AFL trade news: Behind the curtain, who really holds the power during trade period?

With some AFL trades set to come down to the wire, keep an eye on the middle men. Sometimes, premierships can be won and lost on their call. Jay Clark assesses the key players at trade time.

The camera will inevitably zero in on the two rooms where the tension is.

There will be Western Bulldogs’ list boss Sam Power and his recruiting team in one, and Andrew Mackie’s Geelong crew in the other.

And as the hours and minutes tick by on the final day of this year’s trade period on Wednesday, things will become more tense in this game of poker over the future of Bailey Smith.

But the man to watch in it all will be influential agent Paul Connors.

As it has become increasingly clear in recent years, the men doing the bulk of the leg work on the biggest trades are not always the list managers; it’s the top player managers.

In 2018, TLA-TGI boss Tom Petroro almost single-handedly saved the trade period when Fremantle off-loaded the responsibility of sorting Lachie Neale’s move to Brisbane as part of the Steven May and Jesse Hogan merry-go-round to the head of the player management company.

Paul Connors will have a big influence at the trade table.

Things had not only fallen over, but blown up completely on the Friday night of the first week of the trade period when Petroro and Hogan’s manager Matt Bain stepped in to save all the deals and help keep the clubs satisfied.

And if things really get down to the wire on Smith on Wednesday night at Marvel Stadium, this time you will see Connors will be the one talking up close to Mackie and Power, acting as the go-between and conduit between the two clubs’ rooms.

What is undeniable in today’s trade dealings is that the bigger the manager, and the more stars they have in their stable, the more power they have to try and navigate and solve some of these hire-wire trade discussions.

Said one club figure this week, “the managers are doing more and more of the work when it comes to nutting out the deals. You think it is the clubs. They are often sitting back and saying yes or no. The agents are coming up with a lot of the ideas and making a lot of the calls”.

Said one agent this week, the mobile phone gets that much of a work out, it often has to be charged two or three times a day when hundreds of texts and calls are made.

And the power balance between the management companies can shift from year to year.

In this year’s trade period, Connors is in charge of Smith, his business partner Robbie D’Orazio is handling Jake Stringer’s move to GWS Giants, and Nick Gieschen has an enormous amount on his plate, sorting Clayton Oliver, Tom Barrass and Dan Houston.

They are all from the same stable, Connors Sports.

Tom Petroro. Picture: Nathan Dyer

Robbie D'Orazio.

Where things can get tricky is what happens when the managers, as much as they try to avoid it, need to break glass in case of emergency.

In many scenarios, the senior management figures are seen as respected and independent voices whose largely unbiased opinion can help illuminate what is fair in a player exchange.

Their one-wood is helping find some middle ground, which happens in most cases.

But the script can also flip in dramatic circumstances.

Occasionally, their patience is tested, and that is when the nuclear option comes into it.

If a player is dudded by a failed trade move or tight-fisted offer, and an agent is angered, the reality is it can come back to haunt clubs.

If they don’t play ball and do the right thing with player A) this year, will they get a seat at the table when it comes time to sit down with a big free agent or out-of-contract stud next year?

That is when the tentacles can stretch far and wide with the biggest management firms.

“It is undeniable”, said one club source. “That happens. They (managers) have leverage, depending on what other players they have.”

And next year there are some whopping free agents. Some are D’Orazio’s clients such as Luke Davies-Uniacke, Cam Rayner and Sam and Tom De Koning.

Nick Gieschen with Ollie Wines.

Then there is West Coast’s Harley Reid, who looks set to slowly become the most sought-after player in the game when his contract expires in 2026. He’s Gieschen’s.

Same goes for Jed Walter, a John Meesen client, who clubs are already considering offering 10-year deals for.

No one likes to say it out loud, but relationships can be key in club land, and karma is king.

Look after a player here, and the goodwill can come back to you there.

It’s footy’s unsaid back-scratching.

Fairness is preferred when deals whiz around and these kingpins have long memories.

Port Adelaide great and respected analyst Kane Cornes said on Thursday the influence was real as the Dogs hold off on considering whether to send Smith into the draft if the Cats don’t stump up more than pick 17 for the midfielder.

He has not finished in the top-of the best and fairest in the past two years, but his best is scintillating, as Smith showed in 2021.

“Clubs never send players through to the draft because they are so afraid of player managers wielding power and won’t bring any of their players to the club in future,” Cornes said on Trade Radio.

“It is ridiculous how much power these guys have.”

They carry a decent-sized stick, even if they try to rarely use it.

But the threat is there when it comes to the nuts and bolts of a deal.

Pull a wrong move or go too far with the trade hard ball and things can become more tricky elsewhere.

When players are weighing up big contract calls, it is the manager who is providing advice on best options.

Players often ask, where will they get the best opportunity, more chance of team success or the fattest contract?

Marty Pask.

As we often hear, players don’t always watch lots of footy. But the agents see almost everything.

And the highest bidder doesn’t always win. St Kilda’s Josh Battle turned down more money to go to Hawthorn as a free agent.

D’Orazio sat next to Richmond chief executive Brendon Gale at the 2017 Grand Final when they began talking about Tom Lynch’s free agency move to Punt Rd one year later in a deal which helped the Tigers win two more flags back-to-back in 2019-20.

Marty Pask was another one who the Tigers’ chiefs invited into their hotel room to talk through the Dion Prestia plot months before word got out.

Life is easier when the managers are on-side when it comes to these significant player swaps.

Premierships can be won and lost on them. Keep an eye on the middle men.

Originally published as AFL trade news: Behind the curtain, who really holds the power during trade period?