List Mgmt. Contracts/Trade/Draft Thread - 2025 Edition Vol 2

[Keys]

Quick links

• Player contract status
• Draft prospect video highlights (thanks to noobermensch)

Harley Reid extends to 2028

Spoiler

List Changes - 2025

Spoiler

• Oscar Allen advises intention to explore Free Agency
• Jayden Hunt announces retirement
• Jack Petruccelle
  21

  Jack Petruccelle

  Age

  26

  Ht

  188cm

  Wt

  83kg

  Pos.

  Fwd

  Career

  Season

  Last 5

  D

  9.2

  2star

  K

  6.2

  2star

  HB

  3.0

  3star

  M

  3.0

  3star

  T

  1.8

  4star

  G

  1.0

  4star

  D

  6.7

  1star

  K

  4.0

  1star

  HB

  2.7

  2star

  M

  1.7

  2star

  T

  1.3

  2star

  G

  0.7

  4star

  D

  7.8

  2star

  K

  4.6

  2star

  HB

  3.2

  3star

  M

  2.8

  3star

  T

  1.6

  4star

  G

  0.6

  3star

  , Callum Jamieson and Loch Rawlinson not offered new contracts
• Liam Ryan has requested a trade to St Kilda but is contracted for 2026
• Campbell Chesser (uncontracted) has requested a trade to Carlton
• List would be 37 (31 main, 4 rookie, 2 Cat B)

Players out of Contract 2025 (5)

Spoiler

• Oscar Allen (19/3/99) - Signed a 3 year extension (2023-25) on an existing contract due to expire 2022 in May 2021
• Campbell Chesser (27/4/03) - Signed a 2 year extension (2024-25) on an existing contract due to expire 2023 in May 2022
• Jamie Cripps (23/4/92) - Signed a 2 year extension (2024-25) in August 2023
• (R-B) Coen Livingstone (25/5/05) - Signed a 1 year extension (2025) in September 2024
• (R-B) Malakai Champion (17/5/06) - Automatic 1 year contract (2025) when added as a Cat B Rookie in November 2024

Provisional 2025 Draft order

Spoiler

Key Offseason Dates

Spoiler

Fri Oct 3 - Fri Oct 10: 2025 Free Agency Period
Mon Oct 6 - Wed Oct 15: 2025 AFL Trade Period
Wed Nov 19 - Thu Nov 20: 2025 AFL Draft

 

[Mr Q]

Reckon he ends up at Collingwood, they’ve been desperate for help for Moore since Murphy was forced to retire

At 34 he'd be a bit young for Collingwood you'd think.

 

[ThePuma #9]

I'm all for targetting some players and luring them over with our apparentl "war chest", even the need to offer longer/larger contracts isn't lost on me.

I just think Starcevich is the wrong target. Wrong player to be doing this with. Find someone who's actually good, for a position that we need.

Not this:

View attachment 2430158


Having another "lockdown defender" to go with Hough just seems totally low priority to me, as is using his U16 form to justify throwing caution to the wind and thinking he can be a capable AFL midfielder.


Go after Jack Steele with this coin, or Alex Davies, or Walter, or Brayden Fiorini, or any number of alternatives that have a better cost/risk/benefit associated.

I get what you are saying and i appreciate that if he is not capable of playing another role then a lockdown defender is what he will be but just because Brisbane didn't play him in other roles does not mean he cannot excel in them.

There might be better options as well but they need to want to come to us. Sitting back and waiting for an alternative to present itself doesn't seem to be working.

If we look at our track record over the past few years of all the players it has been reported we have spoken to and have said no to us it seems pretty clear it's a hard sell at the moment.

No imagine all the others we don't no we have spoken to as well. Sometimes you have to take the option that says yes to begin with.

 

[Hasselhough]

Clubs often offer overs salary wise to free agents so they don't have to offer draft capital .

Hopefully it's about the afl giving us concession to draft a free agent without losing allen compo .

Brisbane are not matching that offer .

Also which senior players on our list are going to complain?

If we were to get steele we would probably have to stump up 3 million x 3 years

 

[Hasselhough]

Do not give a heck what we pay Starcivich.

• We need to pay overs to attract good players to the other side of the country. Fact.
• With Allen, Gov, Sheed, Ryan off the books and a bunch of rookies coming in... who the **** are we paying next year to reach the salary floor? HR's billion dollar contract doesn't kick in until 2027.

Frontload the contract, freeing up some cash for 2028+ when we bounce back and start attracting guns like Warner etc.

It's not about the 900k it's the 6 years that people are questioning.

I would be happy to offer butler 2.5mil over 4 years with year 1 800k year 2 700k then 500k and 500k

Make hawks pay through the nose if they want to keep him

 

[Dark Sharks]

I get what you are saying and i appreciate that if he is not capable of playing another roll then a lockdown defender is what he will be but just becasue Brisbane didn't play him in other roles does not mean he cannot excel in them.

There might be better options as well but they need to want to come to us.

If we look at our track record over the past few years of all the players we are to have spoken to and have said no it seems pretty clear it's a hard sell atm.

It's clearly directly proportional to our pathetic ladder position.

Start winning games and it'll change. We've attracted plenty of players previously and will continue to attract plenty more for years to come. Unfortunately we're just in an unlucky position where it just so happens we're "desperate" and options appear a bit light on this offseason.

Jetta, Redden, Matt Flynn, Baker, Graham, Mowies the spud.... players do come. Hell, 3 of them came sex life last offseason.



I don't buy this whole "Nobody wants to come here so we simply HAVE to take on a player who's open to the idea no matter how C grade he is and no matter what he costs" schtik.

If we can't find someone suitable this year, we pick up a couple mature age players from the state leagues to boost our age profile and we cop the hit for another season, simple as that. It's still better than desperation.

 

[amazingjoshy]

Clubs often offer overs salary wise to free agents so they don't have to offer draft capital .

Hopefully it's about the afl giving us concession to draft a free agent without losing allen compo .

Brisbane are not matching that offer .

Also which senior players on our list are going to complain?

If we were to get steele we would probably have to stump up 3 million x 3 years

The concession to get an FA without affecting our compo has basically already been thrown out from reports. If they give a pick (or 2 or 3) to trade for a player/s its essentially the exact same thing for us

Brissy gets something where otherwise they wouldn't have with the concession. Personally, I couldn't give 2 craps what Brissy get. Its the same either way for us

 

[amazingjoshy]

It's clearly directly proportional to our pathetic ladder position.

Start winning games and it'll change. We've attracted plenty of players previously and will continue to attract plenty more for years to come. Unfortunately we're just in an unlucky position where it just so happens we're "desperate" and options appear a bit light on this offseason.

Jetta, Redden, Matt Flynn, Baker, Graham, Mowies the spud.... players do come. Hell, 3 of them came sex life last offseason.



I don't buy this whole "Nobody wants to come here so we simply HAVE to take on a player who's open to the idea no matter how C grade he is and no matter what he costs" schtik.

If we can't find someone suitable this year, we pick up a couple mature age players from the state leagues to boost our age profile and we cop the hit for another season, simple as that. It's still better than desperation.

You don't think Starcevich will help towards us winning, but some state leaguers will?

 

[ThePuma #9]

It's clearly directly proportional to our pathetic ladder position.

Start winning games and it'll change. We've attracted plenty of players previously and will continue to attract plenty more for years to come. Unfortunately we're just in an unlucky position where it just so happens we're "desperate" and options appear a bit light on this offseason.

Jetta, Redden, Matt Flynn, Baker, Graham, Mowies the spud.... players do come. Hell, 3 of them came sex life last offseason.



I don't buy this whole "Nobody wants to come here so we simply HAVE to take on a player who's open to the idea no matter how C grade he is and no matter what he costs" schtik.

If we can't find someone suitable this year, we pick up a couple mature age players from the state leagues to boost our age profile and we cop the hit for another season, simple as that. It's still better than desperation.

I agree with the bolded part but disagree with the rest. Brandon Starcevich is not a C grade player.

He is being asked to play a very specific role that it not generally associated with statistics and accumulation and he seems to be doing a very good job of it otherwise the Lions would not be so determined to keep him.

Comparing him to Tom Cole is not apples and apples so i'm not sure why you are attempting to do so.

He is faster than Tom Cole and is a better kick than Tom Cole despite not having the opportunity to use it much in his current role.

You can fit a round peg through a square hole, doesn't make it's a square peg though.

 

[Dark Sharks]

You don't think Starcevich will help towards us winning, but some state leaguers will?

We're the worst team of all time. We aren't contending for anything in a hurry.

I don't think instantly trying to buy wins by overpaying for average players is the best way to go about it, no.

I'd take some cheap as chips state league players to boost our age profile over that Starcevich deal yes, absolutely.

 

[Scotland]

Given all the shenanigans that are already going on before the prelims have even been played I kinda hope we just stay out of trade week this year. Allen will go Brisbane and we'll get pick 2, and we might trade in Starcevich and trade out Ryan and Chesser. That's enough, just use our picks and move on to another pre season of development.

Merrett, Wilkie, Simpkin, Curnow, Petracca... someone is going to walk away a loser this year. Please not us again. We don't need to be putting our first round picks in play to help other teams get deals done.

 

[ThePuma #9]

We're the worst team of all time. We aren't contending for anything in a hurry.

I don't think instantly trying to buy wins by overpaying for average players is the best way to go about it, no.

I'd take some cheap as chips state league players to boost our age profile over that Starcevich deal yes, absolutely.

It's not just about contending in a hurry. If we can bring in a mature best 22 player that will help improve the team and has both finals and premiership experience it is a massive benefit to the youth on our list.

A rising tide lifts all boats.

 

[amazingjoshy]

We're the worst team of all time. We aren't contending for anything in a hurry.

I don't think instantly trying to buy wins by overpaying for average players is the best way to go about it, no.

I'd take some cheap as chips state league players to boost our age profile over that Starcevich deal yes, absolutely.

We need leaders more than anything, we have nothing other than Liam Baker and Jack Graham currently. An elite player in his role/position from an elite team is worth paying a bit overs for to get imo

If we want to encourage others to come, overpaying to get some proper leaders in place around the club is the first step we need. A couple of state league players aren't setting standards like a potentially 2 time premiership player.

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

It's not just about contending in a hurry.

That ship already sailed.

 

[Hasselhough]

The concession to get an FA without affecting our compo has basically already been thrown out from reports. If they give a pick (or 2 or 3) to trade for a player/s its essentially the exact same thing for us

Brissy gets something where otherwise they wouldn't have with the concession. Personally, I couldn't give 2 craps what Brissy get. Its the same either way for us

Brisbane get allen and draiper without trading picks .

No one will care if we get starcivich under that concession.

Clubs will have a big problem if Brisbane get a priority pick for starcivich on top of getting 2 free agents

 

[ThePuma #9]

That ship already sailed.

I'm not even certain it was a ship.

 

[Tugga27]

We're the worst team of all time. We aren't contending for anything in a hurry.

I don't think instantly trying to buy wins by overpaying for average players is the best way to go about it, no.

I'd take some cheap as chips state league players to boost our age profile over that Starcevich deal yes, absolutely.

If you think 2 X Devon Robertson type players will be better than Starcevich, you're in Laa Laa land.

 

[eaglevision]

Pretty confident the AFL will give us a pick for Starcevich. We would have preferred the optics of FA concession rather than a pick but reckon they will come to the party.

 

[squashface]

Pretty confident the AFL will give us a pick for Starcevich. We would have preferred the optics of FA concession rather than a pick but reckon they will come to the party.

Such a dumb assistance package when the answer is staring them right in the face to remove the pick dilution for signing him.

Why disadvantage every other club by shifting their picks back and gift the reigning premiers another pick where they would get nothing if he went anywhere else when they could just let us sign him without hurting our Oscar compo?

 

[amazingjoshy]

Brisbane get allen and draiper without trading picks .

No one will care if we get starcivich under that concession.

Clubs will have a big problem if Brisbane get a priority pick for starcivich on top of getting 2 free agents

I think the opposite. The "optics" of us getting a never before seen concession is far worse than us getting almost the exact same as North did.

And like I said, I genuinely couldn't care what Brissy get. The net result of either is the same for us, in fact its probably better if we get a couple of picks like North did instead of the concession and no picks

 

[ThePuma #9]

Such a dumb assistance package when the answer is staring them right in the face to remove the pick dilution for signing him.

Why disadvantage every other club by shifting their picks back and gift the reigning premiers another pick where they would get nothing if he went anywhere else when they could just let us sign him without hurting our Oscar compo?

I think it's the optics that it doesn't allow Brisbane to match an offer for a restricted free agent they wish to keep.

If he was unrestricted then i'm certain they would have agreed to it.

 

[bzparkes]

I think it's the optics that it doesn't allow Brisbane to match an offer for a restricted free agent they wish to keep.

If he was unrestricted then i'm certain they would have agreed to it.

They can match it if he's happy to stay. Would put a massive burden on their salary cap, which would be nice.

 

[EdCurnowRules]

You don't think he's a 10x better upgrade on Cole?

Lol, what?

 

[ThePuma #9]

They can match it if he's happy to stay. Would put a massive burden on their salary cap, which would be nice.

I'd prefer for us to get him to be honest, besides i'm sure there is a bit of backyard shenanigans going on anyways.

Brisbane bid up Allen to guarantee us Band 1, we agree to trade for Starcevich if he chooses to come to us with perhaps Dev thrown in and maybe a later pick back our way.

We've had a good history dealing with the Lions, doubt that changes now and i doubt this won't get done quickly.

 

[flyinghi64]

History says we do alright with trading players in from Brisbane.
If we do end up Dev and Starce maybe they will actually turn out to be very astute gets.
At the end of the day they are both coming from a very successful club with very high standards.

 

[Peptide Pig]

I think us linked to S May is worse ..would hate to see this flog at the club


EAGLES URGED TO PURSUE MAY

Former Eagle Scott Watters thinks Steven May “absolutely” should be a trade target for West Coast.

Reports this week stated Melbourne had told May to find a new home in next month’s exchange window, despite the 33-year old defender having a year to run on his contract.

It’s the first key move under new Demons coach Steven King as he begins to shape his list for 2026.

And ex-Saints coach Watters believes it’s an ideal opportunity for the rebuilding Eagles to add experience to their group.

“Steven May is exactly the type of player that West Coast should be looking at to help them transition from a deep hole of development to the next stage of opportunity,” Watters told The West Australian.


“He’s got two good years of football left in him to support that transition.

“Would I look at Steven May if I was West Coast? Absolutely. He adds something to them right now and right now is what they need.”

West Coast coach Andrew McQualter worked at Melbourne as an assistant in 2023 and 2024, while Demons assistant Sam Radford last month crossed to the Eagles to join McQualter’s team.

May doesn’t mind punching on with his team mates so if we ended up with Hollands then he could be ready to deliver an uppercut if he slips up.

In addition to seeming like a bad cultural fit, he got dominated this year so other than being a big unit to assist Edwards, we’d be better off backing in Brock or a younger KPD like Blight or Young. There’s some VIC teams that could use an experienced full back ahead of us anyway.

The more intriguing Dee’s link would be Petracca or to a lesser but cheaper extent Oliver. If Goodwin ends up coming across maybe he would try and bring one with him. Both have been frustrated and look like a break from the Melbourne footy fishbowl could be beneficial. The Hawks were hot on Petracca but will opt for Merrett instead if they can.

Demons new coach has already mentioned finals so it looks like they are in the same delusional boat to the Blues, thinking they are still good and therefore will be reluctant to give up senior players unless it’s for a high price, which with Petracca turning 30 and not looking the same since that injury, wouldn’t be worth unless a team is contending. There’s still a chance they go for a minor reset and want to shed some money from their cap, or Petracca pushes harder for an exit.