AFL trade 2024: Josh Battle closing in on long-term deal, Max Holmes, Liam Baker’s futures
It’s well known that Essendon, Hawthorn and North Melbourne have been hoarding salary cap money to land a big fish. But St Kilda is also in an envious position as it looks to end its six-decade premiership drought.
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St Kilda is closing in on a new long-term deal for intercept defender Josh Battle as the club assesses how to spend its millions in cap space to move into the AFL premiership window.
In what is a free agency coup, the Saints are well down the track in regards to negotiations with Battle’s management at a time many high-profile free agents are delaying contract talks.
Battle is only 25 and while he will want a contract of up to six seasons, the Saints are prepared to commit to a long-term deal given his age and importance to their structure.
Other clubs, including North Melbourne, Richmond, Collingwood and Hawthorn, are crying out for intercept defenders and Battle has a perfect blend of tight-checking defence and marking power. He averaged 2.7 intercept marks last year.
With the salary cap climbing 30 per cent in the 18 months to the start of the 2025 season, AFL clubs have huge salary cap space to go hunting free agents. It means players like Battle and North Melbourne’s Cam Zurhaar could ask for huge rival deals, but Battle wants to stay at St Kilda amid extremely productive recent talks.
It means players like Battle and North Melbourne’s Cam Zurhaar could ask for huge rival deals but Battle wants to stay at St Kilda amid extremely productive recent talks.
As this masthead reported on Thursday, second-year top-10 pick Mattaes Phillipou will postpone contract talks to concentrate on his football until mid-year. But the club is comfortable with his position after regular dialogue with both his management and family.
While North Melbourne, Essendon and Hawthorn’s huge cap space is well-advertised, St Kilda has also amassed a vast war chest to make a strategic strike at some stage in the next 18 months. List chiefs Graeme Allen and Steve Silvagni have worked hard to realign the club’s total player payments, even as the Saints have 20 players out of contract.
Bradley Hill’s $900,000-a-season deal expires at the end of 2025, while Dougal Howard’s $600,000-a-year deal expires this season. Brad Crouch has just triggered a new deal for 2025, despite being dropped for Thursday night’s game Collingwood.
Lucrative deals for Zak Jones and Dan Hannebery are over (although Jones has signed a fresh one-year deal), and the Saints have not splashed the cash in recent years. Instead they have gone to the draft while making targeted acquisitions (Liam Stocker, Paddy Dow and Liam Henry) and released Jade Gresham instead of matching an Essendon offer of $700,000 a season.
So St Kilda will sit down in coming months with a forensic audit of exactly what its list needs as it continues to play a blend of kids and experienced talent.
Running machine Darcy Wilson and small forward Lance Collard have already debuted, while half back Hugo Garcia is not far behind and key back Arie Schoenmaker has huge potential.
St Kilda is one of many clubs assessing their ruck stocks as players like Gold Coast’s Ned Moyle and Sydney’s Lachlan McAndrew play solid state league football.
But with star Rowan Marshall, 28, signed to 2027, the Saints would need to secure a ruck-forward equally adept at playing forward.
Tim Membrey, 29, is out of contract but has started the season well and will hope his knee issues can be managed so he can play on for multiple seasons.
Back-up ruck Tom Campbell, 32, is the club’s oldest player but there is no other player older than 30.
Seb Ross, Jimmy Webster, Hill, Mason Wood, Brad Crouch are all playing as 30-year-olds, while Membrey, Jones and Jack Sinclair are 29.
$1M MAN? WHY EVERY WEEK IS COSTING CATS DEARLY
– Scott Gullan
Geelong is playing a dangerous waiting game with rising superstar Max Holmes’ contract.
In a move which has rival clubs monitoring closely, the Cats are sitting on a revised contract offer which Holmes and his management group, Hemisphere, presented to them in the off-season.
The Cats originally tabled a four-year deal to secure the 21-year-old’s signature but that was rejected.
Holmes’ price tag is rising by the week and if his career trajectory continues he could easily command up to $1 million per season when he comes out of contract at the end of the season.
Industry sources suggest Holmes’ asking price is far from unreasonable and is around the $700,000-$800,000 per season with triggers for increases pending the expected salary cap rises in coming years.
There are many who believe Holmes should be the Cats third or fourth highest player from 2025 given his skill set and importance to their structure.
Forward Jeremy Cameron, defender Tom Stewart and captain Patrick Dangerfield are the three highest paid Cats this season.
But moving forward Holmes and key defender Sam De Koning would be in the next rung of most valued commodities.
The Cats have been linked to a number of high-price recruits including Melbourne’s Clayton Oliver and Western Bulldogs midfielder Bailey Smith.
Holmes’ manager Tom Seccull is based in Perth and the young Cat flew over there during the summer break to discuss his future.
He is believed to be happy living in Geelong and more than comfortable to play out the season before considering any new offers from the Cats.
Holmes was one of the Cats best in the first round victory over St Kilda, starting in a new role at half-back.
He then moved into the midfield in the second half and finished the game as the second-highest rated player on the ground with 23 disposals, 10 marks and 687 metres gained.
Holmes has played 52 games with the Cats since being surprisingly taken in the first round, No. 20, in the 2020 National Draft after minimal TAC Cup appearances.
He made an immediate impact with 12 games in his first season before becoming a regular season in 2022, playing 18 games before tragically missing out on playing in the premiership.
Holmes suffered a minor hamstring strain in the preliminary final against Brisbane and despite being medically cleared, and himself believing he was ready to go, coach Chris Scott left him out on Grand Final morning.
In the lead-up to the Cats opener last week, Holmes said he was leaving contract negotiations to Geelong footy boss Andrew Mackie and his management,
“We’ve just got to sort it out, I guess,” he said. “It’s up to Mack (Geelong footy boss Andrew Mackie) and my manager to sort it out.
“Then, when they’re happy with it, I’ll be happy with it, I guess”.
TIGER IN HIGH DEMAND
Richmond faces a fight to keep hard nut Liam Baker, with multiple clubs chasing the out-of-contract midfielder.
West Coast and Fremantle are both expected to target Baker in an attempt to bring the versatile ball-winner back home to Western Australia at season’s end.
Baker, 26, has put off contract talks for now as the Tigers prepare to navigate a tough start to the season under new coach Adem Yze.
Richmond’s list strategy is likely to become clearer later in the season, with the club in the hunt for a key forward replacement for Jack Riewoldt (retired) and Tom Lynch.
The Tigers also need to inject more top-end young talent to help power the team into a new era, having taken only one player (Josh Gibcus) in the top 15 of the past eight national drafts.
A Baker trade could net the Tigers a late first-round or early second-round draft pick as part of the club’s attempts to inject more talent at the end of Yze’s first season at Punt Rd.
Fremantle had a big crack at Baker two years ago and would be well-placed to pull off a deal for the Subiaco product this year. The Dockers have three first-round picks to use in this year’s trade and draft period after landing a first-round pick from Collingwood for small forward Lachie Schultz, who is also 26.
It means the Dockers could effectively turn Schultz into Baker, if successful, while the Eagles could also enter the race if they can convince him the club can climb up the ladder soon.
Baker has averaged 17 touches in his first two games in 2024 – and has played 84 per cent forward, despite mid-season plans to feature more through the midfield.
The Tigers generated 35 points from stoppages against Carlton, their fourth-best return from that source in five years, according to Champion Data.
South Australian midfielder Jack Graham is also a free agent this year and could attract interest from Adelaide. Graham toured Port Adelaide two years ago, before recommitting to the Tigers.
Richmond went down in its first two games of the season, including a brave defeat to Carlton in Round 1, and lost young defender Gibcus to a season-ending ACL injury.
But the Tigers are expected to have a strong hand in this year’s draft with the capacity to trade their suite of draft picks – including two second-round, three third-round and three fourth-round picks up the order.
The Tigers’ former recruiting manager Matthew Clarke was last month appointed West Coast’s new list manager, replacing Rohan O’Brien. Richmond is looking for a new list manager, but will be led by Blair Hartley in the meantime.
Clarke told this masthead last year that Richmond could try and bundle its picks this year to land another first-rounder in a trade with another club and off-load a pair of early picks for a gun tall.
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