AFL free agency, contracts: Jon Ralph names 23 players and deals to watch this year
He may be one of the most underrated players in the AFL and this premiership star could turn some teams heads’, at the right price, says Jon Ralph.
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Jon Ralph will provide regular updates on the 23 hottest contracts in football in 2023.
Ahead of round 1, he peers into the crystal ball and names the players and contracts who will dominate the headlines in 2023.
From veterans pushing for a swan song to the best free agents on the market, these are the players clubs and recruiters will be discussing behind closed doors.
So, who’s gettable and who’s destined to sign a new deal?
1. Ben McKay (North Melbourne)
In an ideal world McKay and the Roos convene at the mid-season break after a wildly encouraging start to the year under Al Clarkson and get a five-year $4 million deal done.
But in a free agency pool ridiculously short on quality names McKay stands out like a beacon.
The Tigers lost out to the Roos on Griffin Logue, who had meetings with nine or 10 AFL clubs including Sydney.
Why wouldn’t a club without a first-round pick like Richmond have a crack at McKay given they will likely have Trent Cotchin and Jack Riewoldt’s salaries off their books by 2024?
Maybe they will back in Josh Gibcus and Noah Balta but they were keen enough on Logue last October to push hard for the Docker.
So the Roos will try to broker a deal aware if McKay does leave they could get a top five compo pick in a potential super-draft where they already have Port Adelaide’s first-round pick.
2. Tom De Koning (Carlton)
De Koning has played only 41 games, doesn’t have a top-10 best-and-fairest finish, isn’t even in Carlton’s best three key position players.
So in a normal world Carlton would hand him a nice incentive-laden two year deal and he would cash in when he turns 25 as a proven performer.
But in footy clubs pay on potential and he has that in spades.
As the Herald Sun revealed last year he will put off contract talks while a bevy of rivals aware of his brother’s brilliant 2022 breakout season throw the kitchen sink at him.
He should believe he can be Carlton’s next premiership ruckman but at a club with a heap of fat contracts how do they satisfy him when rival deals are sure to eclipse the Blues offer?
3. Kysaiah Pickett (Melbourne)
The Dees are very keen to lock Pickett away on a long-term deal of around five years.
A player who lost his good mates Luke Jackson and Toby Bedford to rival clubs isn’t jumping yet. The Dees want to recruit his good mate Liam Henry from the Dockers at year’s end.
They will hope that before that Pickett will have resisted the lures of WA and SA to sign on.
It is still the very likely option even though Fremantle is at the head of the queue if those talks drag out.
4. Harry Himmelberg (GWS)
GWS coach Adam Kingsley is confident he wants to stay. There is a glaring opportunity for him to play that swingman role to perfection in a team set to play an up-tempo, thrilling style of footy. But GWS has just cleared so many crippling salary obligations and already clubs are drooling over the prospect of Himmelberg in their side.
He has a laser-like set shot, he is a booming kick from defence, and most importantly of all he is a free agent.
A club like Adelaide with dour, workmanlike key defenders will be sure to consider him strongly as an interceptor, especially given uncertainty over Tom Doedee’s future.
Is he that good? Well consider the Dan McStay effect.
He secured $3 million over five years despite kicking 107 goals in his past 101 games going back five years with a career-high of 28 goals.
Himmelberg has kicked more than that tally in three of the past five seasons – and last year he played mostly as a key back.
5. Mitch Georgiades (Port Adelaide)
The whole footy world will come at Georgiades if he spends a single game in the SANFL this year, not just West Coast and Fremantle.
The informed mail is that the biggest offers will come from Victorian clubs with massive cap space – and the likes of Essendon, Hawthorn and North Melbourne have vast scope to be major players this year.
The Eagles asked about him and about 20 other players and were shut down as part of the Junior Rioli discussions after he was “dirty” to be dropped twice last year, but he is happy at the Power.
So Port will have to pay up – and have ample cap space to secure him as an attacking pillar alongside Todd Marshall.
6. Jade Gresham (St Kilda)
St Kilda has made clear to player managers it is already on the hunt for key backs, key forwards and midfielders.
But first the Saints need to retain restricted free agent Gresham, who at his best could be their most dynamic midfielder.
After a seventh-placing from 18 games (16 goals) last year they might want to see more to pay him the big bucks and he might want the time to prove it.
No reason why club and player can’t come to a deal that suits both by mid-season.
7. Tom Doedee (Adelaide)
Doedee finished only eighth in the Crows best-and-fairest but is another who will have a welter of options by dint of his free agency status.
The Crows have a stack of cap space and can afford to match a rival deal, aware their defence is an area they must bolster instead of allow to be weakened two years after they lost Jake Kelly to Essendon.
Only Doedee knows how upset he was to miss out on the captaincy but Adelaide will spend the season nervous about losing a 26-year-old who should be at the heart of their rise up the ladder.
8. Esava Ratugolea (Geelong)
Geelong point-blank refused to trade Ratugolea last year and after a full summer training down back they believe he has a bright future as an intercept defender.
But with Sam De Koning, Tom Stewart, Jake Kolodjashnij and Jack Henry also walk-up starts can he get enough games to believe he has a future at the Cats?
This time he’s uncontracted so this will be one to watch as the season progresses because Port Adelaide will surely come again.
9. Darcy Parish (Essendon)
Parish went from All-Australian in 2021 to equal ninth in the Bombers’ best-and-fairest last year.
But as a restricted free agent who simply cannot help racking up the footy he is set to bounce back hard after a strong summer.
Parish is already a fan of Brad Scott and if he can get through the early rounds of the season on his way back to the elite there is no reason the Dons won’t reward the 25-year-old with a five-year deal.
But first he might have to show the 2021 season wasn’t a flash in the pan.
10. Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera (St Kilda)
Talks are imminent between St Kilda and Wanganeen-Milera’s camp on what to do next after a debut season with 17 games and a heap of head-turning moments.
Accepted wisdom would be that he would sign a two-year deal through to 2025 like most second-year players of his skill.
But Port Adelaide loves the silky flanker and won’t be dissuaded by their lack of a first-round pick given St Kilda has already made noises about dragging home the likes of bayside boy Josh Sinn.
So if this deal drifts out anywhere past the mid-season break it will all get very interesting.
11. Jeremy McGovern (West Coast)
If West Coast can finally bounce back through improved senior performances and some strong 2022 drafting there is no reason McGovern won’t see out his AFL days as a premiership Eagle.
He has already shown his commitment to the cause by taking pay cuts of about $200,000 per year in both of 2022 and 2023 to an admittedly huge $1.2 million salary.
But if the Eagles can’t right the ship and finally need a full-blown rebuild there would be Victorian clubs who would believe they could offer McGovern the salary and three-year deal to add the icing on the cake to their defences.
Everyone wants key position defenders and the four-time All Australian is up there with Alex Rance as the best of the past decade.
12. Peter Wright (Essendon)
Wright is loving life at Essendon and his management is keen to get a deal done to reward his emergence these past two seasons.
His coach Brad Scott this week called Wright a “dominant key forward of the competition” but his deal is minuscule compared to rivals like Charlie Curnow, Jeremy Cameron and Tom Lynch.
So does he take the security of a more modest deal or play through this season uncontracted to back himself in for that bumper deal he might believe he deserves?
13. Liam Henry (Fremantle)
Henry has put together an awesome summer that he believes will give him his best chance of bouncing back given the No. 9 pick in the 2019 national draft has played only 27 games in three seasons.
Melbourne is keen to drag him out of the Dockers to play alongside his great mate Kysaiah Pickett but Steve Silvagni, now at St Kilda, bid on him while at Carlton.
He will have multiple suitors in Victoria and much would have to go right for him to remain in the west.
14. Nathan Broad (Richmond)
Broad is one of the AFL’s most underrated players and having finally hit free agency, there could be the chance to cash in.
In a league where defenders are shunned in most awards he finished 10th in last year’s Richmond best-and-fairest – ahead of Nick Vlastuin, Robbie Tarrant, Dylan Grimes and Jack Riewoldt.
He turns 30 in April and having done what so many Tigers have before him – taken less to keep the list together – a three-year deal elsewhere might turn his head at the right price.
15. Kamdyn McIntosh (Richmond)
McIntosh is in the same boat as Broad – a solid servant, a significant role player who doesn’t get the glory of the fat contract at Richmond.
He turns 29 on March 4 and if he was two years younger he could hope for the kind of lucrative deal that saw Brandon Ellis move to an expansion club with a defined role.
It doesn’t mean there won’t be interest given his free agency and capacity to play that critical wing role or slot into defence if that is where he is needed on any given day.
He is quirky and enigmatic off the field, but he is also immensely valuable on it.
16. Nathan Fyfe (Fremantle)
Fyfe and his management are happy to get the season underway before he considers talks on a new deal.
His contract of around $1.2 million a year signed in 2017 is on the podium as the most lucrative in football even after he stayed for less than crazy rival offers.
He is low on this list because in all likelihood he rebounds with strong form and takes a considerable pay cut on a two-year that is appropriate for a player turning 31 with a long injury history.
But as Fox Footy’s David King said on Friday, why wouldn’t a rival test his loyalty if it is he can’t get midfield minutes and he struggles as a permanent forward?
17. Mitch McGovern (Carlton)
Another player who has the ball in his court this season. His five-year $4 million deal is expiring and ideally he finally shrugs off his injury history to play a strong intercepting role in a team on the rise.
Michael Voss loves him, his role is crucial and if he can play 18 plus strong games why wouldn’t Carlton contract him again on the AFL average of around $450,000 a year.
But if he struggles and Carlton low-balls him there will be suitors desperate for a 28-year-old interceptor who would pay more than the Blues.
18. Will Day (Hawthorn)
Day’s manager Anthony McConville has already put on record Day likely won’t sign a deal until the end of the year after a modest 2022 season that didn’t reflect his massive talent.
SA-based clubs are increasingly desperate to bring home local products and he fits the bill.
Adelaide is determined to boost its midfield depth, so connect the dots. At the very least holding off on his deal with interstate suitors can only boost his contract value.
19. Sam Menegola (Geelong)
Menegola turns 31 on March 7 and had his 2022 season ruined by injury.
But his previous two seasons before that were 21 games, 445 possessions, 16 goals in 2020 and 23 games, 533 possessions, 12 goals. It wouldn’t surprise if he found his way to a fourth club after being listed by Hawthorn and Fremantle before flourishing at the Cats.
20. Tom Liberatore (Western Bulldogs)
Let’s hope Libba’s contract dramas are behind him, with the star extractor deserving to be rewarded after on-field consistency that includes a pair of top-three best-and-fairest placings in the past two seasons.
The Dogs are keen to move on this deal and one for Ed Richards and it should be done with a minimum of fuss.
As recently as 2021 there was some argy-bargy when the Dogs only offered one year – he wanted two – but surely his recent track record means negotiations will be easier this time around.
Sam Darcy is in talks on his own two-year deal to the end of 2025, with most top five draft picks earning around $450,000 a year in their third and fourth seasons.
21. Hunter Clark (St Kilda)
His aborted trade to North Melbourne only fell over because they wouldn’t stump up the trade collateral, not because St Kilda wouldn’t let him go. So instead of Saints fans getting angry at the club, the relevant question might be why didn’t St Kilda believe he would maximise his potential? For all of his cursed injury history, did they believe he worked hard enough? Was he professional enough?
It means he needs to pull his finger out in a year where the trade that fell over will be an indication to every other list boss that he might be gettable 12 months down the track.
22. Jack Silvagni (Carlton)
Silvagni told a recent podcast how much he loved the club and wanted to be there when they finally realised success.
Both club and his management are happy to assess his progress throughout the season. HIs free agency status gives him leverage but for all the one-percenters and heart-and-soul actions on field he’s never kicked 20 goals in a season or even averaged more than a goal a game. He would need to be squeezed out of the Blues team for this contract to get interesting later in the year.
23. Aaron Naughton (Western Bulldogs)
Naughton is contracted for a full two more seasons – until the end of 2024 –
But Fremantle footy boss Peter Bell has already made clear the Dockers are after WA locals to lure home like Naughton and Mitch Georgiades.
Here is the problem – how do they get the three first-rounders it would take even in the unlikely scenario Naughton wants to come home?
His manager says there is nothing doing until the end of 2025 so the Dockers will have to come up with something spectacular if they are to change that equation.
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