2026 Trade / FA Thread

[Dtennent94]

Yes, it was long-winded, but I wasn’t thinking of a specific player when I was thinking of and responding to sr36 and apex36’s posts. However, thinking of a player now, it’s not Zac Bailey. The cost to get him will be prohibitively expensive (trade/ pay etc.)

What the Pies appear to need is a true connector half-forward.

1. Strong aerobic capacity — can repeatedly lead up and get back.
2. Good overhead without needing to dominate aerially — just enough to compete.
3. Quick decision maker — can give first possession to runners.
4. Pressure-oriented — doesn't become a liability when the ball turns over.
5. Team-first mover — happy to create space and opportunities for others rather than chasing goals.

In 2023, Beau McCreery was essentially playing that connector role at his best. The challenge is that Beau's greatest weapon is his explosiveness and pressure. If he's not winning enough of those half-forward contests or providing enough linkage, the entire transition chain suffers.

Gryan Miers, Alex Neal-Bullen and Issac Heeney come to mind. Zac Bailey is great at creating and converting opportunities, but he is more a pressure forward/ attacking weapon.

Bailey Humphrey would be the perfect player. If you're paying the acquisition cost for Humphrey, you're not bringing him in to spend most of his time making sacrificial leads between the arcs. He'd rightly expect significant midfield time because that's where his ceiling lies.

But as you have stated – "If he is going anywhere, it’s Melbourne."

If we brought in Lachie Neale, the primary value wouldn't be Neale himself playing half-forward. It would be the structural domino effect it creates.

The chain would look something like:

• Neale strengthens the midfield rotation
• Nick Daicos continues as the primary distributor
• Jordan De Goey spends significantly more time at high half-forward
• Josh Daicos returns to being a true linking wing
• Dan Houston handles much of the rebounding and distribution from defence

From a role-balance perspective, that arguably makes more sense than trying to recruit a specialist half-forward.

De Goey's attributes line up remarkably well with the connector role:

• strong overhead for his size
• wins contested ball
• draws defenders
• elite decision-maker in traffic
• can go forward and score if ignored
• powerful enough to stop opposition rebound

The role wouldn't be a traditional stay-at-home forward role. It would be more akin to what Heeney does at times for Sydney: start high, connect the chain, then become dangerous once the ball enters attack.

De Goey forces opponents into difficult match-up decisions. If they play a smaller runner on him, he can win aerially and physically. If they play a bigger defender, he can run them into the ground and push into midfield.

Schultz is this player. Problem is we also want him close to goal without Hill and Elliott.

De Goey could probably be this player in his later years if we can recruit a good enough midfield that we can afford to move him.

Maybe Pod can also be this guy. Maybe Anderson with some more development.

 

[Carlthetruth]

I wouldn’t trade Houston. For one, it would be a sell low but also I think we need to put Josh back on the wing. Neither are great defenders so let’s put the AA winger back on it…

Call me naive, but I don’t think we’re going to be far off it next season if we can make some smart moves this offseason. These results to the top sides (plus dogs) are encouraging if anything. We know where the gaps are

We're not but that won't stop the panic merchants running around screaming like their hairs on fire.

 

[Roverjg]

Missed out on Lynch in 2018, Cameron in 2020, and Butters/King/Bailey this year.

Scattergun approach to list management coming home to roost.

We are a big club, except in the trade/free agency market, where we turn into a minnow.

Mate, you keep going back to the same recruitment argument and it ignores a fair bit of context.

Lynch has said multiple times that Richmond was where he wanted to go. The connection with Neil Balme, Richmond coming off premiership success, and the chance to walk into a genuine flag contender were major factors. It wasn't really a case of Richmond beating Collingwood in a head-to-head recruiting battle — Lynch had effectively made up his mind.

The Cameron situation is similar. He's openly acknowledged Geelong was his preferred destination. At the same time, Collingwood was right in the middle of a salary cap mess that eventually saw players like Treloar, Stephenson and Phillips moved on. The club simply wasn't in a position to throw around the sort of money needed to land him. Making inquiries and being a genuine chance to secure a player are two very different things.

As for Butters, King and Bailey, none of them have made definitive calls yet. And let's be honest, elite players staying where they are is hardly unusual. If every club that misses out on a star player is deemed to have failed in recruitment, then almost every club in the AFL would be guilty of poor list management.

It's also not as though the Pies have been sitting on its hands. In recent years we've brought in Darcy Cameron, Tom Mitchell, Bobby Hill, Lachie Schultz, Billy Frampton and Tim Membrey. We've also landed high-profile free agents and trade targets like Dan McStay, Harry Perryman and Dan Houston.

A fair criticism might be that the club has occasionally chased players it couldn't ultimately get over the line, or that the salary cap issues around 2018–2020 hurt its ability to compete for elite talent. But calling Collingwood a "minnow" in the trade and free agency market just doesn't stack up against the facts. The club has been a destination club for a long time when its list profile and cap position have allowed it to be.

 

[sr36]

In 2022–23 we had multiple players who could advance the ball through chains — Josh, Nick, IQ, Noble, Pendles and Sidey. The ball could move from half-back to wing, half-forward and inside 50 quickly and repeatedly. Back then, wing wasn't a low-possession role because it was a critical link in transition.

What made Josh so effective on the wing in 2023 was that he pushed high in defensive transition, got involved in chain possessions, provided overlap run, and acted as the key connection between defence and attack.

The issue is that when the Pies changed the game plan and shifted Josh to half-back, we lost some of that connection to the forward line.

If sr36's premise is correct that wing is now a low-possession, low-involvement role, then the more important question is: why are we bypassing the wings?

You would only intentionally reduce wing involvement if you were trying to minimise turnover risk, move the ball faster, and attack through the corridor. In that scenario, moving Josh back to the wing wouldn't necessarily increase his possessions.

But that's not what we're doing.

This year our ball use has declined. Ball movement has become slower and wider, while our defensive structure still assumes an aggressive territory-based game. When turnovers occur, the back half gets exposed. The resulting chaos makes every line look worse, including the wings.

As Apex36 has pointed out, Houston can handle the rebounding and distribution role. Nick Daicos can handle the distribution role. Josh's greatest strengths are his running capacity and link play. That's why I'd have him where those strengths are most valuable and let someone like Swadling handle the simpler running half-back role.

That said, a wing can only connect to something.

If the half-forward line isn't presenting, competing or linking effectively, even Josh ends up kicking to a contest.

If McStay is competing deep, Membrey is competing deep, and Schultz is competing deep, then the problem probably isn't the deepest layer of the forward line. It's the layer in front of them.

Who's presenting 60–70 metres from goal? Who's winning the first contest, linking the play and preventing easy rebound?

If nobody is doing that consistently, the ball never reaches those dangerous forwards in a meaningful way.

A wing only matters if there's someone ahead of him to connect with. If Josh gets the ball on the wing and looks up to see poor leading patterns, no viable half-forward target and defenders already set, he's forced into the same long kick down the line as everyone else.

The ball is getting to the attacking half, but we're not controlling it there long enough to generate quality inside-50 opportunities.

As sr36 said, "it's the half-forward contest that we need a fix."

Teams took away what we were doing with the wings - we played them wider than other teams were at the time - it helped open up the corridor if teams matched our width or gave us a good outlet in space if they didn't and both Sidey and Josh were really good at getting corridor side and shifting into the corridor waves when an opponent did match their width.

 

[satty]

It’s type and service. Kennedy, Bont, Sanders and Freijah are stoppage guns as good or better than any of our stoppage players. They then had English providing them silver service because he could jump over a shorter DC. We have a weak midfield that isn’t getting service which is leading to stoppage struggles. Neale has to be a priority this off season to firstly thicken the soup, but also to bring craft he can teach others. I’d also be sniffing around Hewett.

But the priority has to be bringing in more young midfielders, we can't keep kicking the can down the road.

I agree having neale and Hewett as bridge mids and teachers for the next generation will be invaluable.

 

[footballsack35]

But the priority has to be bringing in more young midfielders, we can't keep kicking the can down the road.

I agree having neale and Hewett as bridge mids and teachers for the next generation will be invaluable.

I agree. Hopefully draft a young gun to be paired with naicos for the next 10 years from the draft.
Neale for a couple seasons would be a great get but then someone like Ned Long needs to be happy to play VFL.

 

[Apex36]

Mate, you keep going back to the same recruitment argument and it ignores a fair bit of context.

Lynch has said multiple times that Richmond was where he wanted to go. The connection with Neil Balme, Richmond coming off premiership success, and the chance to walk into a genuine flag contender were major factors. It wasn't really a case of Richmond beating Collingwood in a head-to-head recruiting battle — Lynch had effectively made up his mind.

The Cameron situation is similar. He's openly acknowledged Geelong was his preferred destination. At the same time, Collingwood was right in the middle of a salary cap mess that eventually saw players like Treloar, Stephenson and Phillips moved on. The club simply wasn't in a position to throw around the sort of money needed to land him. Making inquiries and being a genuine chance to secure a player are two very different things.

As for Butters, King and Bailey, none of them have made definitive calls yet. And let's be honest, elite players staying where they are is hardly unusual. If every club that misses out on a star player is deemed to have failed in recruitment, then almost every club in the AFL would be guilty of poor list management.

It's also not as though the Pies have been sitting on its hands. In recent years we've brought in Darcy Cameron, Tom Mitchell, Bobby Hill, Lachie Schultz, Billy Frampton and Tim Membrey. We've also landed high-profile free agents and trade targets like Dan McStay, Harry Perryman and Dan Houston.

A fair criticism might be that the club has occasionally chased players it couldn't ultimately get over the line, or that the salary cap issues around 2018–2020 hurt its ability to compete for elite talent. But calling Collingwood a "minnow" in the trade and free agency market just doesn't stack up against the facts. The club has been a destination club for a long time when its list profile and cap position have allowed it to be.

Mate you’re talking to a brick wall, he’s been told this stuff a hundred times already.

 

[Apex36]

I agree. Hopefully draft a young gun to be paired with naicos for the next 10 years from the draft.
Neale for a couple seasons would be a great get but then someone like Ned Long needs to be happy to play VFL.

I don’t think the club is going to be concerned about Neds happiness in regards to him playing VFL.

 

[satty]

I agree. Hopefully draft a young gun to be paired with naicos for the next 10 years from the draft.
Neale for a couple seasons would be a great get but then someone like Ned Long needs to be happy to play VFL.

Would long get a game in any of the teams currently above us on the ladder?

 

[Daicos Torpedo]

I'd have few people full time exploring overseas talent everywhere to be honest especially given we have the money and I dont think AFL is hard to pick up. The one place in Europe I have been to that stood out massively for athletes was Marseille, France they have athletes playing sports in the street that look like they should be on a AFL list. No surprise Zidane and Cantona come from there and many others.

Zidane and Cantona were both absolute top line players. Eric is better in a very close race, because he karate kicked a nazi...

 

[Lifelong Pie]

I doubt these would be popular suggestions but a couple I thought might come cheap or even free and could be decent for us

Trent Rivers

24

Trent Rivers

Age

24

Ht

188cm

Wt

87kg

Pos.

D/M

Career

Season

Last 5

D

10.7

3star

K

6.0

2star

HB

4.7

3star

M

2.0

2star

T

2.0

4star

MG

171.3

3star

D

10.7

3star

K

6.0

2star

HB

4.7

3star

M

2.0

2star

T

2.0

3star

MG

171.3

3star

D

10.7

3star

K

6.0

3star

HB

4.7

4star

M

2.0

3star

T

2.0

4star

MG

171.3

3star

- was dropped earlier in the season, from what I've watched I think he's a good player and could play midfield.

This one not as much but Archie Perkins - has always had talent, just hasn't got there yet for some reason.

A player id love but no idea how we would get him is Jobe Shanahan - going to be a Gun

 

[sr36]

A player id love but no idea how we would get him is Jobe Shanahan - going to be a Gun

WCE love him - they call him Shanahands. Not cheap. tiges had every pick in that draft, but they still seem to have missed all the best kids.

 

[Lifelong Pie]

WCE love him - they call him Shanahands. Not cheap. tiges had every pick in that draft, but they still seem to have missed all the best kids.

Imagine having 5 or so picks before Murphy Reid got picked

 

[Jen2310]

Imagine having 5 or so picks before Murphy Reid got picked

tbh that first round was pretty stacked. That draft in general.

 

[Harry O]

Has anyone got the article by Paul Hasleby

Paul Hasleby

Age

44

Ht

182cm

Wt

87kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

20.7

5star

K

9.2

4star

HB

11.5

5star

M

4.3

4star

T

3.0

5star

CL

1.9

4star

No current season stats available

D

17.4

5star

K

11.4

4star

HB

6.0

4star

M

5.8

5star

T

3.8

5star

today about Bobby Hill being traded to West Coast?

 

[Jen2310]

Has anyone got the article by Paul Hasleby today about Bobby Hill being traded to West Coast?

https://archive.md/SfYJ3

 

[sr36]

Has anyone got the article by Paul Hasleby today about Bobby Hill being traded to West Coast?

He just says that WCE should try to trade him in.

 

[Chunky Steak]

Zidane and Cantona were both absolute top line players. Eric is better in a very close race, because he karate kicked a nazi...

As a Liverpool supporter from way back (and what a weekend I've had, just quietly), even though I hated those Ferguson years I always loved watching Eric, that crazy bastard. Brilliant footballer.

 

[Harry O]

He just says that WCE should try to trade him in.

Our salary cap war chest would be massive if that happens

 

[nickyds35]

Mate, you keep going back to the same recruitment argument and it ignores a fair bit of context.

Lynch has said multiple times that Richmond was where he wanted to go. The connection with Neil Balme, Richmond coming off premiership success, and the chance to walk into a genuine flag contender were major factors. It wasn't really a case of Richmond beating Collingwood in a head-to-head recruiting battle — Lynch had effectively made up his mind.

The Cameron situation is similar. He's openly acknowledged Geelong was his preferred destination. At the same time, Collingwood was right in the middle of a salary cap mess that eventually saw players like Treloar, Stephenson and Phillips moved on. The club simply wasn't in a position to throw around the sort of money needed to land him. Making inquiries and being a genuine chance to secure a player are two very different things.

As for Butters, King and Bailey, none of them have made definitive calls yet. And let's be honest, elite players staying where they are is hardly unusual. If every club that misses out on a star player is deemed to have failed in recruitment, then almost every club in the AFL would be guilty of poor list management.

It's also not as though the Pies have been sitting on its hands. In recent years we've brought in Darcy Cameron, Tom Mitchell, Bobby Hill, Lachie Schultz, Billy Frampton and Tim Membrey. We've also landed high-profile free agents and trade targets like Dan McStay, Harry Perryman and Dan Houston.

A fair criticism might be that the club has occasionally chased players it couldn't ultimately get over the line, or that the salary cap issues around 2018–2020 hurt its ability to compete for elite talent. But calling Collingwood a "minnow" in the trade and free agency market just doesn't stack up against the facts. The club has been a destination club for a long time when its list profile and cap position have allowed it to be.

Keep giving the club a free pass with its horrendous recruitment.

This is the reason why our best 3 mids are a player that fell into our lap from father son (Naicos) and players taken 20 and 22 years ago.

We have been crying out for a pure mid to support daicos for years, but the gun that is available and on the market (Butters) is likely going to a minnow club that already has a stacked midfield…

Why, because we hadn’t even made a serious approach to him by August last year (told by someone in his immediate family - reported here last year).

Rightly or wrongly, all our recruits in the last few years (apart from maybe Hill/Mcstay) were last minute scattergun acquisitions… I would use the word opportunistic, if we didn’t get reamed in all our trades.

 

[Go Woods]

He just says that WCE should try to trade him in.

Package up Ed Allan & Bobby, for their 1st.
Should land within the top 10.
Although would like to keep Allan if he cements he's spot by end of season.

 

[PieBeast]

I would argue it’s all part of the same problem. It’s not easy to even attempt a lead when said lead is starting too close to the midfield or in the pockets, with no one behind you to worry a defender into staying back and few around you to be a decoy. We have very predictable running patterns by position in the forward line and that’s what preventing anyone to get separation.

We also seem to over possess in the last couple of seasons, last night was a glaring example of it.
And while our forward stocks aren't exactly top notch this makes it a lot harder for them to find separation.

 

[PieBeast]

Keep giving the club a free pass with its horrendous recruitment.

This is the reason why our best 3 mids are a player that fell into our lap from father son (Naicos) and players taken 20 and 22 years ago.

We have been crying out for a pure mid to support daicos for years, but the gun that is available and on the market (Butters) is likely going to a minnow club that already has a stacked midfield…

Why, because we hadn’t even made a serious approach to him by August last year (told by someone in his immediate family - reported here last year).

Rightly or wrongly, all our recruits in the last few years (apart from maybe Hill/Mcstay) were last minute scattergun acquisitions… I would use the word opportunistic, if we didn’t get reamed in all our trades.

That Butters mail you mention even if it's true can have something to do with everyone knowing that if he leaves Dogs are his most likely destination. And that's without even mentioning the fact we don't have the currency to facilitate this trade.
The only recent scattergun acquisition as you call it was Houston after Carlscum left him hanging.
Was he worth the trade price, yes. Was a he a list need, no. Is he justifying what it cost is also a no.
We did go pretty hard after Lynch and Cameron, both Pies supporters growing up which hurts even more.
We also were a millimeter away from getting May before that fell through and he ended up at Melbourne.
So while it's obvious af our drafting hasn't been up to scratch for a while, trading players in is a completely different kettle of fish.
You can't always get what you want.

 

[nahnah]

Package up Ed Allan & Bobby, for their 1st.
Should land within the top 10.
Although would like to keep Allan if he cements he's spot by end of season.

Would be madness to trade Allan after his 16 disposal 2 tackle breakout game

 

[Pragmatic Shill]

Package up Ed Allan & Bobby, for their 1st.
Should land within the top 10.
Although would like to keep Allan if he cements he's spot by end of season.

You're delusional if you think Hill and Allan are worth first round picks even collectively.