throw a future for Patty Cripps - Neale and Cripps have a business together. Imagine a couple of years of Neale, Daicos and Cripps

 

[gouki88]

We just need to make tough decisions, example move out a bunch of the older guys like Howe, Sidebottom, McStay and Pendles (maybe) etc, trade some players that may have capital, Lipinski, Cameron and Allan to WA, McCreery (Tas) or back to SA, I think everyone outside Naicos is tradable so we need to be super aggressive

We either get to top 4 or we drop down to bottom 6, anything in the middle is another bullet in the heart for the draft

You can’t just “get aggressive” and trade people who don’t want to be traded, or move out “older guys” who are contracted for next year. It’s not that simple

 

[gouki88]

do you think collingwood will look at harley reid then? he'd no doubt provide star power for collingwood that only the likes of like daicos, butters and durham could bring

edit: smith probably as well sorry should have listed him

I think we’d love Harley. Big bodied aggressive ball-winner who hits the scoreboard sounds great to me.

Would he want to leave though? / would WC not want to keep him?

 

[Go Woods]

The Last Dance!
Try and get King otherwise Mitch Lewis (Free)
Lachie Neale (Free), Toby Greene (Free) or even throw a future for Patty Cripps - Neale and Cripps have a business together. Imagine a couple of years of Neale, Daicos and Cripps

The scarry thing is we could lose all three mids by 2029....
Love it tho...
We must use our 1st pick
this year.

 

[gappa]

I don’t have tome to go back and read the thread. I can assume that Butters, King and Neale will be Pies next season right? Maybe lose Allan and Beau in exchange?

 

[MoreMoore]

I don’t have tome to go back and read the thread. I can assume that Butters, King and Neale will be Pies next season right? Maybe lose Allan and Beau in exchange?

Make it so

 

[Bramax]

If King is not possible, should we look at Hayden McLean

2

Hayden Mclean

Age

27

Ht

197cm

Wt

99kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

9.1

2star

K

5.1

2star

HB

4.0

3star

M

2.6

3star

T

4.0

5star

G

0.4

3star

D

7.5

2star

K

4.5

2star

HB

3.0

2star

M

2.3

2star

T

3.3

4star

G

0.8

4star

D

10.0

3star

K

5.4

2star

HB

4.6

4star

M

3.0

3star

T

4.4

5star

G

0.2

3star

? After coming back in and kicking 3 goals, he will be dropped if Curnow plays this week.

 

[Ugene41]

If King is not possible, should we look at Hayden McLean? After coming back in and kicking 3 goals, he will be dropped if Curnow plays this week.

No more average key forwards. If we can't get a dominant one like King then we might as well stick with the McStay, Buller, West combo and invest more in the midfield

 

[sr36]

If King is not possible, should we look at Hayden McLean? After coming back in and kicking 3 goals, he will be dropped if Curnow plays this week.

I like McLean. I thought he was worthwhile when teams were playing 1 ruck. He is a ruck forward who is competent at both but not good at either. He's not for us - lesser forward than ours and lesser ruck than ours, but handy if you want a combination guy.

 

[Ugene41]

Finishing in the dead zone whilst playing the same tried and tested is disaster.

I’m not sure this coaching group has the cojones to make the tough calls

I think we are starting to see the coaching group give opportunities to uncover our next generation of players though. Steene, AA are clear successes this year. Roan is now embedded into the best 23. Hayes, Buller, Allan, Parker have all had exposure this year. In exchange you also have to expect that we're not going to necessarily be challenging this year.

I think we're striking a good balance. Can't throw too many inexperienced players to the wolves at once. The only one I think has been unlucky and that I want to see given a good block of games is West. Membrey's very limited in what he can offer (1-2 goals a game) so it wouldn't be difficult to swap that output for West.

 

[Bianconeri]

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.

Our mids bombing long to the contest is an entrenched part of the gameplan that has existed in the entirety of Fly’s tenure here regardless of the quality we’ve had up forward and not a conscious choice the kickers are making because our forwards aren’t making leads.

The Hawthorn game showed our forwards have no issue finding space in the fast plays. What we don’t have is enough players who can create fast plays up the field. We seem to be pretty reactive to what the opposition allows us to have.

Still I would target King as he improves us but he’s not fixing the root of our issues IMO.