AFL Trades: SuperCoach 2025 wish list
Bailey Smith and Clayton Oliver could be huge SuperCoach steals at a new club in 2025. Which other names should be on the watch list? Here are the moves to watch.
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If there is one group of footy fans that knows all about trades, it’s SuperCoaches.
Trading is a huge part of fantasy sports, and coaches take an especially keen interest in the AFL trade and free agency landscape with an eye to next fantasy season.
Finding a bargain is often about opportunity which a new club can present. Who could be the Brodie Grundy or James Jordon of 2025 – or Max Gawn, who dominated as a stand-alone ruck after Grundy’s departure?
Here are the moves we are barracking for.
BULLDOGS EXODUS
Could Jack Macrae be back to his brilliant SuperCoach best in red, white and black? The SuperCoach maestro has requested a move to the Saints and if he lobs in the midfield group you’d suspect he’d find himself in a lot of teams, DPP or no DPP. Bailey Smith should retain forward status and be a walk-up start at under $350k in most sides. His best SuperCoach season was 2022 when he averaged 98.6 but he should be a regular in the centre square at Geelong after copping the full Bevo treatment.
Caleb Daniel’s future is up at the air, but he finished the season at a smidge over $250k and in good form. If he finds himself at North Melbourne or a similar club in need of experience (or if everyone else leaves the Bulldogs) he will be high on watch lists.
CLARRY THE CAT?
The biggest bomb of the trade period is Clayton Oliver’s potential move to Geelong. It’s not clear how it would happen when the Cats are handing their best fraft picks to the Dogs for Smith, but they don’t often miss out on their trade targets. Oliver’s SuperCoach average in 2024 (83.8) was his lowest in eight years and he is set to start 2025 priced at closer to $400k than the $700k we have been accustomed to for one of the most reliable midfielders in the game. Can we start Clarry and Baz? Hopefully the Cats don’t have an early bye.
GIANT OPPORTUNITIES
SuperCoach draft expert Lekdog has famously called James Peatling “the best player in the AFL”. It may not be strictly true, but he had a stellar finish to season 2024 and is somehow some of the hottest property on the footy market – no longer will he be on the waiver wire for anyone smart enough to be looking out for him. If he retains forward eligibility and ends up in a midfield, even if he stays at the Giants considering they’re losing Cumming and Perryman, look out.
Speaking of, Harry Perryman could slide into the midfield at Collingwood after finishing not much more than $400k at the end of season 2024 and will be defence eligible. It’s hard to quantify what his role will be and how much of an effect it’ll have on his scoring, but he averaged 77.5 in 2024 with just one score above 100 (it was a 131) and 13 scores below 80. He certainly won’t be a must-pick before we see him in the pre-season games.
Harry Perryman averaged 77.5 #supercoach points this year.
— SuperCoach AFL (@Supercoach) October 1, 2024
Estimated 2025 price: $420k DEF
Will more midfield time put him on the mid-price radar? https://t.co/w4YCQvc0e0
Isaac Cumming fell off the radar this year, playing just four home-and-away matches, plus two finals. But his last game, a semi-final against Brisbane, was a reminder of his talents, scoring 103 SuperCoach points. Cumming took one kick-in from a behind this season; two years ago he took 129 (clearly No.1 at the Giants) – and averaged 95 SuperCoach points. The job at Adelaide this year was split between Mark Keane and Mitch Hinge, with Josh Worrell and Brodie Smith also getting a crack at the gig. If Cumming, who has nominated the Crows as a free agent, kicks that group out of the goalsquare, he will be a mid-pricer worth considering.
Meanwhile, Nick Haynes appears headed to Carlton to fill a need for tall defenders. He was stuck in the VFL for most of 2024, but he has been a SuperCoach premium in the past – averaging 98 in 2020 (the same year he won the Giants’ best-and-fairest and made the All-Australian team). Playing for the GWS reserves this year Haynes averaged 31 disposals and almost nine intercepts a game. He’s likely to start 2025 with an awkward price tag of around $350k.
FORWARD LINE SAVIOURS?
Shai Bolton didn’t register a SuperCoach ton after round 5 this year but next season he’s likely to be playing for a finals contender – if a deal can be struck with the Dockers. He’ll be priced at his 2024 average of 77 but it’s easy to forget he averaged 97 playing a hybrid mid-forward role in 2023.
We might have to make some bold choices in the forward line, so don’t sleep on Alex Neal-Bullen, either. He’s heading home to become a Crow after finishing as the eighth-ranked forward for total points in 2024 – and the list of players above him included Sam Flanders, Dayne Zorko, Isaac Heeney and Jye Caldwell, who are all set to lose FWD status.
Luke Parker appears bound for Arden St, where he will be a regular after playing just seven games for the Swans in the home-and-away season. He’s also likely to be a FWD-MID. Paying over $400k for a 32-year-old isn’t overly enticing, but in the forward line we aren’t ruling anyone out.
KICK-IN KINGS
North Melbourne and Carlton are fighting for the signature of wantaway Port Adelaide defender Dan Houston, and we are barracking hard for the Roos to win the battle. The role of key distributor in the Kangaroos’ backline has been a SuperCoach goldmine since the days of Jack Ziebell and Aaron Hall. Colby McKercher is likely to follow Harry Sheezel into the midfield next year, and Zac Fisher can’t take all the points himself. Welcome, Dan!
Houston has averaged 106 the past two seasons so he’ll be in the top price bracket for defenders next year, but paying up might pay off. His departure could also open the door for a much bigger role for Power rebounder Kane Farrell.
It’s a similar theory for Daniel Rioli, who has flown under the radar in SuperCoach despite averaging 92, 87 and 93 in the past three seasons. There will be some haggling but expect him to line up for Gold Coast in 2025, likely in a swap for pick 6. Players like Alex Sexton and Rory Atkins have put up premium numbers in the Suns backline and Rioli is a class above, showing his premium potential in round 19 when he had a season-high four kick-ins and scored 133 SuperCoach points. Keep him in mind.
FRINGE WATCH
Deven Robertson, Angus Sheldrick and Wade Derksen were unsighted at AFL level this season and boy howdy if we see them next year we could be in for a treat. Robertson and Sheldrick are both in-and-under midfielders who don’t have much of a look-in behind the two best midfields in the competition. Robertson averaged 26 touches and 108 SuperCoach in the VFL, and Sheldrick averaged 25 and 87 this season. Derksen is a key-position player but if he gets to Melbourne and fights his way into the side he’ll be a bargain-basement rookie. Finn Maginness at 250-odd thousand could be of interest after his brilliant semi-final performance at the Adelaide Oval if he moves clubs, while Eliah Tsatas would be a must-pick if he finds his way to Richmond.
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Originally published as AFL Trades: SuperCoach 2025 wish list
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