Wreck It Ralph: The 2022 AFL Trade Period’s best-value potential moves ranked

Richmond will have to pay up for Tim Taranto and Jacob Hopper, but which clubs are set to land a steal in this year’s trade period? Jon Ralph names the best deals.

Greater Western Sydney will try to make Richmond bleed in coming weeks to such an extent their trade celebrations will be muted by the reality of what they have given up.

Melbourne will spend an hour mourning Luke Jackson’s loss, then make all kinds of monstrous trade claims for the bundle of picks they want in return.

But some clubs will make less of a fuss trying to secure this year’s Patrick Lipinski, Will Brodie or Lewis Young.

The Blues gave up Sam Petrevski-Seton for the highly effective Young, the Pies handed over only pick 43 for midfield revelation Lipinski.

So which players on the free agency market or trade table might have significant impact for most or even no outlay?

Here are 10 ranked in order.

Jack Gunston could be the prize of this year’s trade period. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos

1. Jack Gunston (Hawthorn)

We still don’t know what Gunston will do and he should take all the time he wants given the passing of his father in recent weeks.

Brisbane is keen but are aware the Hawks senior players seem happy to bring through the new breed after so much premiership success.

But Gunston is the prize of this year’s meat market because he will cost literally nothing as an unrestricted free agent and could be such a game-changer for whichever side he chooses.

He kicked 32 goals in his 17 games, he is only 30, and doesn’t have to be the focal point of a forward line.

He can quietly go about winning games as he did this year in Hawks victories – five against Gold Coast, three against Geelong, three against Port Adelaide, five and three in a pair of defeats of the admittedly lowly North Melbourne.

If Brisbane could secure him, it would try to hand over a later pick to Hawthorn to keep its Dan McStay compensation.

And bring in a player who eight times has kicked more goals than McStay’s career season-high of 28 with likely three good years left in his career.

2. Blake Acres (Fremantle)

Carlton has sniffed the wind on Fremantle wingman Acres and will surely give up a second-round pick or worse for a 26-year-old it will only pay $1 million over three seasons.

His season was exceptional but his semi final might have been his finest hour.

Banged up with a knee injury that nearly saw him subbed off, he instead kept running.

He accumulated a season-high 127 ranking points, 27 possessions, 580 metres gained.

He is the new-age wingman – keen to get back to support with four intercept possessions against the Pies – strong overhead (5.8 marks a game), and still athletic enough to surge forward on the spread.

At Carlton, he won’t win the Blues a final but he will be a significant upgrade on Jack Newnes or Lochie O’Brien and he will come at the perfect price.

Will Griffin Logue end up at the Kangaroos? Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos

3. Griffin Logue (Fremantle)

There is still a chance Logue might ignore rival offers and stay at Fremantle but he is more likely to ask for a trade and form a lethal defensive duo elsewhere.

As a defensive forward, he kicked eight goals but he’s an elite stopper as a key defender who has exceptional numbers playing on the stars of the game.

North Melbourne might have to hand over a pick between 10-20 for Logue, pick 8 in the 2016 national draft.

But if he plays at North Melbourne next year, Ben McKay would be the best defender in the game.

In his last six weeks, in a team that won a single game in that period, he had eight, six, eight, zero, five and six intercept marks.

He took the mickey out of opponents with his marking power but had modest support at best.

So slot in 24-year-old Logue as your full back for the next eight years and allow McKay to play the Alex Rance-Jeremy McGovern role.

It might just keep McKay at the club as a free agent coming out of contract next year.

4. Rory Lobb (Fremantle)

Everyone hates the Rory Lobb-to-Bulldogs development.

Given what the Dogs will hope to give up – likely a second-rounder for a player 30 in February saddled with a $750,000 wage next year at the Dockers – I couldn’t love it more.

Why?

Look at Aaron Naughton’s finals record – one point against Fremantle this year, a single goal in the Grand Final against a hamstrung Steven May, five disposals and a goal in the elimination final loss to St Kilda in 2020, two goals, but only five possessions, in the 2019 finals loss to GWS.

Clubs know if they beat Naughton, they beat the Dogs.

Naughton had another excellent year – 51 goals in 22 games – but Josh Bruce kicked 1.2 in five games, Jamarra Ugle-Hagan kicked 1.7 in his last four games and Sam Darcy is a baby in football terms.

In a contract year for Luke Beveridge, is he really backing in Bruce, Ugle-Hagan and Darcy to deliver the goods despite the huge potential of the latter two?

Any of that trio might explode next year but Lobb, who was poor in the semi-final after two goals against the Dogs, can only add to their options.

He can ruck and release Tim English forward, he can play forward himself and release Sam Darcy or Naughton as a back.

The Dogs don’t need to hoard draft picks, they need a 30-goal-a-season forward now.

It’s the Eagles or Port Adelaide for Junior Rioli. Picture: Daniel Carson/AFL Photos

5. Junior Rioli (West Coast)

Junior Rioli might still stay at West Coast on a three-year deal rather than accept Port Adelaide’s four-year deal on bigger money.

But if he does request a Port Adelaide trade, given the Eagles offer is far from massive a second-round pick would surely suffice.

The Power doesn’t need the pick and they have vast cap space.

And they need Rioli.

Sam Powell-Pepper (24 goals) had a career-best year and almost all of Connor Rozee’s came from the midfield (15 were from round 11 onwards) but Robbie Gray and Steven Motlop retired and Orazio Fantasia didn’t play a single minute of senior AFL football this year.

Port Adelaide would depend on Rioli to be injury-free, after hamstring issues this year, and settled off-field given the passing of his father and his desire to set up his family and support his mother.

But if Port Adelaide can get him right, he’s all upside and a chance to meet his potential after an admittedly much-hyped career for a player who has never averaged more than 1.3 goals a game.

6. Izak Rankine (Gold Coast)

He’s not on the top of this list because Gold Coast will ask the world for Rankine and eventually accept a first and second-rounder.

But for Adelaide, which has had decidedly mixed fortunes with recent high picks, it is worth the price.

He gives legitimate marketing power, he is 22, adds goal power, he takes attention off Josh Rachele as he enters his second year, and eases pressure on Matthew Nicks, who has a contract to 2024 but has only 18 wins in three rebuilding seasons.

Of his 241 possessions this year, 111 were score involvements including 29.21 and 25 direct score assists.

Izak Rankine won’t come cheap, but it will be worth it for the Crows. Picture: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

7. Jason Johannisen (Western Bulldogs)

Norm Smith Medallist Johannisen played five straight seasons from 2016-2020, averaging between 83 and 93 ranking points, more than 21 possessions in four of them and kicking the ball at over 70 per cent in every one of those years.

Gold Coast is interested and, while he hasn’t been offered a three-year deal yet, he’s a free agent who can slot straight into the back six as a hard-running, long-kicking defender.

Gold Coast has sold him on the vision of actually playing as a defender, rather than a bits-and-pieces half forward, but with three defenders out with ACL tears he would be the perfect value defender who is far from perfect, but neatly fills a hole.

8. Josh Dunkley (Western Bulldogs)

What price do you put on Ken Hinkley extending his coaching career?

The Port Adelaide list team can’t bring in Josh Dunkley just to suit Ken Hinkley’s contract situation, but there is no doubt Hinkley will need a finals finish next year to stay at the club past 2023.

Port Adelaide believe Dunkley is worth one first-rounder given he is no longer contracted, with the Dogs asking for two first-rounders when Essendon tried to pry him out mid-deal in 2020.

He’s a damn fine player – 14 tackles, 23 possessions and a goal in the losing elimination final as one more example.

And, at Port Adelaide, he would perfectly complement the emerging mids in Connor Rozee and Zac Butters, with Ollie Wines still going strong and Travis Boak a wonder, but 34 years of age.

The Power should think about it this way – if they get an end-of-first-round compo pick for the departing Karl Amon they should be open to handing over pick 8 for Dunkley and sweetening the deal given the impact he would have in 2023.

Geelong is interested in young Magpie Ollie Henry. Picture: Michael Klein

9. Ollie Henry (Collingwood)

Geelong is interested in Henry, who will get to the end of the season before making a decision on whether he commits to the Pies again.

As a pick 17 only two seasons into his career, the Cats would be asked to give up a comparable pick between 15-25.

The issue for Collingwood is that Ash Johnson has completely taken his spot, Jamie Elliott is contracted for three more years, Dan McStay is coming and so is Bobby Hill.

Henry kicked 21 goals in only 15 games, including a three-week period where he kicked four as the match-winning sub against Fremantle, three in the win over Carlton and two against Hawthorn.

He fell out of form and must develop an all-round game, rather than being only a mark-and-goal forward.

But he has the talent to become a Daniel Menzel-style 40-goal-a-season forward and, after Geelong missed on Jacob Hopper, could it be down the highway?

10. Liam Jones

Liam Jones will be 32 by the time round 1 rolls around next year and won’t have played AFL football since August 7, 2021.

But name another player the Dogs can plug into their defence which will cost them nothing but a spot on their list and averaged 4.2 intercept marks and 8.4 intercept possessions in their most recent season.

The Dogs will hand him three years to spread out his contract and, while ideally a two-year deal would be safer, he simply needs to beat his man and he will be a significant upgrade on the current Bulldogs defenders.

In 2020, his one-on-one marking loss rate was a miserly 9.1 per cent and in 2021 it was a still-sensational 11.8 per cent.

It’s a risk, but it’s so worth the Dogs taking.

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Originally published as Wreck It Ralph: The 2022 AFL Trade Period’s best-value potential moves ranked