Rumour Speculation, Rumours, Lies Thread 2025

[Scorpus]

Rumour Summary October 1st

• Adelaide expects a decision from Christian Petracca
  3

  Christian Petracca

  Age

  30

  Ht

  187cm

  Wt

  94kg

  Pos.

  M/F

  Career

  Season

  Last 5

  D

  19.4

  5star

  K

  9.5

  4star

  HB

  9.8

  5star

  M

  3.5

  4star

  T

  3.0

  5star

  CL

  2.5

  4star

  D

  24.4

  5star

  K

  10.4

  4star

  HB

  14.0

  5star

  M

  3.5

  3star

  T

  3.6

  4star

  CL

  3.4

  4star

  D

  19.0

  5star

  K

  7.8

  3star

  HB

  11.2

  5star

  M

  3.0

  3star

  T

  3.8

  5star

  CL

  2.0

  4star

  by Saturday, according to a poster (link)
• Christian Petracca's decision between Adelaide and Gold Coast is a 50/50, according to Tom Morris (link)
• Taylor Walker will sign a one-year contract extension, according to Josh Money (link)
• Adelaide have been working on the Petracca trade for months, compared to Gold Coast who have joined the race more recently, according to a poster (link)
• Christian Petracca is meeting with Gold Coast in person (link)

Rumour Summary October 2nd

• Melbourne are open to trading Clayton Oliver
  10

  Clayton Oliver

  Age

  28

  Ht

  189cm

  Wt

  88kg

  Pos.

  Mid

  Career

  Season

  Last 5

  D

  27.8

  5star

  K

  9.5

  4star

  HB

  18.4

  5star

  M

  3.2

  3star

  T

  6.3

  5star

  CL

  6.3

  5star

  D

  25.1

  5star

  K

  11.1

  4star

  HB

  14.0

  5star

  M

  3.6

  4star

  T

  5.6

  5star

  CL

  5.9

  5star

  D

  19.2

  5star

  K

  4.6

  2star

  HB

  14.6

  5star

  M

  2.0

  3star

  T

  4.4

  5star

  CL

  3.8

  5star

  , according to Sam Edmund (link)
• Clayton Oliver expects to be told to explore his trade options, according to Tom Morris (link)

 

[SLOWNE]

Decent off season if we can somehow land:

Ah Chee
Stevens
Oliver
Round 1 pick for Sharp or Cumming

I'd also love us to grab Elijah Hollands if due diligence checks out

Trade out Sholl, delist Burgess

That would go a long way towards addressing midfield needs with both immediate impact (Oliver/Hollands) and future (Stevens/pick 1), make sure Draper gets a lot of time with the midfield group.

Edwards and Ryan need some AFL time, Edwards in particular as he has amazing traits and size and is an exceptionally penetrating kick.

Big offer for Bailey out of contract.

 

[Mr_Moogle]

Probably why the Hawks are such an unlikeable group, Mitchell was and still is an absolute s**tstain of a bloke. He looks for the same qualities in his players.

Same reason Nicksy loves himself some flairless sloggers instead of talented players with potential but iffy workrate.

I prefer the Mitchell model. He will weed out the loser types. When you have a team of winners, nobody will care if they're flogs.

 

[Eddie Murphy]

Are people still keen on Oliver if we’re basically paying his full salary? I can’t see a scenario where Melbourne clear Petracca off their books and are then willing to pay to have Oliver off their list too. Feel we may need to absorb his whole contract.

 

[BunjiMac]

and not as injury-prone.

I think this was the key with McAdam.

I actually loved what McAdam brought and thought he was the perfect foil for the other forwards.

Would easily outmark smaller defenders and was too quick and agile for big defenders.

This caused match up issues for the opposition defenders and made life easier for the other forwards.

That's exactly what we need in our forward line and I would drop one off the big forwards in favour of a hybrid forward like this.

It's a pity injury and Mark Williams got in the way.

 

[1970crow]

I keep hearing King wants to make his own mark and clear some of the previous regime out

eg.
Lever, May, Oliver, Trac

Hit the draft and add the odd mature player.

Mihocheck, Flanders etc...

Interesting though that it’s public knowledge that they told May to look elsewhere but nobody else. I don’t think they’re firesaling players like Oliver and Petracca.

 

[Eddie Murphy]

Interesting though that it’s public knowledge that they told May to look elsewhere but nobody else. I don’t think they’re firesaling players like Oliver and Petracca.

I think they’d be willing if we took his whole contract. The issue is we are taking on one of the biggest contracts in the AFL. Huge risk and I wouldn’t.

I think we know this and it’s why we pivoted to Petracca in the first place.

 

[1970crow]

TBH I think teams are gonna just block Geelong now. MFC did it with Oliver last year, I think Carlton will do it for Curnow this year.

Sorry mate, pick another team!

If they offer enough they’ll let them go. No different with us and Butts. We want him, he’s contracted, so you better be bringing the goods.

 

[Scorpus]

Wow, St Kilda have zero interest in keeping a single dollar in that warchest of theirs.

I'm actually interested in how this works out for them in 2026, if they have a Crows like jump up the ladder they will set a pretty easy blueprint for mid table teams to follow.

I don't think enough is being made of how bad St Kilda's list is. They have a few players coming through but not loads of high end talent. Had tons of spuds running around last year and in areas they aren't directly replacing through trades

I don't see the point of replacing Marshall with De Koning. Silvagni and Aleer are both very average, bordering on depth players.

They'll gain more next year from having a fit King and Phillipou.

But they also have a deceptively old list in terms of best 22, quite a few guys over 30

 

[1970crow]

Petracca is the better player but the talk of 2 firsts for a 30 year is a lot more risky then just salary of Oliver if we can afford it.

We have class with Dawson and Rankine (and hopefully Rachele and Curtin). We just need someone to get their hand on the ball first. Thats Oliver.

I think people underestimate how big of a loss Crouch was this year.

If it’s future 2nd and we have the salary cap it’s as big of free hit we’d get. Petracca much more likely to be Gibbs 2.0 imo given

Our midfield improved when Crouch went down. What cost us was losing Rachele because we robbed the midfield to cover a chunk of his role. And then Rankine who is our best contested ball winner.

But worse, our coach and selectors choked down as September loomed. We reverted to a game style that was predictable and very easy to play against.

 

[MRB37]

Are people still keen on Oliver if we’re basically paying his full salary? I can’t see a scenario where Melbourne clear Petracca off their books and are then willing to pay to have Oliver off their list too. Feel we may need to absorb his whole contract.

The talk post was I believe if we wanted Oliver "cheap" then we had to take 80% of his salary, which if he's making like $1.8 million works out to $1.44 million. It's still a big chunk of change and supposedly his contract was back loaded, so the biggest earnings of his deal are coming still.

 

[1970crow]

What would be a great result is if we could get Ah Chee, Stevens, Oliver and yet still have a first pick.

Then get Bailey next season.

Just how we’re smart enough to push some depth out the door, even just for pick upgrades.

 

[Redline]

Decent off season if we can somehow land:

Ah Chee
Stevens
Oliver
Round 1 pick for Sharp or Cumming

I'd also love us to grab Elijah Hollands if due diligence checks out

Trade out Sholl, delist Burgess

That would go a long way towards addressing midfield needs with both immediate impact (Oliver/Hollands) and future (Stevens/pick 1), make sure Draper gets a lot of time with the midfield group.

Edwards and Ryan need some AFL time, Edwards in particular as he has amazing traits and size and is an exceptionally penetrating kick.

Big offer for Bailey out of contract.

I acknowledge this is a very negative post but here goes.

Ah Chee improves us but Tex has to retire or the forward line mix won't work. I know the club is hoping Ah Chee replaces Rankine or Rachele up forward but I can't see it

Oliver doesn't really improve us, I feel like some on here haven't seen him play in recent years. He is exactly what we don't need in the midfield. We want pace or a good ball user I think he stays at Melbourne as no club wants his salary and no club wants to give up a good pick for him. Melbourne are better of keeping him even if he plays some VFL which I think he will under King

Stevens helps depth but again I don't think he helps alot and is too slow.

How are you getting Sharp with pick 14? You can use next year's first round but you would want to be super confident we will have a similar year to this.

 

[Danger in Texas]

Our midfield improved when Crouch went down. What cost us was losing Rachele because we robbed the midfield to cover a chunk of his role. And then Rankine who is our best contested ball winner.

But worse, our coach and selectors choked down as September loomed. We reverted to a game style that was predictable and very easy to play against.

The predictable game style (which you are right was a thing) doesn’t explain the finals opposition waltzing it out of the middle with ease

 

[Danger in Texas]

Just how we’re smart enough to push some depth out the door, even just for pick upgrades.

Problem is, other teams have to want to pay for said depth

 

[1970crow]

I think they’d be willing if we took his whole contract. The issue is we are taking on one of the biggest contracts in the AFL. Huge risk and I wouldn’t.

I think we know this and it’s why we pivoted to Petracca in the first place.

He’s contracted and they know we’re desperate to improve midfield. They’ll make us pay up, they don’t need cap relief.

 

[Crow till I die]

Problem is, other teams have to want to pay for said depth

Yep. But if we could turn Berry and Sholl into picks to get Stevens and AhChee that would be a win for us. I suspect Sholl may be worth a 3rd rounder as may Berry be. One of those picks should be enough for Stevens if Cats supporters are to be believed and we might need to bundle the other up with one of ours to try to grab a 2nd rounder for Ahchee.

 

[Thrillthorpe7]

The predictable game style (which you are right was a thing) doesn’t explain the finals opposition waltzing it out of the middle with ease

It does when you take out Rankine and Rachele, we just had no spark. I get that the finals are in recent memories, but we are a much better team with those two. Also hurt Keays as he the gets the best small defender. Ah Chee addition adds more spark as well.

 

[1970crow]

I don't think enough is being made of how bad St Kilda's list is. They have a few players coming through but not loads of high end talent. Had tons of spuds running around last year and in areas they aren't directly replacing through trades

I don't see the point of replacing Marshall with De Koning. Silvagni and Aleer are both very average, bordering on depth players.

They'll gain more next year from having a fit King and Phillipou.

But they also have a deceptively old list in terms of best 22, quite a few guys over 30

There’s a few on our list that are questionable in terms of regularly being up to it in September. Hinge, Keays, Milera, Cumming, Pedlar, Taylor, ROB, Murray and Berry all have ???? for varying reasons.

 

[Thrillthorpe7]

Much stronger talk this week that Merrett is staying since Welsh took over as president. He’s been getting around Melbourne this week having a few beers and this is the prevailing opinion from people that have bumped into him.

Lines up with Viva la Mattner saying we are putting more effort into Oliver now, as it means Hawks ramp up on Petracca again.

 

[1970crow]

The predictable game style (which you are right was a thing) doesn’t explain the finals opposition waltzing it out of the middle with ease

-2 and -4, not a particularly large differential. Crouch doesn’t help with the quality aspect of ours or reducing the oppo’s.

 

[Viva la Mattner]

Sam Flanders apparently demanding $900k

Surely strikes the Saints out with all the big contracts they've just handed out

Makes me more confident that Melbourne are shedding the cap space of Petracca and/or Oliver
Now way they add another near $1mil to the cap in midfield

 

[Thrillthorpe7]

Tom Morris summary this morning on SEN

Christian Petracca

3

Christian Petracca

Age

30

Ht

187cm

Wt

94kg

Pos.

M/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

19.4

5star

K

9.5

4star

HB

9.8

5star

M

3.5

4star

T

3.0

5star

CL

2.5

4star

D

24.4

5star

K

10.4

4star

HB

14.0

5star

M

3.5

3star

T

3.6

4star

CL

3.4

4star

D

19.0

5star

K

7.8

3star

HB

11.2

5star

M

3.0

3star

T

3.8

5star

CL

2.0

4star

remains a fascinating name in trade circles.
The Melbourne star is attracting interest from Adelaide and Gold Coast, but what would implore the Demons to enter trade negotiations?
SEN regular and Channel 9 newsbreaker Tom Morris speculated on what might go close to satisfying the Dees.
“They are both open to talking to him,” Morris said on SEN’s Fireball.

“The big open question is can they give something that would satisfy Melbourne?
“Last year Melbourne was ‘no’. This year is, ‘Well, we’d prefer not to but give us your best offer’. And that’s the difference.
“The door is ajar and Petracca wants to go but for different reasons than last year.
“Melbourne would ask for two first-rounders but I don’t think he’s worth that anymore. Not the Petracca in 2025. A first-rounder and something else - whether that’s enough for the Dees remains to be seen.
“It’s a big, big call for him to make. Last year he was p---ed off. This year he’s not, he just wants a fresh start.”

 

[Coopers]

Yep. But if we could turn Berry and Sholl into picks to get Stevens and AhChee that would be a win for us. I suspect Sholl may be worth a 3rd rounder as may Berry be. One of those picks should be enough for Stevens if Cats supporters are to be believed and we might need to bundle the other up with one of ours to try to grab a 2nd rounder for Ahchee.

Playstation trades though.

I don't see us turning Berry and Sholl into Stevens and AhChee, even with a second rounder. It will cost more.

 

[ams4crows]

Petracca is absolutely Gibbs 2.0

Oliver at least doesn't have the same star aura with all the pressure it would bring. Plus to me is more of the style of player we need.

But to be honest I'd be happy with Achee, Stevens and keeping our 1st. We are clearly not ready to compete on the last weekend of September yet and I doubt that it'll next season as well so we need some young players coming in

 

[Mr MysteryGuest]

George Stevens just about a done deal , surprised if doesn't end up at West Lakes
Ah Chee the same but thats well known

Oliver discussions ramped up again as the situation with Essendon/Merrett is clouding the Petracca move

Don't be surprised if Peatling style it just comes out the blue Clayton is Adelaide bound, certainly not a formality though so don't shoot me if doesn't happen

I wonder how contingent a Steven’s trade would be on us getting Oliver.

He would be looking for game time and he wouldn’t be starting in the 22 if we also got Oliver.