List Mgmt. Contracts/Trade Thread - 2025 Edition Vol 3

[Keys]

Quick Links

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

List Changes - 2025

Spoiler

In:

• Brandon Starcevich arrives at West Coast in a three team deal
• Tylar Young (Richmond) arrived at West Coast in exchange for Pick 38.
• Deven Robertson (Brisbane) has agreed to join West Coast and will be signed on to the rookie list after being delisted by Brisbane

Out:

• Oscar Allen joins Brisbane as a FA - West Coast receive Pick 2 as compensation
• Liam Ryan and a 2027 R3 pick has been traded to St Kilda for a 2026 R2 pick
• Campbell Chesser has been traded to Carlton for Pick 41
• Jayden Hunt announces retirement
• Jack Petruccelle, Callum Jamieson and Loch Rawlinson not offered new contracts
• Coen Livingstone joins the list of players not offered a new contract

Players Out of Contract - 2025 (0)

Spoiler

• Jamie Cripps and Malakai Champion seem to have been offered new contracts despite there being no official announcement. Means that all players out of contract for 2025 have been given new contracts despite or removed from the playing list

2025 Draft Order

Spoiler

Current Draft Picks:
Round 1: 1, 2, 13
Round 2: 34, 41
Round 3: 53, 58 (These picks are in excess of available list spots so will be forfeited if we don’t consolidate our 2025 picks up the order or trade some for future picks)

List Spots Available (39 of 48):
• Main list (33 of 38) - 5* (in: Starcevich, Young out: Allen, Ryan, Chesser, Hunt, Petruccelle, Jamieson)
• Cat A rookie list (5 of 8) - 3* (in: Robertson (pending), out: Rawlinson)
• Cat B rookie list (1 of 2) - 2 (out: Livingstone)

* Based on Dewar being upgraded after the maximum 3 years on the rookie list. Hutchinson may also have been upgraded but this isn’t confirmed - if it is we will have 4 main and 4 rookie list spots open

* Matthew Clarke has stated we have 5 main list spots

Matt Clarke wraps up the trade period - 6PR

 

[Goroyals22]

Listening to Ryan Burton

3

Ryan Burton

Age

28

Ht

191cm

Wt

92kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

18.5

5star

K

12.1

4star

HB

6.3

4star

M

4.6

4star

T

2.1

4star

MG

277.3

4star

D

16.8

4star

K

12.3

5star

HB

4.5

3star

M

5.0

5star

T

1.0

2star

MG

277.3

4star

D

13.4

4star

K

9.0

4star

HB

4.4

4star

M

4.8

5star

T

2.2

4star

talk today he was pretty impressive. We would again be loading the back half but can play wing or forward. Good kick ..

 

[Chris_6678]

How many years are on Claytons contract?

 

[Farang83150]

Enjoyed listening to Dave Matthews on TR a minute ago, never lets a chance to bag Victoria slip by, good in him.
Tom Morris continues to be a total and utter DH, comes across as a hanger on that others in the room wish would just FO.

 

[Keys]

How many years are on Claytons contract?

Until the end of 2030

Would be the longest tenured player at the club if we picked him up

Too much risk involved

 

[Citizen Erazed]

2026 FA list for those interested.

2026 free agents revealed: Red-hot Lion among footy's most wanted

A sensational finals series has shot Zac Bailey into the upper echelon of wanted players

www.afl.com.au

Walsh, Briggs, Neale, Bailey, McInerney, Knobel, Witts, Reeves and Miller I’d be particularly interested in.

Rucks, rucks everywhere*

*Except on our list

 

[WCE_Phill]

Bailey was born and raised in the NT before moving to SA where he was drafted out of Norwood

Not a local boy

Lol I've always thought he was a WA lad for some reason

 

[Bacchus]

He is 100% my favoured target but I don't think there is any appetite from either the player or his club to move on.

Should be a chips in situation though for the Eagles, as he'd be the ideal type to attract across.

Straight swap for Ryan would be ideal, but I feel the Saints would want more and Saints fans, full of more piss and vinegar than an unhygienic fish and chip shop at the moment, would appear to value Steele somewhere between Christian Petracca and Gary Ablett III.

Put a high value on Steele who they are finished with, minimal value on Ryan who they are chasing.

That would be right. Typical RTB. We must hold firm on Ryan. He has value, would walk into SK b22.

 

[WCE777]

2026 FA list for those interested.

2026 free agents revealed: Red-hot Lion among footy's most wanted

A sensational finals series has shot Zac Bailey into the upper echelon of wanted players

www.afl.com.au

Walsh, Briggs, Neale, Bailey, McInerney, Knobel, Witts, Reeves and Miller I’d be particularly interested in.

Must say I agree.
Neale/Walsh/Briggs/Miller would be the best of he best in that order and 2 would be magnificent!!

 

[BSD]

We should be all over Bailey. Local boy. Happy to match Essendon offer.
Already daul premiership player and could be a third. So getting him shouldn't be hard. Brisbane couldn't get near $8m over 6 years.

Need to have a 6 win season and show were on the up tho

Briggs could be a good stop gap until ARied is ready too

Is he any better than that other retread Flynn that also came from GWS ?

 

[eaglevision]

Must say I agree.
Neale/Walsh/Briggs/Miller would be the best of he best in that order and 2 would be magnificent!!

Neale is realistic, Walsh Carlton can now afford to match any bid so unless they are bottom 2 we’ll need to match. They’ll want to turn him into Cody Walker and more.

 

[bzparkes]

How many years are on Claytons contract?

How long is a piece of string?

 

[eaglevision]

Geelong Cats List Changes

Geelong has announced their list changes following the conclusion of the 2025 AFL season

www.geelongcats.com.au

Retschko delisted. Would love to hear what Mitch Duncan has to say about him. Runs all day and an extra year of development, may be a good fit for one of our extra Cat A rookie spots in a very shallow draft.

 

[Barrybran]

Until the end of 2030

Would be the longest tenured player at the club if we picked him up

Too much risk involved

I agree there is too much risk and he wouldn't be a good fit but would we able to restructure his contract?

 

[hbk2015]

If we could restructure his contract and dees pay some of it. Would be a huge get

 

[Tyberious Funk]

I'd be willing to take the risk on Oliver for the right price. If we could restructure his deal to put more money upfront while we have the space, then if it doesn't work out (for whatever reasons), a payout wouldn't be so painful. Unlike Dev, Oliver is legitimately a best-22 player, would make an immediate impact on our midfield, and would certainly help Reid.

Whatever his off field problems might be, he played 22 games this year, and 21 last year. He's not JUH. And maybe getting him away from Melbourne might help. McQualter worked at Melbourne, so he's probably got better insight into Oliver than most.

IMHO, trading players is a little bit like the buying property... if you find your dream house, it's going to come with a hefty price tag. Either you pony up the big money, or you are willing to make compromises and/or take a few risks.

 

[Altum Volantes]

We are better off letting Melbourne be shackled to Oliver for another 5 years.

Someone needs to finish below us, ideally.

 

[RookiePick]

I wouldn't have thought Clarry would have too much trouble finding a pick-me-up

 

[Jeremy McLovin]

IMHO, trading players is a little bit like the buying property... if you find your dream house, it's going to come with a hefty price tag. Either you pony up the big money, or you are willing to make compromises and/or take a few risks.

So what's the afl equivalent of buying the worst house on the best street?

 

[RookiePick]

So what's the afl equivalent of buying the worst house on the best street?

High level talent with injury and/or off-field issues.

A coat of new paint, fix up the front landscaping and you're profiting.

eg. Clarry, JUH type areas.

 

[Barrybran]

So what's the afl equivalent of buying the worst house on the best street?

Dev?

 

[Miguel Sanchez]

Maybe if it was a Jack Bowes

12

Jack Bowes

Age

27

Ht

189cm

Wt

85kg

Pos.

D/M

Career

Season

Last 5

D

16.3

4star

K

9.7

4star

HB

6.6

4star

M

3.9

4star

T

2.5

4star

MG

318.1

4star

D

18.0

4star

K

11.8

5star

HB

6.3

4star

M

5.4

5star

T

1.1

2star

MG

318.1

4star

D

11.6

3star

K

6.4

3star

HB

5.2

4star

M

2.8

3star

T

2.4

4star

style deal and Melbourne gave us their future first to take Oliver and his contract off their hands. Are those deals still allowed?

 

[mitchzz]

I feel like Melbourne and Essendon (if Merrett leaves) could fall off a cliff next year. Richmond too if they start phasing out their veterans more in favour of youngsters

Hopefully we can climb up a few spots and avoid another spoon

 

[Barrybran]

Maybe if it was a Jack Bowes style deal and Melbourne gave us their future first to take Oliver and his contract off their hands. Are those deals still allowed?

What would they want in return? I can't imagine they would be releasing Oliver due to salary cap issues.

 

[Deepthroat]

This thread was rolled into Vol 2 on 13/8 - 10,356 posts later and it’s time to roll it into Vol 3 after hurtling along at 200+ posts per day

What’s changed since 13/8?

A fair bit:
• Jayden Hunt retired whilst Jack Petruccelle, Callum Jamieson and Loch Rawlinson were all delisted
• Oscar Allen formally announced his intention to explore Free Agency and move to Brisbane. It is widely expected this will land us pick 2 as compensation, possibly as soon as tomorrow when the FA period officially opens
• Liam Ryan (St Kilda) and Campbell Chesser (Carlton) have both requested trades to continue their careers elsewhere
• Contract extensions were given to Tom Cole (2026), Rhett Bazzo (2026), Jacob Newton (2026), Tom McCarthy (2028), Jobe Shanahan (2028), Bo Allan (2028) and, most importantly, Harley Reid (2028)
• Tylar Young (Richmond) has requested a trade to West Coast
• Brandon Starcevich (Brisbane) has yet to confirm his intentions but is likely to seek a trade to West Coast who have offered a lucrative deal of up to 6 years despite concerns around his concussion history including a head knock during the GF
• Other potential trade targets (Neil Erasmus, Sam Butler, Callum Ah Chee among others) have either remained with their existing club or sought/expected to seek trades elsewhere.
• At this stage, Tom Berry and board meme Deven Robertson are the only other players linked to us in any meaningful manner with the Bulldogs also a potential suitor for Robertson
• Jamie Cripps and Malakai Champion are expected to have been or will be given new contracts but no official announcement has been made as yet. Leaves Coen Livingstone as the only uncontracted player who’s future remains unclear
• Our request for draft assistance was granted in part with the AFL giving us an end of R1 priority pick and four additional rookie list spots for the 2026-28 seasons (2027 and 2028 are subject to review should improvement exceed expectations). Unfortunately, any request to be able to prelist our NGA players was denied
• Off field, line coaches Jarrad Schofield and Luke Webster were let go whilst ruck coach, Ryan Turnbull will also depart. Sam Radford (Melbourne midfield coach) has been added to the coaching panel for 2026 and Mitch Duncan is expected to be announced shortly as another assistant/development coach
• High performance manager, Matt Inness, moved to Essendon citing family reasons and was replaced soon after by highly respected Fremantle fitness boss Phil Merriman
• Hawthorn finished 8th on the ladder which looked to hand us picks 11,29 and 47 in the draft before they made an unwelcome charge into a preliminary final which they lost to Geelong pushing those picks back to 15,33 and 51. And yes had we chosen Carlton’s picks we’d have 8,26 and 51 but that topic has been done to death

Where does that leave us?

• Our draft hand currently stands at 1,15,19,20,34,52 and 74.
• As already mentioned, Oscar Allen’s move to Brisbane should give us pick 2 as FA compensation.
• Expected FA moves by Tom DeKoning Band 1), Sam Draper (Band 1 or 2), Jack Silvagni (Band 2) and James Worpel (Band 2) will push our current picks back to 1,2,17(or 18),24,25,39,57 and 79
• Trades for Liam Ryan and Campbell Chesser will add to our trade/draft arsenal but it is unclear what those trades might entail
• Assuming Ryan Maric and Tyrell Dewar have or will be elevated off the rookie list to the senior list we will have 7 senior list spots to be filled following the expected departures of Allen, Ryan and Chesser. We also have the four additional rookie list openings given as part of our draft assistance.
• Currently there are no other players known to be looking to depart and Cat B rookie, Coen Livingstone is the only uncontracted player who’s future is uncertain

How to fill those 11 (7 senior and 4 rookie) list spots?

• Starcevich and Young will fill 2 spots and should be traded in using picks 39 and 57 or whatever the Ryan and Chesser trades land us. What the trades ultimately are remains to be seen but there is a concerning push in the media led by Cal Twomey for our end of R1 priority pick to be included in the Starcevich trade
• That would leave the remaining 5 spots to be filled via a delicate balance of the high end draft picks we hold, F/S (Charlie Banfield) and NGA prospects and further potential trades
• Banfield and our NGAs (Koby Evans, Tylah Williams and Wes Walley) aren’t anticipated to attract bids earlier than R3 which would mean matching those bids could be done using our next pick in the draft wherever that might be. Having the picks to match won’t be an issue therefore, however, the catch is we would need to have an available list spot. There in lies the problem as we’d need to hold spots open in order to match but if bids don’t come we potentially leave a list spot(s) unfilled. Further, if we don’t have an open spot we can’t match and would lose that player

In short, the club faces a challenge to determine the best strategy to fill those 5 spots. What I think they could/should do:

• Firstly, I would move at least one senior listed player to the rookie list to create an extra list opening - Jamie Cripps seems the most viable as he’d be unlikely to be poached by a rival club. Harry Barnett would be the other option
• At this point, other than Starcevich and Young, we aren’t linked to any other players worth trading onto the main list. Possibly Robertson but I feel he should only be added in the rookie draft where we have pick 1 or as a SSP signing post draft
• Unless we trade our end of R1 pick for Starcevich, we will have 4x R1 picks plus the first pick of R2. Retain picks 1 and 2 then bundle up our remaining picks to get as high up the order as we can to add two more R1 draftees
• Then leave two spots open to match potential bids on Banfield and one of Evans/Williams. The hope would be that there’s no bid for at least one of Evans or Williams. I doubt a bid comes for Walley nor do I think we should match if one does
• Four R1 draftees, Banfield and one of Evans/Williams would be a pretty good draft haul

The above would leave us with 3 rookie list spots to fill in the following order of priority:
• If one of Evans or Williams gets through the draft add them to the Cat B list
• Add 2 mature/experienced players who are either DFAs or senior state league players hoping for an opportunity.
• Make a decision on Livingstone - retain him or delist him to open a spot to add Walley as a Cat B rookie
• If we miss out on one of Evans or Williams we would have one spot left which becomes a choice between Walley, Livingstone or a third mature player possibly as a SSP signing after trialling players as a train on option

As a final note, I will be opening a new thread shortly for discussion on previous trades/draft selections (like the pick 3 for Baker trade) to avoid this thread getting clogged up in a rear view mirror.

Superb summary.

One thing it does highlight is the club has not made any serious misstep so far this offseason.

I truly hope we treat the Priority Pick with the fullest respect and don't use it as a throwaway chip like others who have received previously have done.

We just need some strong, sensible decisions in the next two weeks and our prospects could grow significantly.

 

[WCE777]

Neale is realistic, Walsh Carlton can now afford to match any bid so unless they are bottom 2 we’ll need to match. They’ll want to turn him into Cody Walker and more.

Its the reality of getting players like Neale or Walsh who 1 will be available for our next premiership and the other who will be elite and set the highest standards possible while teaching our next generation how to play/prepare/train and all these elite traits he has.

Walsh is unrealistic and is he the best available to us for a 2030 tilt?
Cripps is nearly finished in 2-3 years.

We realistically need to keep bringing in elite mids through the draft x 3 at a minimum.
Sharp/Cumming and then 2026 get the best balanced mid.