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

[Keys]

Quick links

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

Players out of Contract 2025 (12)

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
• Tom Cole (28/5/97) - Signed a 3 year extension (2023-25) in May 2022
• Rhett Bazzo (17/10/03) - Signed a 2 year extension (2024-25) on an existing contract due to expire 2023 in September 2022
• Jayden Hunt (3/4/95) - Signed a 3 year contract (2023-25) in October 2022
• Callum Jamieson (31/7/00) - Signed a 2 year extension (2024-25) in March 2023
• Jamie Cripps (23/4/92) - Signed a 2 year extension (2024-25) in August 2023
• Jack Petruccelle (12/4/99) - Signed a 2 year extension (2024-25) in August 2023
• (R) Loch Rawlinson (1/6/05) - Signed a 1 year extension (2025) in September 2024
• (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
• (R) Jacob Newton (20/3/06/) - Automatic 6 month contract (2025) when drafted in May 2025

Provisional 2025 Draft order

Spoiler

 

[WCE777]

There's club that wants this guy? I don't even think Carlton wanted him but had to keep SoS happy.

I read into it that he is an UFA, no draft capital needed.
Maybe thinking they have reached a position that D Cameron is gone.
Cheaper KPF/KPD option and they have locked in R Marshall or ROB?

 

[Broken_Chairs]

Love reading about players that other clubs have like the Bont, who had no interest leaving the club he captains, didn't entertain offers, and signs for millions less than he could get elsewhere.

Meanwhile our captain, who is not even an A-grader yet (8th in the colman in 2023 with 53 goals, hasn't kicked more than 28 in a season otherwise) is nickle and diming us for a contract he hasn't deserved.

 

[eaglevision]

Love reading about players that other clubs have like the Bont, who had no interest leaving the club he captains, didn't entertain offers, and signs for millions less than he could get elsewhere.

Meanwhile our captain, who is not even an A-grader yet (8th in the colman in 2023 with 53 goals, hasn't kicked more than 28 in a season otherwise) is nickle and diming us for a contract he hasn't deserved.

Shhh. Brisbane could be reading this.

 

[Broken_Chairs]

Shhh. Brisbane could be reading this.

I mean I can see why a club would offer Oscar a crazy long-term deal. He has all the tools, and if he can get his body right could be a superstar.

Not much different to all the teams that would throw crazy offers at Bont, or St Kilda offering everyone out of contract $18m deals

Just a little grim that our Captain, who grew up in Perth loving the club, wouldn't back himself in to get fit and perform on a shorter contract (still on good money) to do what's best for the club.

 

[eaglevision]

I mean I can see why a club would offer Oscar a crazy long-term deal. He has all the tools, and if he can get his body right could be a superstar.

Not much different to all the teams that would throw crazy offers at Bont, or St Kilda offering everyone out of contract $18m deals

Just a little grim that our Captain, who grew up in Perth loving the club, wouldn't back himself in to get fit and perform on a shorter contract (still on good money) to do what's best for the club.

Look if the Lions have the cap without Daniher (and possibly Neale) and can bring Oscar in free of draft capital with his best years ahead then you pull the trigger.

FWIW I’d love Neale in our midfield in exchange for the Hawks 3R to help them clear some cap space. Both deals are a massive win-win for both clubs.

 

[RustyShacklefordFalcon]

He'd cost more than pick 2, I think mate.

Probably, yeah

 

[KERRPOW]

Mmmm yes, a key forward, literally the only thing we DON'T need

Jed walter to the midfield.

 

[TerryFilk]

Lachie Neale

9

Lachie Neale

Age

32

Ht

177cm

Wt

84kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

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

’s probably the perfect guy to target, would enjoy one final big pay day, has strong WA roots, a great leader and standard setter and would instantly be our best accumulator.

He actually has enough in the tank to give us two good years and then potentially transition into a coaching role.

I don’t care if we have to offer 1-1.2M a season over 2 years, we’ve got no one else to pay and Harley and the other young midfielders being able to learn from him would be a god send.

From Brisbane’s POV, they can get younger, it frees up inside midfield time for Levi Ashcroft, they’ve also obviously got Dan Annable coming next year as well. Means they can probably secure Allen and potentially Draper who they’ve been linked with too.

Given what he has done for Brisbane and his age, I think they’d part with him without much of a fuss.

Neale’s a much better target than the other senior names I’ve seen floated.

 

[sharps24]

We don'y have pick 2 do we? just pick 1 at the moment.
A lot of talk involving pick 2 but we still need a high profile player to leave which will hopefully trigger our compo at pick 2.
So IF that does happen, I am all for KEEPING both 1 and 2 and get Sharp and Dursma to the club.
If we can also trade in a Crouch, Steele, Worpel type and someone with a bit of dash and clean disposal we would surely be filling some very leaky holes.
Another pre-season into Harley, Hewett, Hall, Gross, Shanahan, Reid etc and maybe after 3 years of hope and disappointment we might see some improvement.

If getting Dursma in any way helps in retaining Harley then it is a no brainer. Not as though it's a risky pick.
Pick the best possible youth as we can while we can and get some guns around Harley to build a team you WANT to be playing for and being a part off.

Tend to agree on this. The bargain hunter in me says pick 2 for 6 and 7 is a great deal and Essendon would be paying overs. But I'd be pretty uncomfortable bringing in 3 top 10 picks plus the Hawks pick.

Players taken at the top of the draft really need to be playing league footy in their first season. This is how the system is designed to work, a first round pick is supposed to be a significant investment for a club and most drafts might be the only player you pick up who you can reasonably expect to become a best 22 player. They are not going to just become an AFL player because they were a first round draft pick. If they are not up to playing AFL football in their first season, if they literally offer nothing thats an upgrade on any of your best 23 players, there is probably something wrong with them or you didn't need to draft them in the first place.

A healthy amount of games for the first year of a first round selection is about 15 games. A few weeks in the WAFL to prove you can play, then a debut by round 5, then through the season maybe get dropped back once or twice for a week to work on something if a game is especially poor, or maybe a week off to rest if you are playing so well you can't be dropped on form. Then straight back into it. First round picks need this kind of challenge, enrichment, and reward. And in truth your second round pick usually gets a similar treatment.

A healthy club shouldn't be turning over more than about 3-4 players a year and taking more than 3 18 year olds in the draft multiple years in a row is going to create development issues. If you go back and look at how we did this back in the normal times, you'll see that it's the norm for us to have space in the side for developing first year players. If you take too many in too short space of time, you can't develop them. We've already reached that point.

We have such a log jam of draft investments that the 15-20 games that was needed to use for Bo Allen became 15-20 games combined for Bo Allen, Tom Gross, Hamish Davis and Jobe Shannahan. So now we have a backlog for these guys and instead of the 2 best of them being well placed to play 20 games each next season, they are all behind the curve and need to rob games that would be earmarked for the next wave. Only, we'll potentially have 4 players who each need 15 games each... its just not going to work. If we bring in 4 players at 1, 6, 7, 15 what the hell do we do with them all? We wouldn't have close to 40 games to put into them let alone the ideal of closer to 60. I really can't see a way of navigating through this now and avoiding a compromised development trajectory for the 2025 and 2026 draftee's.

We are obviously looking to bring in more experienced players over the trade period again, and crazy as it would be, I can't see any regular spot open for a 2025 draftee or at the most just 1 spot. I'd suggest this is kind of untested waters and the Beagles could start to look more like a state U19's thats found itself in the wrong league, or an pre-launch expansion side than a WAFL side, bursting with talent and just losing every match and doing nothing for player development.

My 2026 side, probably younger than many are comfortable with already:

F: Brockman, Waterman, Ryan
HF: Duggan, Shannahan/Ried/J Williams, Baker
C: Maric, Graham, Dewar
HB: Ginbey, Brock/Bazzo, McCarthy
B:Hough, Edwards, Allan
Fol: Flynn/Cameron, Hewett, Reid
Int: B Williams, Hall, Hutchinson, [Gross/Sharp/Duursma/??]

I've removed Cripps, Cole, Hunt, Owies, Kelly from that side and not included any kind of best 22 recruit star recruit like P Cripps or equivilent. I am also not considering Yeo though obviously I want him to play. I am pretty sure Owies will be in the 22 next year, whether we want it or not. And likely at least 1 of Cole, Cripps or Kelly will be as well. So you have to take out 2 players there so there goes Bo Allan and that 1 last interchange spot where you'd play Gross or some first round pick of your own choosing. I also had to move Duggan to half forward because he has to slot in somewhere. Maybe there will be 5 on the interchange but they are also proposing ruck changes so that spot might have to go on a tall. Or let's say Yeo comes back to take that last bench spot. It's grim reading for a new recruit, despite what they would probably be thinking coming into a side that is rebuilding.

This side on paper isn't even much of an improvement over this years squad but I've trimmed the fat, I'd suggest that it would be pretty difficult for any draftee to break into that side because this is a pretty fragile and inexperienced side we are going to be desperately chasing wins. With improvement across the board it's a side that can win maybe 8 games, in my eyes. In others eyes you're probably thinking it finished bottom again. And it'll probably be hard not to. We aren't developing the draft class of 2025 in that side. Pick 1 will be lucky to get a game in it imo. If pick 1 is Sharp then I guess we back him to end the careers of Hall or Hutchinson to get into this side. I would want to use pick 2 on Duursma or someone who is a chance to end Brockman or Dewars career. Pick 6 and 7 instead of 2 will just result in both those guys wishing they'd of gone somewhere else.

 

[WCE777]

Lachie Neale’s probably the perfect guy to target, would enjoy one final big pay day, has strong WA roots, a great leader and standard setter and would instantly be our best accumulator.

He actually has enough in the tank to give us two good years and then potentially transition into a coaching role.

I don’t care if we have to offer 1-1.2M a season over 2 years, we’ve got no one else to pay and Harley and the other young midfielders being able to learn from him would be a god send.

From Brisbane’s POV, they can get younger, it frees up inside midfield time for Levi Ashcroft, they’ve also obviously got Dan Annable coming next year as well. Means they can probably secure Allen and potentially Draper who they’ve been linked with too.

Given what he has done for Brisbane and his age, I think they’d part with him without much of a fuss.

Neale’s a much better target than the other senior names I’ve seen floated.

100% this

 

[WCE777]

Tend to agree on this. The bargain hunter in me says pick 2 for 6 and 7 is a great deal and Essendon would be paying overs. But I'd be pretty uncomfortable bringing in 3 top 10 picks plus the Hawks pick.

Players taken at the top of the draft really need to be playing league footy in their first season. This is how the system is designed to work, a first round pick is supposed to be a significant investment for a club and most drafts might be the only player you pick up who you can reasonably expect to become a best 22 player. They are not going to just become an AFL player because they were a first round draft pick. If they are not up to playing AFL football in their first season, if they literally offer nothing thats an upgrade on any of your best 23 players, there is probably something wrong with them or you didn't need to draft them in the first place.

A healthy amount of games for the first year of a first round selection is about 15 games. A few weeks in the WAFL to prove you can play, then a debut by round 5, then through the season maybe get dropped back once or twice for a week to work on something if a game is especially poor, or maybe a week off to rest if you are playing so well you can't be dropped on form. Then straight back into it. First round picks need this kind of challenge, enrichment, and reward. And in truth your second round pick usually gets a similar treatment.

A healthy club shouldn't be turning over more than about 3-4 players a year and taking more than 3 18 year olds in the draft multiple years in a row is going to create development issues. If you go back and look at how we did this back in the normal times, you'll see that it's the norm for us to have space in the side for developing first year players. If you take too many in too short space of time, you can't develop them. We've already reached that point.

We have such a log jam of draft investments that the 15-20 games that was needed to use for Bo Allen became 15-20 games combined for Bo Allen, Tom Gross, Hamish Davis and Jobe Shannahan. So now we have a backlog for these guys and instead of the 2 best of them being well placed to play 20 games each next season, they are all behind the curve and need to rob games that would be earmarked for the next wave. Only, we'll potentially have 4 players who each need 15 games each... its just not going to work. If we bring in 4 players at 1, 6, 7, 15 what the hell do we do with them all? We wouldn't have close to 40 games to put into them let alone the ideal of closer to 60. I really can't see a way of navigating through this now and avoiding a compromised development trajectory for the 2025 and 2026 draftee's.

We are obviously looking to bring in more experienced players over the trade period again, and crazy as it would be, I can't see any regular spot open for a 2025 draftee or at the most just 1 spot. I'd suggest this is kind of untested waters and the Beagles could start to look more like a state U19's thats found itself in the wrong league, or an pre-launch expansion side than a WAFL side, bursting with talent and just losing every match and doing nothing for player development.

My 2026 side, probably younger than many are comfortable with already:

F: Brockman, Waterman, Ryan
HF: Duggan, Shannahan/Ried/J Williams, Baker
C: Maric, Graham, Dewar
HB: Ginbey, Brock/Bazzo, McCarthy
B:Hough, Edwards, Allan
Fol: Flynn/Cameron, Hewett, Reid
Int: B Williams, Hall, Hutchinson, [Gross/Sharp/Duursma/??]

I've removed Cripps, Cole, Hunt, Owies, Kelly from that side and not included any kind of best 22 recruit star recruit like P Cripps or equivilent. I am also not considering Yeo though obviously I want him to play. I am pretty sure Owies will be in the 22 next year, whether we want it or not. And likely at least 1 of Cole, Cripps or Kelly will be as well. So you have to take out 2 players there so there goes Bo Allan and that 1 last interchange spot where you'd play Gross or some first round pick of your own choosing. I also had to move Duggan to half forward because he has to slot in somewhere. Maybe there will be 5 on the interchange but they are also proposing ruck changes so that spot might have to go on a tall. Or let's say Yeo comes back to take that last bench spot. It's grim reading for a new recruit, despite what they would probably be thinking coming into a side that is rebuilding.

This side on paper isn't even much of an improvement over this years squad but I've trimmed the fat, I'd suggest that it would be pretty difficult for any draftee to break into that side because this is a pretty fragile and inexperienced side we are going to be desperately chasing wins. With improvement across the board it's a side that can win maybe 8 games, in my eyes. In others eyes you're probably thinking it finished bottom again. And it'll probably be hard not to. We aren't developing the draft class of 2025 in that side. Pick 1 will be lucky to get a game in it imo. If pick 1 is Sharp then I guess we back him to end the careers of Hall or Hutchinson to get into this side. I would want to use pick 2 on Duursma or someone who is a chance to end Brockman or Dewars career. Pick 6 and 7 instead of 2 will just result in both those guys wishing they'd of gone somewhere else.

Great analysis.
I also can see the total logic of drafting just the 3 1st round picks plus our NGA/FS prospects we think will make it for all the reasons you mention.
If we get overs for pick 2 like you mention, I would be trading 1 into next year.
The older experienced players we target, depending who we get will definitely alleviate the complete U21 team being rolled out each week.
I can also see players like Hutch, Maric, Hall, Allan etc. being used across the season with whoever is ready to perform from the new draftees.
We may actually get some decent depth through these types who are early in their careers.
The Cripps, Owies, Kelly's will be used in and out of the team when needed and form warrants.
I suspect 2026 is a draft we will target specific players in the draft that suit our list needs.
We have 4-5 NGA/FS prospects to consider and maybe 1 or 2 quality depending on the draft and outcomes of this one.

 

[Wooshaaaa]

Love reading about players that other clubs have like the Bont, who had no interest leaving the club he captains, didn't entertain offers, and signs for millions less than he could get elsewhere.

Meanwhile our captain, who is not even an A-grader yet (8th in the colman in 2023 with 53 goals, hasn't kicked more than 28 in a season otherwise) is nickle and diming us for a contract he hasn't deserved.

Which is why we are willing to let him go for pick 2

 

[Eastern Rangers]

2 were against the WC Colts so they dont count for much

Richmonds performance last year was an injury ridden outlier and they're leaning on an age group we don't have.

 

[Cuzz09]

I think we should be aiming for that no1 MSD pick next year when Yeo retires.

Some random who becomes one of our best players again

 

[southcoast]

I think we should be aiming for that no1 MSD pick next year when Yeo retires.

Some random who becomes one of our best players again

Add another bullet to the media train - WCE got two first rounders in 2025/2026 period and have no further need for draft assistance.

For context refer James Hird - apparently Hutch was pick 3. Completely forgetting/deliberately overlooking the MSD aspect to his commentary.

 

[Byron_Clanger]

Cal Twomey's Phantom Form Guide: Top draft prospects' July ranking

AFL.com.au's draft guru Cal Twomey delivers his first Phantom Form Guide ahead of the 2025 Telstra AFL Draft

www.afl.com.au

Cal Twomey with his first Mock Draft. Suns Academy player he's got going number one...and they wonder why teams at the bottom of the ladder aren't getting any better...but then he's got us taking CDT then Duursma at three.

 

[bzparkes]

Cal Twomey's Phantom Form Guide: Top draft prospects' July ranking

AFL.com.au's draft guru Cal Twomey delivers his first Phantom Form Guide ahead of the 2025 Telstra AFL Draft

www.afl.com.au

Cal Twomey with his first Mock Draft. Suns Academy player he's got going number one...and they wonder why teams at the bottom of the ladder aren't getting any better...but then he's got us taking CDT then Duursma at three.

It's a form guide, not a phantom draft.

 

[squashface]

Cal Twomey's Phantom Form Guide: Top draft prospects' July ranking

AFL.com.au's draft guru Cal Twomey delivers his first Phantom Form Guide ahead of the 2025 Telstra AFL Draft

www.afl.com.au

Cal Twomey with his first Mock Draft. Suns Academy player he's got going number one...and they wonder why teams at the bottom of the ladder aren't getting any better...but then he's got us taking CDT then Duursma at three.

Feel like we go through this every year but it's not a mock draft. It's form rankings - not based on who he thinks clubs will pick but who he sees as the best prospects at the moment.

 

[RanaNaved]

Byron_Clanger rivalling ep2018 for biggest Chicken Little these days

 

[Happy Mastenator]

Lachie Neale

9

Lachie Neale

Age

32

Ht

177cm

Wt

84kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

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

’s probably the perfect guy to target, would enjoy one final big pay day, has strong WA roots, a great leader and standard setter and would instantly be our best accumulator.

He actually has enough in the tank to give us two good years and then potentially transition into a coaching role.

I don’t care if we have to offer 1-1.2M a season over 2 years, we’ve got no one else to pay and Harley and the other young midfielders being able to learn from him would be a god send.

From Brisbane’s POV, they can get younger, it frees up inside midfield time for Levi Ashcroft, they’ve also obviously got Dan Annable coming next year as well. Means they can probably secure Allen and potentially Draper who they’ve been linked with too.

Given what he has done for Brisbane and his age, I think they’d part with him without much of a fuss.

Neale’s a much better target than the other senior names I’ve seen floated.

Not sure why Neale is leaving a team in the premiership window to come back to us. But we can dream i guess.

 

[Kaboodleer]

Cal Twomey's Phantom Form Guide: Top draft prospects' July ranking

AFL.com.au's draft guru Cal Twomey delivers his first Phantom Form Guide ahead of the 2025 Telstra AFL Draft

www.afl.com.au

Cal Twomey with his first Mock Draft. Suns Academy player he's got going number one...and they wonder why teams at the bottom of the ladder aren't getting any better...but then he's got us taking CDT then Duursma at three.

I would love nothing more than to to bid on Uweland, Patterson and Annable with our first three picks. Time to send a message about this nonsense.

 

[Monocle]

Not sure why Neale is leaving a team in the premiership window to come back to us. But we can dream i guess.

Because his wife wants to be close to her family to help bring up the kids and the kids get to be around their grandparents.

He has a year to run on his current contract after which he will head back to Perth.

If he moved at seasons end and was able to add a couple of years on to his earning and we can afford more that Fremantle.

Tick for him and his family.

Brisbane clear a big salary out of 2026, so they have the coin to chase Oscar and Draper. Tick for them.

West Coast get some immediate highly experienced help for the midfield. Tick for us.

Thats the thinking and reasoning behind the rumour.

 

[amazingjoshy]

 

[damo27]

I mean I can see why a club would offer Oscar a crazy long-term deal. He has all the tools, and if he can get his body right could be a superstar.

Not much different to all the teams that would throw crazy offers at Bont, or St Kilda offering everyone out of contract $18m deals

Just a little grim that our Captain, who grew up in Perth loving the club, wouldn't back himself in to get fit and perform on a shorter contract (still on good money) to do what's best for the club.

I don't think it's just the money for Oscar going to the Lions he wants to win a Premiership. He won't get that with West Coast.

 

[amazingjoshy]

Just a little grim that our Captain, who grew up in Perth loving the club, wouldn't back himself in to get fit and perform on a shorter contract (still on good money) to do what's best for the club.

He kind of is if he gets us pick 2