What would your club’s dream AFL trade period look like?
Tim Kelly becomes a Docker. Tom Papley joins the Blues. Essendon snares two first-round picks for Joe Daniher. What’s your club’s dream scenario from the trade period?
Trade HQ
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Trade period very rarely goes to plan.
How could it, when every club wants the best possible deal to strengthen their list?
It’s the period of the year where player worth is vastly inflated and most clubs will do whatever it takes to get the best deal on offer.
What would your club’s dream trade period look like?
Adelaide
Get the greatest draft hand possible for the host of players who want out. Eddie Betts will leave for little, but drive a hard bargain for Hugh Greenwood and Alex Keath. If the Crows can wrangle pick 20 from Gold Coast for Greenwood and a future first-rounder for Keath, it will set up their next two drafts. If Brad Crouch goes to the Suns after winning the best-and-fairest, a top-two pick arrives in return.
Brisbane Lions
Jamie Elliott chooses Brisbane over staying at Collingwood or crossing Olympic Park to join Melbourne. Adding Elliott to bring further spark to the forward half alongside Charlie Cameron would be a huge bonus. The Lions already paid nothing for Cam Ellis-Yolmen. If Callum Ah Chee gets his body right and it uses picks 16, 21 and 34 to get closer to the top-10, it will be a great trade period for Brisbane.
Carlton
Tom Papley jets into Princes Park for pick nine, while Gold Coast relents and trades Jack Martin for a future second-round pick. The Blues will get Eddie Betts for a nominal pick, while Dan Butler seems a certainty to join too. If Carlton finishes the trade period with Papley, Martin and one of Betts and Butler, the Teague train will be gathering steam. Keeping hold of Andrew Phillips, who has attracted interest from Essendon, would be a win.
Collingwood
Brodie Grundy signs on the dotted line to officially put speculation to bed. This one is likely to stretch into 2020, but boy would Magpies fans love to know their star ruckman is locked in long-term. Jamie Elliott shuns interest from Melbourne and Brisbane to re-sign and ruckman Darcy Cameron joins for a pick Collingwood wouldn’t have used in the draft anyway.
Essendon
Sydney relents to the huge asking price Adrian Dodoro will put on Joe Daniher’s head and pays two first-round picks to secure the key forward. As Carlton’s deal for Jack Martin drags on, Dodoro senses the chance to nab the Gold Coast midfielder from under Essendon’s rivals noses. Port Adelaide is so keen to get Orazio Fantasia home it gives up pick 10 and the Bombers take a bumper hand into the national draft.
Fremantle
Tim Kelly pulls a huge about face as his move to West Coast stalls and decides he’s prepared to join the Dockers. Armed with pick 6 from trading Brad Hill to St Kilda and their own pick 7, Fremantle can’t get the Kelly deal done quickly enough. Melbourne parts with pick 22 for Ed Langdon, whose place in the Dockers team is taken by Kamdyn McIntosh.
Geelong
See above. Tim Kelly decides he's happy to be a Docker and the Cats welcome two top-10 picks as a result. St Kilda grants Jack Steven’s wish to join Geelong for a late pick, rather than the Cats’ second-rounder (currently 36).
Gold Coast
Brisbane trades pick 44 for Callum Ah Chee and Adelaide reluctantly accepts that selection in exchange for Hugh Greenwood. Brad Crouch asks to join home on the plane to Queensland, but the Suns are steadfast on holding onto picks one and two to snare Matthew Rowell and Noah Anderson. Other Victorian clubs up their interest in Jack Martin and force Carlton to meet the Suns’ first-round asking price.
GWS Giants
Jeremy Cameron and Zac Williams sign new deals in the next two weeks, tying them to Sydney’s west for the long-term. The Giants don’t lack in many areas but Sam Jacobs’ arrival will solve their most obvious issue. GWS increases its draft points in order to match a bid for Tom Green, which is set to come in the top-10.
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See which players every club is chasing and who could be on the move this trade period
Hawthorn
GWS accepts pick 86 to give Jon Patton a fresh start in brown and gold, paving the way for Sam Frost to arrive from Melbourne for pick 49. Do Clarko or the Hawks’ list management team have an ace up their sleeve? Two bargain deals for bookends would leave Hawthorn with picks 11 and 30.
Melbourne
The Demons get a triple treat as Jamie Elliott signs to join Adam Tomlinson and Ed Langdon as new faces at Melbourne. Tomlinson and Elliott won’t cost the Demons and if they can land Langdon and keep pick 22 it would be a huge result. They’d love a reliable key forward but Elliott would take some of the burden off Tom McDonald, Sam Weideman and co.
North Melbourne
The Roos are expected to be one of the quietest clubs in the trade period. They got their biggest win when Todd Goldstein and Shaun Higgins both inked new deals. North has been linked with Tom Papley and it would be a coup if the Roos pounced should Carlton’s attempt to bring him back to Victoria falter.
Port Adelaide
Pick 29 is unlikely to be enough for Orazio Fantasia and Port will need to be persuasive to land the Essendon forward without giving up pick 10. Would pick 29 and Dougal Howard be enough to get it done? Pick 58 from St Kilda might be all the Power gets for Paddy Ryder and pick 48 for Billy Frampton from Adelaide looks possible.
Richmond
After two of the last three premierships, Richmond avoids having its depth raided again. Connor Menadue and Kamdyn McIntosh are still at the club at the end of trade period after being linked with moves west. The Tigers almost seem resigned to Dan Butler joining Carlton, but if they hold most of the AFL talent which featured in their VFL flag they will have done very well.
St Kilda
Hard to see a way Brad Hill gets to Moorabbin without pick 6 heading to Fremantle. If the Saints landed the Dockers wingman without giving away their prized draft pick they would have worked wonders. Paddy Ryder for pick 75 or 81 will bring much-needed ruck support for Rowan Marshall. St Kilda and Geelong seem to be poles apart on a deal for Jack Steven. Ideally, the Saints hold their ground and get pick 36 to pass on for Zak Jones.
Sydney
How can the Swans bring Joe Daniher to the Harbour City without giving up Tom Papley? Picks five and nine seem the mostly likely to satisfy Essendon, but that would mean small forward Papley joining Carlton. It seems too good to be true, but if Sydney finishes the trade period with Daniher and keeps Papley, it will have a formidable attack.
West Coast
Tim Kelly joins a midfield already stocked with talent. West Coast will need to find a way to turn picks 14, 24 and 33 into a hand which piques Geelong’s interest, unless a future pick ends up as part of the deal. Kelly, Andrew Gaff, Elliot Yeo, Luke Shuey, Jack Redden, Dom Sheed and Kelly will be an imposing mix. The Eagles would love to get this deal done before Fremantle can even make its case.
Western Bulldogs
Hold pick 13 and use selections 32, 43, 49 and 51 to add Josh Bruce and Alex Keath to the mix at Whitten Oval. Getting another quality youngster, a forward to support Aaron Naughton and a gun key defender would be a huge result for the Dogs. Academy prospect Jamarra Ugle-Hagan and father-son Ewan MacPherson are in their sights next year which means they need to hold onto future picks.
Originally published as What would your club’s dream AFL trade period look like?