Unpacking Carlton’s trade and draft plans for 2025 as their season slips away
The Blues are aware of the limitations of a list that is top-heavy with underperforming stars, so how do they get out of the hole? All roads of salvation lead right to the next two AFL Drafts.
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Carlton’s fallback plan if it loses Tom De Koning would see the club trading its first-round compensation pick for a needs-based experienced player then matching a bid on elite father-son key defender Harry Dean.
The Blues are aware of the limitations of a list that is top-heavy with underperforming stars with its best runners injured and its small forwards battling for form.
But while Carlton’s cap space is limited, it has real flexibility in coming seasons with 18 players out of contract this year and 18 uncontracted at the end of 2026.
That prospect will excite new CEO Graham Wright and list boss Nick Austin, who have the club’s stars re-signed long-term yet all but nine players on contracts expiring within the next 16 months.
Very few players are untradeable at Carlton but Blues bosses would have watched Curnow double-teamed in Harry McKay’s absence and seen it as a cautionary tale.
Carlton is determined to keep both key position players on its list even as speculation rumbles about player discontent at the Blues.
Carlton is aware that it is practically impossible to secure elite key position forwards so is in no mood to trade them away.
Since Lance Franklin’s move to Sydney only a handful of key forwards have moved clubs including Jeremy Cameron, Joe Daniher, Tom Lynch and Kurt Tippett.
Carlton has now made ground on its discussions with free agent Jack Silvagni, who will remain at the club on a new deal with a pay rise warranted given his exceptional form.
The Blues have traded away their 2025 first-rounder for Jagga Smith but Dean’s rapid rise up the draft ranks has the club excited by his huge potential.
Dean is seen as the first or second-best key defender 30 years after his father was a defender in the 1995 premiership.
He is currently assessed as a top 15-25 pick by some recruiters after five intercept marks and 10 marks playing for Vic Country against West Australia in the first Under-18 championships game.
Utility Jack Ison is also moving up draft boards given his sparkling skills as an NGA player.
Small forward Tyson Gresham and Mingara Clark are both NGA-linked to the Blues but are likely later picks or rookie selections.
But a club that last year secured father-son selections Ben and Lucas Camporeale has the prospect of adding four more NGA and father-son talents in the next two drafts, with Andrew Walker’s son Cody a top-five pick next year and Dean adding to their key position stocks.
Jade Gresham’s brother Tyson is an exciting prospect as a small forward in a positional type that the Blues need.
But he is only 169cm – 1cm shorter than Nick Watson – so would need to be a brilliant ball-winner.
He has averaged 17 possessions, 2.9 clearances and a goal in eight Coates League clashes for the Northern Knights.
INSIDE THEIR DRAFT PROSPECTS
What happens next is the big watch for a club which needs to add some more talent but doesn’t hold a first-round draft pick this year.
As it stands, the Blues’ first selection in a highly-compromised and relatively weak draft pool is at No. 35.
That pick is linked to the Brisbane Lions and is likely to blow out further given the number of top-30 academy and father-son bids which are set to be matched this November.
Carlton traded its own first and second-round picks this year as part of its move to secure Jagga Smith at No. 3 in last year’s draft.
The Blues had rated Smith as the No. 1 prospect in 2024 – and fair enough.
The quick-footed, clever and classy midfielder was the favourite to win this year’s Rising Star award before going down with a season-ending ACL injury in February.
Smith is now back running as he eyes an early-season debut in 2025, but he is just one new piece in a larger list puzzle which the Blues will need to put together over the next five months.
In addition to pick 35, Carlton also holds picks 45 and 63 on this year’s indicative draft order.
That trio of selections amount to 488 points on the AFL’s revised 2025 Draft Value Index.
That might not be enough to match a single bid on father-son prospect Dean, who has shot up club draft boards this year.
WHAT RECRUITERS ARE SAYING ABOUT DEAN
Some recruiters believe Dean – the son of two-time Carlton premiership player Peter – has emerged as a potential top-20 prospect.
Measuring 193cm, Dean is described by scouts as a “defender who defends” and is seen as a second or third-tall down back at AFL level.
Dean – who doesn’t turn 18 until November – also has a nice leap, reads the play well and is a strong intercept mark.
He spent time working with Mitch McGovern and Nick Haynes at Carlton last summer and impressed with 14 disposals and 10 marks (five intercept marks) in Vic Country’s first match of this year’s under-18 national championships.
One AFL recruiter said Dean could end up a top 15 pick.
“He’s pretty good, as a third tall back,’’ the scout said.
“He’s not overly quick but he’s good enough athletically and he’s a really good kick, tough, as you’d imagine being the son of Peter Dean, and a good mark.’’
But the math for Carlton doesn’t math – yet.
If Dean did receive a bid at pick 20, it would cost the club 681 draft points to match that, after a 10 per cent discount is applied.
That is 193 points (roughly equivalent to pick 42) more than the club currently holds.
WHO ELSE IS ON DRAFT WATCH?
Dean isn’t the only Princes Park-linked player available this year.
Silky utility Jack Ison is part of Carlton’s Next Generation Academy, as are small forwards Tyson Gresham (brother of Essendon’s Jade) and Mingara Clark.
Ison – a 190cm player who moves well and is a classy left-foot kick – looks the best of that trio after some eye-catching performances for Scotch College and Vic Metro, not that he is expected to go as high as Dean at this stage.
“He’s a super talented kid,” Ison’s Oakleigh Chargers coach Ash Close said recently.
“He just oozes class every time he touches the ball.”
A recruiter said the rangy Ison could play a number of positions and had improved sharply this season.
“He’s aggressive, a left-footer, a beautiful kick inside 50, and he can mark it,’’ the recruiter said of the indigenous talent.
“He can play anywhere really – back, mid, forward.’’
He projected him as a player in the 25 to 35 mark.
Regardless of where Ison lands in the order, the Blues need to find some more draft picks and points.
COULD THE BLUES SPLIT THEIR PICK?
The other option for a top-10 compensation pick would be to try and split it for some later picks for bid-matching purposes.
But that might not be necessary if the Blues also trade out a senior star or two, with names like Harry McKay and Sam Walsh being bandied around as potential bait in a list overhaul.
ONE THING THE BLUES WON’T DO
What Carlton won’t want to do is trade its future picks for 2026 into this year, given an even greater father-son gem awaits there.
Cody Walker – the son of former 202-game high-flyer Andrew – is truly a gun and is draft eligible next year.
A tough-nosed and classy midfielder from Echuca, Walker has already featured in eight games as a bottom-age player in the Coates Talent League this year and played in Vic Country’s first match of this year’s under-18 national championships as one of only three bottom-age players in the squad.
In a round 7 match for the Pioneers in May, Walker logged 31 disposals, 10 marks, five clearances, eight score involvements and kicked three goals.
Described as a “phenomenal” and “ultra-professional” young player, he is undoubtedly an early top-five prospect for 2026 – if not the No. 1 fancy.
While Walker is also linked to Richmond as a Next Generation Academy prospect – given his Indigenous heritage – all indications are that he has long had his sights set on the Blues.
So, there is some fresh young talent on the way for Carlton, but some trades will need to be made in October to acquire it.
There’s plenty of water still to go under the bridge as a list refresh looms.
Originally published as Unpacking Carlton’s trade and draft plans for 2025 as their season slips away
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