AFL free agency: Every player who could hit the market in 2020
The season isn’t over, but some AFL players have already left their clubs to try to secure a new beginning. Could more impending free agents go down this route? See every club’s current free agent list.
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More than 90 players could hit the free agency market at season’s end, with a number already departing their clubs in search of greener pastures.
Adelaide’s Rory Atkins walked out on the Crows with four games left in the season and Fremantle has let four players — Cam McCarthy, Jason Carter, Dillon O’Reilly and Isaiah Butters — go early from their contracts and training requirements.
SCROLL DOWN TO SEE THE CURRENT LIST OF RESTRICTED AND UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS
That’s just the tip of the iceberg, former leading player agent Ricky Nixon predicts.
“I’ve got no doubt that players are looking to get out of clubs more than ever before because I’ve had a number contact me for advice,” Nixon said.
“The future is very uncertain and the advice I have for every player is make it as certain as you can and if clubs are going to make it uncertain then get out.”
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Port Adelaide general manager of football Chris Davies said the lure of finals meant Power players would stay until the end of the season.
“The fantastic benefit for us at the moment is that we have a group where all players want an opportunity to play in an AFL finals series, we aren’t talking about anyone who is walking away from the club anytime soon,” he said.
“I can see obviously Fremantle have done something like that and a similar thing has happened across the road (at the Crows) so these things will play out.
“I can see, in fairness, why there would be concern around players who don’t believe they are going to be at the club next year adhering to the training regime or protocols that are in place at the moment.
“Especially if there is nothing at the end of what they are training for.”
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Crows board member Rod Jameson said money and security had become more important for players than success.
“I rarely hear a player say I want to stay at a club to win a premiership,” Jameson said on ABC Grandstand.
“Rory Atkins is an interesting one, there’s probably (not been a lot of examples) in recent time of a player coming to a club and saying I want to explore free agency but I also want to step away from the club because I don’t want to get injured because that might jeopardise what a potential purchaser may want.
“He’s after a long term deal, that’s what the players voted for. it’s disappointing but if that’s what he is after."
ELIGIBLE FREE AGENTS
RESTRICTED
Brad Crouch (Adelaide)
Joe Daniher (Essendon)
Jeremy Cameron (GWS)
Zac Williams (GWS)
Aidan Corr (GWS)
Jack Viney (Melbourne)
Brad Ebert (Port Adelaide)
UNRESTRICTED
Adelaide
Ben Crocker (rookie)
Rory Atkins
Kyle Hartigan
David MacKay
Ben Keays (rookie)
Brisbane
Sam Skinner (rookie)
Matt Eagles (rookie)
Jacob Allison (rookie)
Corey Lyons (rookie)
Stefan Martin
Ryan Lester
Grant Birchall
Carlton
Marc Murphy
Matthew Kreuzer
Levi Casboult
Eddie Betts
Kade Simpson
Callum Moore (rookie)
Hugh Goddard (rookie)
Collingwood
Ben Reid
Tim Broomhead (rookie)
Lynden Dunn (rookie)
Essendon
Tom Bellchambers
Martin Gleeson
Will Snelling (rookie)
Shaun McKernan
Mitchell Hibberd (rookie)
Jacob Townsend (rookie)
Fremantle
David Mundy
Thomas North (rookie)
Hugh Dixon (rookie)
Geelong
Tom Hawkins
Gary Ablett
Harry Taylor
Lachlan Henderson (rookie)
Gold Coast
Jarrod Harbrow
Anthony Miles
George Horlin-Smith
Josh Schoenfeld (rookie)
GWS
Sam Reid (rookie)
Tom Sheridan (rookie)
Zachary Sproule (rookie)
Hawthorn
Isaac Smith
Ben Stratton
James Frawley
Ricky Henderson
Paul Puopolo
Shaun Burgoyne
Darren Minchington (rookie)
Keegan Brooksby (rookie)
Melbourne
Nathan Jones
Harley Bennell (rookie)
Mitch Brown (rookie)
Corey Wagner (rookie)
North Melbourne
Taylor Garner
Mason Wood
Jamie Macmillan
Ben Jacobs
Majak Daw
Josh Walker
Kyron Hayden (rookie)
Port Adelaide
Justin Westhoff
Riley Grundy (rookie)
Boyd Woodcock (rookie)
Cam Sutcliffe (rookie)
Wylie Buzza
Trent McKenzie
Richmond
Bachar Houli
St Kilda
Jarryn Geary
Nathan Brown
Ryan Abbott
Sydney
Jack Maibaum
West Coast
Andrew Gaff
Josh Kennedy
Shannon Hurn
Will Schofield
Hamish Brayshaw (rookie)
Brendon Ah Chee (rookie)
Mark Hutchings
Jamaine Jones (rookie)
Western Bulldogs
Billy Gowers
Jackson Trengove
Matthew Suckling
Roarke Smith (rookie)
Ryan Gardner (rookie)
Taylor Duryea
Tory Dickson
Lin Jong
Easton Wood