Rumour Speculation, Rumours, Lies Thread 2026 - Part 2

[Fud#3]

It was either end of last year or the year before.. I cant remember exactly.

B&F’s mean sweet fa.. especially at our club.. our B&F’s in the past 5-10 years have often gone to the blokes that simply try the hardest!..

Dawson
Dawson / Keays
Dawson
Laird
Laird

I guess Dawson does try pretty hard.

 

[skam85]

They don't want the media to laugh at us for finding the aboriginal background of a redhead, unless it works!

Would make a formidable mid/forward duo with Rankine

 

[119others]

No and no.

which part are you disagreeing with. i agree it wouldnt be double the salary but darcy has 4 more years after this year compared to robs 2

Fremantle ruckman Sean Darcy signed a six-year contract extension in December 2023, locking him into the club until the end of 2030. The deal, which began after his previous contract ended in 2024, prevents him from becoming a free agent and keeps him with the Dockers long-term.

Contract Key Details:

• Duration: Six-year extension (through 2030).
• Status: Signed in Dec 2023 to avoid free agency.
• Value: Reports suggest a high-value, "mega deal" to ward off interest from Victorian clubs, specifically Geelong.
• Context:
  The deal was made to secure the long-term ruck pairing of Darcy and Luke Jackson.
  

As of early 2026, concerns have been raised regarding his reliability due to ongoing injuries.

 

[119others]

Cross posting this into the rumours thread because I like to keep this stuff organized in my mind:

For anyone who's missed it (and because I don't think it's been posted in this thread already) as per plugger59 we have a potential late addition to our NGA eligible players who is well known to clubs (so presumably a good player and potentially a first round pick), not a father son pick, and currently in the process for approval to align with us.

Would be nominating for selection at the 2026 National Draft. This presumably limits the player to one of 10-15 potential South Australian names so is cause for some optimism.

Plugger has posted some further info before and after this post. One to keep an eye on for this who aren't actively following the draft prospects thread.

in summary, the most likely player is one of the following (see details below and ruling out cochrane and edwards) are Ethan Herbert, Gabriel Patterson, Jacob McNicol, Archie Van Dyk, Kale Matthews-Hampton, Jack Gordon as they seem to tick the various clues plugger59 has left (only tiny crumbs and respect he cant say anymore so i am GUESSING here). its like a little lottery win in the making and very happy P59 has shared this info - hoping it comes off haha

without re-reading all pluggers messages again what he did say was:

• not FS (so no Max type situation) was confirmed.
• so must presumably be a NGA player as no other options are there?
• 2026 ND
• ALL AFL clubs know about this player so its likely someone half decent who will certainly be drafted (assuming SA boy, theres 7 in the top 30 in the current top 50 draftees posted last week - reposted below - and iirc another one in the 30-50 range). but he hasnt said first round from what i recall
• not Edwards, not long
• he also hasnt said SA based either iirc. but to be non FS, and NGA, surely that infers he is SA based?
• plugger is 'very confident' about the process of this young fella being on our list next year once formalities (paperwork or whatever) is ticked off

so the top 50 draftees listed below and most probable imo and just using the rankings below, whilst ruling out cochrane, and edwards are Ethan Herbert, Gabriel Patterson, Jacob McNicol, Archie Van Dyk, Kale Matthews-Hampton, Jack Gordon

#1: Dougie Cochrane (Port Adelaide NGA)

Position: Key Forward / Utility
Height: 195cm
Club: South Australia / Central District (now Port Adelaide)
Draft Range: 1-2
Previous Ranking: N/A

#5: Kodah Edwards

Position: Midfielder / Medium Forward
Height: 183cm
Club: South Australia / South Adelaide
Draft Range: 4-8
Previous Ranking: N/A

#10: Ethan Herbert

Position: Ruck / Key Forward
Height: 200cm
Club: South Australia / North Adelaide
Draft Range: 8-15
Previous Ranking: N/A

#13: Gabriel Patterson

Position: Medium Forward
Height: 184cm
Club: South Australia / Glenelg
Draft Range: 10-20
Previous Ranking: N/A

#23: Jacob McNicol

Position: Midfielder
Height: 177cm
Club: South Australia / Glenelg
Draft Range: 15-40
Previous Ranking: N/A

#25: Archie Van Dyk

Position: Midfielder
Height: 185cm
Club: South Australia / South Adelaide
Draft Range: 15-40
Previous Ranking: N/A

#27: Kale Matthews-Hampton

Position: Medium Defender / Midfielder
Height: 189cm
Club: South Australia / Sturt
Draft Range: 15-40
Previous Ranking: N/A

#36: Jack Gordon

Position: Midfielder / Medium Defender
Height: 185cm
Club: South Australia / Central District
Draft Range: 20-40
Previous Ranking: N/A

 

[Cromulant]

which part are you disagreeing with. i agree it wouldnt be double the salary but darcy has 4 more years after this year compared to robs 2

Fremantle ruckman Sean Darcy signed a six-year contract extension in December 2023, locking him into the club until the end of 2030. The deal, which began after his previous contract ended in 2024, prevents him from becoming a free agent and keeps him with the Dockers long-term.

Contract Key Details:

• Duration: Six-year extension (thr 2030).-×
• Status: Signed in Dec 2023 to avoid free agency.
• Value: Reports suggest a high-value, "mega deal" to ward off interest from Victorian clubs, specifically Geelong.
• Context:
  The deal was made to secure the long-term ruck pairing of Darcy and Luke Jackson.

As of early 2026, concerns have been raised regarding his reliability due to ongoing injuries.

Nowhere near double the salary, and whilst theres durability concerns on Darcy he'll still play more AFL games than ROB this year, and likely in the remainder of his career

 

[119others]

Nowhere near double the salary, and whilst theres durability concerns on Darcy he'll still play more AFL games than ROB this year, and likely in the remainder of his career

yes, agree with this mate. i thought you were querying the length of his contract though. anyway, moving on..

 

[Mutineer]

The history of the AFL signing off on clubs applying for a player to become eligible to them via NGA this late in the proceedings does not bode well if it's via NGA. So unless it's a Michalanney type scenario I have my doubts we'd get permission this late.

Is this "smokey" in our Crows Academy currently?
That might help if he is?

 

[119others]

The history of the AFL signing off on clubs applying for a player to become eligible to them via NGA this late in the proceedings does not bode well if it's via NGA. So unless it's a Michalanney type scenario I have my doubts we'd get permission this late.

Is this "smokey" in our Crows Academy currently?
That might help if he is?

well plugger did say not 'fs' so i presumed that rules out a max type situation

are there any decent players in the crows academy able to be drafted this year bicks?

 

[Banrock]

Collingwood most definitely had interest.

And not that hard to understand why withSteele Sidebum, Scott Pendlebury, Jack Crisp all well into veteran status and Nick Daicos their only genuine A Grader, Jordan DeGoey 30 and nowhere near the player he was.

Wasn’t it mentioned that Berry is best mates with eddy Maguires son hence one of the links to Collingwood

 

[Mutineer]

well plugger did say not 'fs' so i presumed that rules out a max type situation

are there any decent players in the crows academy able to be drafted this year bicks?

Only the 2 that I know of and one of those is currently in Victoria playing for the Northern Knights. Are any of the players you named in the Crows Academy currently even if not thought of as NGA's?

Kane McAuliffe was in our Academy although not NGA eligible via being from our Northern zone Pt.Augusta. Players from our Northern zone are generally tied to North Adelaide.

Top prospect Ethan Herbert the redheaded ruck/kpp is at North Adelaide. LOL

 

[Mostyn]

The history of the AFL signing off on clubs applying for a player to become eligible to them via NGA this late in the proceedings does not bode well if it's via NGA. So unless it's a Michalanney type scenario I have my doubts we'd get permission this late.

Is this "smokey" in our Crows Academy currently?
That might help if he is?

They've also changed the rules, haven't they - I think someone now needs to be in your academy since being 15, so you can't do a Cochrane scam anymore.

I think we're wasting energy on this. It's far more likely that Plugger misunderstood what he was told (no disrespect, mate), or it's a family looking into something that has no likelihood of occurring.

 

[Mutineer]

Wasn’t it mentioned that Berry is best mates with eddy Maguires son hence one of the links to Collingwood

Yep I posted that, he went to Melbourne Grammar with both of Eddie's sons and hangs out with them socially when he's back in Victoria.

 

[BRL121]

The history of the AFL signing off on clubs applying for a player to become eligible to them via NGA this late in the proceedings does not bode well if it's via NGA. So unless it's a Michalanney type scenario I have my doubts we'd get permission this late.

Is this "smokey" in our Crows Academy currently?
That might help if he is?

Yes. The AFL must be the limiting factor in whatever process this is, and they are glacially slow. I can't see that there actually can be any "updates" on the timeline of this process.

 

[1970crow]

I can't see $1.4m, but I do see 2030.

It doesn't say ROB is on 700k either....which I'm pretty sure he's not given the delays with signing the contract last year.

The delay was that he wouldn’t sign the contract the contract we’d had on the table for months. He held out until he got what he wanted. At the time, he was running in the top few of our b&f and had a finals series to worry about, you can be pretty confident that it wasn’t a discounted contract. And don’t McAndrew was fringe and unproven and we’d just missed out on Draper. ROB’s agent held the aces.

 

[1970crow]

When was Berry last OOC?

I think it would be a very different scenario now. Berry would have several suitors, including us. I think he's top 5 of our B&F

End of previous year, signed for 2, up again this year.

 

[Cromulant]

End of previous year, signed for 2, up again this year.

I reckon he'd have suitors this time round.

Not sure they'd want to offer anything massive but hes prime trade bait IMO

 

[1970crow]

It was either end of last year or the year before.. I cant remember exactly.

B&F’s mean sweet fa.. especially at our club.. our B&F’s in the past 5-10 years have often gone to the blokes that simply try the hardest!..

Dawson has been our best performed player and deserving of his finishing positions. But you’re right, Nicks changed the voting methodology. It used to be that players got minimum votes for beating their opponent and then further votes for extra contribution to defence or attack. Nicks system is all about performing your role. You get max votes for performing your role to an excellent level. It’s like a public service reward system, all process, ignore impact.

Nicks is a low level drone from sector 7G. Shouldn’t be anywhere near a senior coaching role.

 

[Peter Doherty]

Consider the state of the squad when ROB signed his extension in '21, he was also our current club champion.

Yes, we still had Sloane, Crouch and Walker in '22 but not much else. Dawson on a decent size as a trade in, but he's surely on more now. Seedsman? 2 of ROB's 3 years will be without Walker.

Fast forward to '25 and look at the players then in the squad on new or about the commence notable new deals, Rankine, Dawson, Ah Chee, Thilthorpe, Worrell, ANB, Cumming, Peatling, Keane, Curtin, Hinge, Soligo, Rachele and Michalanney.

The landscape had changed in '25, ROB also likely look a cut on the per year rate to get 3 years rather than 2. There's no way his share of the pie is the same as his previous deal.