Wreck It Ralph: The 21 big players who are threatening to shake up the trade and free agency period
A week after he announced he wanted to play on, Bachar Houli retired — but is his career really over? Jon Ralph looks as 21 key players to monitor this off-season.
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Every club across the competition is crying poor.
They don’t have cap space, they want to keep their draft picks, they only have space for the kind of targeted acquisitions that are expected to see Adam Cerra find his way back to Melbourne in coming weeks.
So if clubs are going to bring in players they need to ship others out, which might be the only saviour of what otherwise could be a terribly boring trade and free agency period.
Here are 21 players from the clubs that are now out of the finals race that could entice rivals to put a fish in the water come trade time, or even pick up delisted free agents for nothing.
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Scott Pendlebury (Collingwood)
Pendles will almost certainly remain at Collingwood.
He is almost certainly just throwing some burley into the water with his talk about moving clubs. But look at David Mundy, three years older than 33-year-old Pendlebury and about to march into another season.
Fremantle should offer Pendlebury a three-year deal, or a two-year deal with a 30-game trigger for a third that then transitions into two seasons of assistant coaching. If he doesn’t fulfil it, he won’t be the one pleading for another year. He will know. But it will give him five concrete seasons to uproot his life and head west.
You never know if you don’t offer him the deal.
MORE: EVERY PLAYER WITHOUT A CONTRACT FOR 2022
Jack Gunston (Hawthorn)
No trade deal is without risk, which is why Gunston’s back issues would need to be thoroughly assessed by a club doctor after they wiped out his 2021 season.
But a club in contention would hope to get 50 quality games out of the Hawks’ 2020 best-and-fairest winner. Geelong gave up pick 30 for 32-year-old Shaun Higgins.
Brisbane has picks 15 and 18 and Hawthorn picks 5, 20 (tied to the Pies) and 24.
Surely, the Hawks could find a way to turn their 24 into the Lions’ 15 as part of a trade for Gunston that helps both clubs.
Daniel Talia (Adelaide)
He’s just too good a player for someone not to pick up, playing 22 games as recently as 2019 and 14 last year before his foot issues. He’s never been a rebounder, but he’s an elite spoiling and stopping defender who in 2019 defended the most one-on-ones in the competition and lost only 23 per cent, ranked 17th of the top 50 defenders.
In that 2019 season he held Josh Kennedy, Tom Lynch and Tom Hawkins to a single goal and Josh Bruce and Cale Hooker goalless.
Jack Silvagni (Carlton)
Silvagni is clearly less than thrilled with the size and length of the contract offer handed to him from Carlton. He makes the Blues better, but would a rival invest significant draft capital in a mid-sized half forward with 56 goals in 78 games? This might sound preposterous but a club like Collingwood would be more interested in dragging him through the pre-season draft with a three-year deal on reasonable money, a tactic his old man used on Jack Martin at Carlton.
Jon Ceglar (Hawthorn)
Ceglar is 30 and probably not in the club’s next premiership side as it rucks Ben McEvoy when he isn’t pushing forward, with Ned Reeves clearly a ruckman of the future.
Ceglar came back into the side from Rounds 13-17 and then the last three games, and had more than 15 possessions in six of those eight games, as well as averaging five hit-outs to advantage. In seven of them he notched 90 SuperCoach points.
Bottom line — could the Hawks secure more draft capital while also clearing the way for Reeves to take centre stage?
Tom Lynch (Adelaide)
His last three games in Crows colours showed why he was once footy’s best mid-forward connector, peeling off 22, 29 and 23 touches with three total goals, five direct score assists and 20 score involvements. He might not be in the Kangaroos’ list demographic but he would make them appreciably better for two seasons. Ranked fourth of all general forwards for disposals this year.
Sam Petrevski-Seton (Carlton)
As one recruiter said recently as they assessed SPS, he’s not quite quick enough to be an explosive midfielder and he doesn’t use the ball well enough to be a halfback who breaks lines with piercing foot skills. But he’s 23, he has 94 games under his belt, is a former pick 6, and Fremantle has to believe they can turn him into something.
Levi Casboult (Carlton)
Has laboured all year with a knee that has needed fluid drained regularly.
The question for clubs like Gold Coast is whether it is a degenerative issue or can be repaired. But if he was fully fit this year Carlton might have won two more games given they were crying out for a second marking target.
Bachar Houli (Richmond)
His last game was a 112-SuperCoachpoint, 24-possession, 555-metres gained performance with 10 intercept possessions. Give him a one-year deal on $250,000 with a games-based trigger. You won’t be let down. He was elite for disposals this year once again.
Mabior Chol (Richmond)
Here is the issue for Chol. He kicked seven goals in 10 games including four in one game, two in another, and he was goalless in seven games. If a club like St Kilda wanted to play him as a forward-ruck, they would be hesitant about his ability to get it done in the front six.
Nathan Wilson (Fremantle)
Fremantle has told Wilson it will get to his contract soon but he is only 28, he still kicks the ball well, he averaged 436m gained in 18 games and he would likely move for the right deal.
Ranted above average for metres gained this year, has missed only nine of a possible 83 games at Freo.
Josh Caddy (Richmond)
Caddy played only nine games this year, three of them as the unused sub. Richmond attempted to reinvent him as a wingman with mixed results, but as recently as 2018 he kicked 46.15 before Tom Lynch arrived. He’s 29 in September and he’s contracted, but he’s under-utilised at Richmond.
Trent Dumont (North Melbourne)
The Roos played Dumont as a wingman this year after a long lay-off with calf issues, and he was just solid — averaging 17.9 possessions and 65 SuperCoach points. But he is a free agent and as recently as last year he averaged 102 SuperCoach points in 17 games playing a more inside game. You aren’t building your midfield around him, but he’s only just 26 and will have suitors.
Harry Edwards (West Coast)
The contracted key defender has suitors who believe he is stuck behind Tom Barrass and Jeremy McGovern, but he did play 10 games after Round 7 so the Eagles will point to the chances he was given late as evidence they believe in his future.
Yet to turn 21, he is rated an elite kick and at 200cm has massive potential, evidenced by four games this year with three or more intercept marks.
Held McStay to two goals, but Ben Brown and Max King got him.
Zac Fisher (Carlton)
A genuinely intriguing player, who finally got some centre square minutes late in the year as Josh Honey and Matt Owies (up until Round 20) and Corey Durdin pushed into the small forward roles for the Blues.
As a small forward he just didn’t kick goals — 4.8 for the year — but despite his contracted status would a club believe he can add more dash and dare as a midfielder than he does at Carlton?
Had eight clearances, 12 tackles and 10 score involvements in his final two games as a mid.
Max Lynch (Collingwood)
Lynch is a head-scratcher — he played only two AFL games this year for 46 and 63 SuperCoach points, winning 18 and 23 hit-outs for seven combined hit-outs to advantage.
He’s not Nic Naitanui, by any stretch. But can he be another club’s Darcy Cameron, given in his last three VFL games he had 11, 12 and seven hit-outs to advantage and averaged 13 possessions.
Everyone wants a second forward-ruck, but he kicked only five goals in seven VFL games.
Rory Lobb (Fremantle)
He doesn’t have a Melbourne suitor and Gold Coast is probably unlikely to pay his $700,000 price tag, but until the trade period finishes with Lobb happy to move to Victoria, his name will be mentioned in dispatches.
The Dockers say they are desperate to keep him but they wouldn’t be shattered to lose his salary from their cap considering their interest in Sam Petrevski-Seton and Jordan Clark and their stated desire to bring in more outside run.
Ben Ainsworth (Gold Coast)
Ainsworth is very keen to stay at Gold Coast and is expected to do so, but he had a fifth year where he didn’t quite live up to the hype, the No. 4 selection from the 2016 draft having kicked 12 goals for a second straight season.
Somewhere trapped inside Ainsworth is a 40-goal-per season forward. Can the Suns release that player given no one else seems to have cash?
Jack Billings (St Kilda)
Keen to stay at St Kilda and the Saints will keep him at the right price.
No one would offer the free agent a deal that would secure first-round compo for the Saints, but they could offer him four years at $600,000 and force St Kilda to match it.
Has battled all year with plantar fascia but at 26 he still has six good seasons left. North Melbourne has some interest, but he’s not seen to be a priority for the Roos.
Luke Dunstan (St Kilda)
Dunstan was dropped last week after his purple patch and doesn’t have any suitors so far away from the Saints. He had 45 clearances in six weeks mid-season but in his last three games before he was dropped kicked at 20 per cent, 38.5 per cent and 40 per cent accuracy.
You know what you are going to get from him. Clubs hoping he might be the next Jarryd Lyons are well aware Lyons kicks at 59 per cent and Dunstan only a lowly 51 per cent.
Brayden Fiorini (Gold Coast)
Matty Lappin tweeted recently that Fiorini was the next Jarryd Lyons, urging the Blues to look at him.
Mid-year when he was out of the side he was looking around and the Suns were happy for him to do so, but he roared home with eight excellent weeks despite the Suns’ struggles, averaging 27 possessions.
The Suns believe he sees his future at the club and will stay, but suitors would be wondering if they can drag him out.
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Originally published as Wreck It Ralph: The 21 big players who are threatening to shake up the trade and free agency period
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