Moneyball: Follow all the latest trade, contract, draft and coaching news across the AFL
Mauled in the ruck by Max Gawn in the grand final, Tim English wants to stay at Whitten Oval, but the big Western Bulldog will wait to thrash out a new deal. TRADE LATEST
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Western Bulldogs ruckman Tim English is keen to remain at the club long-term but will wait until midway through next season until considering a new deal.
English was unable to assert himself in the ruck this year and Melbourne’s centre square dominance against the 34-year-old and Stef Martin was critical in the momentum-changing third term.
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The Dogs are on the lookout for ruck and defensive cover even as they offer Martin another one-year deal to remain at the club.
Port Adelaide ruck-forward Peter Ladhams is contracted but on the market and Geelong is one of several clubs that is aware he is very gettable.
The Cats have a welter of mid-range picks and, despite re-signing Rhys Stanley, would be one club that could benefit from the 23-year-old’s services.
Geelong has a tight cap, given its established stars, but a player like Ladhams, entering the last season of a three-year deal, would not require a massive financial commitment, despite his upside.
The Dogs are yet to register a strong interest in Ladhams, despite their awareness of his desire to play more ruck after being stuck behind Scott Lycett at Port.
English’s partner, Rudi Ellis has just signed a two-year deal to play with the West Coast Fever in the Super Netball competition, but he is keen to remain in Melbourne.
He is happy with his current forward-ruck split and has strong relationships at the Dogs as a long-time housemate of fellow forward Aaron Naughton.
Fox Footy expert David King was scathing of English’s ruck performance against Max Gawn and Luke Jackson and said the Dogs needed to act swiftly.
“Luke Beveridge has to make the call here. Is this the guy? What he did in the ruck was uncompetitive. Are you living with that? I think you have got to make the call. Stef Martin is a short-term fix. Is he one name you can throw up for trade? He is not going to get much better in the ruck, he’s a known product. These are big problems for the Dogs, they have seen it on the biggest stage, they must act,” he told SEN.
The Herald Sun reported last week Brisbane had asked about ex-Carlton ruckman Levi Casboult, with St Kilda also in the market for a cheap back-up ruckman
Bombers clarify Dunkley stance
Essendon is not planning to make another play for contracted Western Bulldog Josh Dunkley in this year’s trade period, coach Ben Rutten says.
Dunkley requested a trade to the Bombers last year after frustration at a lack of midfield minutes – despite being contracted until 2022 – but the Dogs stood firm on wanting two first-round picks in return.
There were understood to also be other reasons behind the 24-year-old wanting a fresh start that have since been sorted out.
Rutten hasn’t ruled out Essendon being active in the player movement period, but said Dunkley was “not on the table at this point”.
Darcy Parish enjoyed a breakout season in the middle and joined club champion Zach Merrett in the All-Australian team, while Jake Stringer was a centre clearance specialist.
However, a high-grade hamstring strain restricted on-ball recruit Jye Caldwell to only three games in his first season as a Bomber, while knee injuries sidelined Andy McGrath and Dylan Shiel.
That’s part of why Rutten is hoping for internal improvement rather than hunting for reinforcements, including referring to ex-Giant Shiel as an “A-grade player”.
“I’ve got some really high hopes on Jye,” Rutten told SEN radio.
“He was probably our best performer throughout the pre-season … (and) I was really disappointed that we lost him in the second round.
“He’s a third, going-into-his-fourth-year player. He’s a big, strong, inside player and he’s got fantastic hands.
“I think he’ll really be able to complement Darcy, Merrett and Shiel in and around the ball.”
Rutten pointed to the development of Parish, Jayden Laverde and even Tom Cutler late in the season as evidence of what can be achieved prioritising the talent already at Tullamarine.
Adelaide backman Jake Kelly, an unrestricted free agent, will sign with Essendon once free agency opens on Friday.
Fitness guru set to part ways with Demons
Highly-rated Melbourne high performance chief Darren Burgess is expected to part ways with the Demons on the back of Saturday’s brilliant premiership.
Burgess is eyeing a move to South Australia for family reasons and could clinch a role with Adelaide Crows’ fitness department for next season.
Burgess previously worked for Port Adelaide and has been lauded for his work at Melbourne over the past two seasons.
Burgess was credited for helping equip Christian Petracca with the running power to become one of the most damaging midfielders in the league.
His two-year project has paid off, with Petracca producing one of the best grand final performances of all time to claim the Norm Smith Medal in the commanding win over the Western Bulldogs in Perth.
It came one week after his other onball protege Clayton Oliver came third in the Brownlow Medal after a similarly sensational season.
Melbourne made moves earlier in the year to prepare for Burgess’s likely departure and is set to replace him from within.
In April, Melbourne chief executive Gary Pert said the club would fully support Burgess in any move he made to return to South Australia, where his children live.
“As the year unfolds we will continue in our conversations with Darren and ultimately it will be his decision regarding 2022,” Pert said.
“The club will give 100 per cent support to Darren to act in the best interests of his relationship with his children.”
Burgess is one of the most accomplished and respected fitness staff in the AFL following stints in the English Premier League as director of high performance at Arsenal and head of fitness at Liverpool.
He was part of the fitness department which oversaw the handling of Steve May’s hamstring injury in the lead-up to the Grand Final.
The Demons’ rehab staff worked daily with May to ensure he played in the premiership decider despite having a 6cm tear in his hamstring which he suffered in the preliminary final win over Geelong.
Voss talks up Blues’ trade targets
Adam Cerra will nominate Carlton as his preferred new home in the days after Saturday’s grand final as new Blues coach Michael Voss said the departing Docker would be a significant acquisition.
While Voss said he will speak with Cerra in the coming days, he stressed the race for the talented Fremantle midfield was looking “pretty promising”.
Voss also said the Blues were excited by what Swan George Hewett could bring to the club.
The Herald Sun reported this week that Hewett would secure a four-year free agency deal with Carlton, worth around $450,000 a season.
Cerra was keen to wait until the last of Melbourne’s Grand Final responsibilities were over before making an official call on his future.
While he flirted with the idea of joining the Demons next year, Melbourne’s inability to get a trade done with the Dockers was always likely to be a deal-breaker.
“I have been at least briefed on where that is at,” Voss said on ABC radio about the Cerra chase.
“That looks pretty promising clearly, the guys have gone to work really hard there.
“No doubt over the coming days, I will reach out and hopefully get a chance to have a really good chat to him.”
Voss, who was unveiled as the Blues coach on Thursday, said it was “way too early” for him to speculate what trade compensation the Dockers would be chasing for Cerra.
“I am not going to take over the list management work. Clearly he is going to add something to our group,” he said. “I would say (it would be) fairly significant but there are a real team of people who have gone to work on this longer than I have
“The challenge within that list build is that everyone has a value and you can’t afford to go past that, but it’s clear even in very early days the guys are very well prepared for what is coming up. I have full confidence we will get it done.”
The Blues and Dockers will get to work on a potential trade, which will almost certainly start with Carlton’s pick 6.
Fremantle will likely seek more, but Voss and the Blues won’t be keen to add much more to the equation.
Carlton’s next pick is 25, which the Blues would be reluctant to include.
Voss is already making a swift impression on the Blues’ coaching role, having also spoken to one-time first round draft pick Sam Petrevski-Seton, who has requested a trade to West Coast.
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The new coach said of Hewett: “We would love to have him, so to highlight the midfield area, you only have to look at the Grand Final teams to know the importance of having depth in that part of the ground.
“You have to have depth, you have to have running power, they all have to compliment each other. Clearly he is one player that would really compliment the mix we have there.”
Mitchell determined to stay a Hawk
Tom Mitchell is intent on remaining at Hawthorn only days before the trade period kicks off, determined to finish what he started at the Hawks.
While there has been speculation about whether he might have been open to a trade if it suited both parties mid-year, he has made clear he wants to stay at Waverley.
The Hawks might have considered a trade if a rival emerged and it was the kind of deal that turbocharged their draft hand, which sits at five, 21 and 24.
But the Herald Sun can reveal he has made clear he isn’t interested in a move elsewhere as the Hawks build an exciting support case around new coach Sam Mitchell.
Robert Harvey, David Hale and Adrian Hickmott as well as development coach Andy Collins have joined Mitchell and newly re-signed assistant Chris Newman.
The Hawks will attack the draft and continue their canny recruiting through alternate pathways which has seen Jai Newcombe, Lachie Bramble and Jackson Callow join the club as summer and mid-season picks.
Ideally they would have another first-round pick but unless a shock trade emerges the likes of Jack Gunston, Chad Wingard and Jaeger O’Meara will all remain in 2022.
Mitchell turns 29 in May and clubs in the premiership window including Port Adelaide, who might otherwise be interested in his services, do not have the cap space or have players like Ollie Wines already filling that inside midfield role.
GWS captain Stephen Coniglio is also going nowhere despite former list boss Steve Silvagni throwing him up as trade bait this week.
He is determined to reclaim his place in the AFL’s elite after a season ruined by ankle and toe problems with no interest from WA-based clubs or intent on his behalf to explore a move.
HOW DOGS WILL HANDLE WALLIS, MARTIN, LIPINSKI
The Western Bulldogs are keen for Mitch Wallis and Stef Martin to play on next year as veterans even as father-son Wallis has battled for games this season.
Dogs vice-captain Wallis has played only six games, the most recent in Round 17, and given his lack of game time surely if a rival suitor emerged he would consider it.
But the Dogs will offer him a new deal if he decides to remain, while Martin has missed a trigger clause on his contract but is very keen to play on.
The Dogs are still searching for ruck support but want him to play on too.
Collingwood and the Western Bulldogs already have history over the Adam Treloar trade — and who was paying his contract in 2021 — and now might be in for Round 2 over what Patrick Lipinski is worth at the draft table.
The Dogs will point to the three-year deal they put in front of the inside midfielder as proof of how much they wanted him at the club.
The Pies will point to the fact he has hardly been in the Dogs extended squad – let alone in the AFL side – for the second half of the year.
Both clubs will use all of their draft points this year on father-son prospects, so would a swap of future picks get it done?
Or a third-rounder next year?
DONS LAND HIGHLY-RATED ASSISTANT
Highly-rated assistant Dale Tapping is set to join Essendon in the latest move in what has been a frenetic period of change in the assistant coaching landscape.
While the trade period starts in earnest soon, a significant number of coaching lieutenants have changed clubs already this month, with more to come in the next few weeks.
Tapping had been offered a new two-year deal with Brisbane, having played a key role in the club’s midfield, including working closely with Brownlow Medallist Lachie Neale.
He had been keen to return to Victoria for family reasons and he had spoken to a number of clubs, including Collingwood.
The Magpies have a head of academy role to fill after the departure of Damian Carroll to St Kilda, as reported in Moneyball earlier this week.
It is understood the Essendon option to work with a rising young group appealed to Tapping, who could be announced in the role soon.
Already, there have been some significant changes to the assistant coaching ranks including Justin Leppitsch and Brendon Bolton joining Collingwood; David Teague heading to Richmond; Robert Harvey, David Hale and Adrian Hickmott joining Hawthorn; and Corey Enright leaving Geelong for St Kilda.
It comes as Geelong’s Matthew Scarlett has opted to take a year off footy.
New Carlton coach Michael Voss will make it one of his key priorities to select the right group of coaching staff to work with after his appointment was ratified on Thursday.
He can’t wait to work with his Brisbane triple premiership teammate Luke Power at the Blues, but will get to work on putting a team of coaches together aimed at getting the best out of the group as soon as possible.
KEY ROO GETS TWO-YEAR EXTENSION
North Melbourne hard nut and captain Jack Ziebell has signed a two-year deal that will see him finish his career as a one-club player.
The 30-year-old Kangaroo for life has inked a new contract until the end of 2023.
Ziebell had fought hard for a two-year deal after North Melbourne initially tabled a one-year offer.
The key to his form in the past 12 months – averaging 25 disposals a game – has been a permanent shift by coach David Noble to the back six.
“Jack’s been a star of the club on and off the field ever since he set foot in the place,” North’s general manager of football Brady Rawlings said.
“The negotiations took a little bit of time to work through, but Jack was comfortable with how things were progressing right through the process.”
RIDLEY SIGNS EXTENSION WITH DONS
Essendon will build its future around defender Jordan Ridley, after locking him away with a two-year contract extension.
The 22-year-old will remain at the club until the end of 2026, having signed a four-year extension in 2020.
He won the club’s Crichton Medal in a breakout 2020 and finished fourth this year.
“I really love this footy club,” Ridley said.
SAINTS STEAL DEVELOPMENT GURU FROM PIES
St Kilda has poached Collingwood development guru Damian Carroll to work with the future stars on the Saints list.
Carroll has been appointed the club’s Head of Development and Learning after having similar responsibilities at the Pies.
The former teacher coached Box Hill to a premiership in 2013 before he was later appointed Head of Development and Learning of Hawthorn’s AFL side.
Caroll joins former Geelong assistant Corey Enright and high performance boss Nick Walsh as recent additions to the Saints coaching panel.
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