Deal or no deal: Will your club’s out of contract stars stay beyond the 2023 season?
Who are the biggest names in the game unsigned beyond the 2023 season? See the easy and tough choices your club will have to make.
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Deal or no deal season has arrived.
Who are your club’s out of contract players? Who should you give a new contract to before the season starts and who should you make earn it?
JON RALPH examines where all 18 clubs sit as we begin the push to Round 1.
ADELAIDE
The Crows do not have too many flight risks but will be keen to secure defender Tom Doedee given he hits restricted free agency at the end of 2023.
Doedee had a solid year finishing eighth in the best-and-fairest at a club with plenty of young talent that is yet to take the step to elite.
Matt Crouch hits unrestricted free agency next year but was totally unwanted by rivals at trade time so at least now has the capacity to move to the club of his choice if he can show he can be of use to a team.
Clearly getting early-season games will help with that mission but it’s not obvious he’s in the club’s best team — or the best 23 in any team in the comp.
Taylor Walker signed a one-year contract last July despite some gnashing of teeth and threats he might leave. The Crows would be happy for that kind of negotiation again because it would mean he’s still in matchwinning form.
BRISBANE
The Lions are in a spectacularly good list position after signing up 2023 free agent Eric Hipwood on a contract until 2029 that surely prioritised a long-term deal over big money.
Daniel Rich and Dayne Zorko will be free agents who will wait until year’s end to assess their futures.
Midfielder Deven Robertson was contracted this off-season to 2023 and was going nowhere despite speculation WA-based clubs would be interested in luring him home.
He put in a strong enough performance in the three finals to believe he has a future at the Lions but with Josh Dunkley arriving he will be keen to ensure he remains in the side before signing a new contract. So his contract will remain of interest until the Lions secure him on a fresh deal.
CARLTON
Carlton has nearly half of its list out of contract but most of its megastars signed away.
The Herald Sun reported late last year Tom De Koning would be in no hurry to re-sign given huge rival interest and uncertainty about exactly where he fits in the pecking order.
Former captain Sam Docherty becomes a free agent and will surely sign before the start of the season given his loyalty and the club’s support for him during his cancer battle.
The club will be in no hurry to re-sign Paddy Dow or Caleb Marchbank given they aren’t regulars (Dow because of form, Marchbank through injury), while Mitch McGovern will need to take a significant pay cut as his five-year $4 million deal comes to an end.
As usual Jack Silvagni’s contract will be much-discussed given he is a restricted free agent.
He played 21 games and always makes Carlton look better but wouldn’t be on a lucrative deal and only kicked 17 goals in those games.
How does Carlton offer a contract that recognises his heart-and-soul contributions? Meanwhile, rivals may believe he is a critical role player in their own teams without having to hand over a draft pick.
Marc Pittonet and Jesse Motlop will also be priority re-signings.
COLLINGWOOD
The Pies signed Jack Cripps and Brody Mihocek prior to Christmas in a boost for the club.
Jeremy Howe becomes a free agent this year but will also turn 33 in June.
On recent form he’s done enough for a two-year deal despite his veteran status.
Mason Cox will again have to prove his worth as he comes out of contract while Will Kelly will need to establish himself if he is to secure a new deal in a year where his father Craig is set to become the club’s new chief executive.
ESSENDON
Peter Wright has come off a best-and-fairest winning year and after two seasons where the Suns have paid a chunk of his salary, the Dons are on the hook for all of his 2023 deal.
He isn’t going anywhere but how much of a price rise can he secure given the players around him on the Coleman Medal tally are mostly $800,000-a-year players?
Darcy Parish becomes a free agent for the first time and might want to maximise his worth with a strong early start to the season after a 2022 campaign where he could play only 16 games because of injury, leading to a ninth placing in the best-and-fairest.
Is he an $800,000 per season player or did he just have an extraordinary 2021?
The Dons might want to see more before they pay the really big dollars for Parish.
Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti is out of contract but his form will dictate what happens with his future, while Mason Redman is the other big free agent out of contract.
He was arguably unlucky to finish only fourth in the best-and-fairest.
He is exactly the kind of strong intercept-marking player who clubs want to poach to plug into their back six, so Essendon will have to balance trying to offer a responsible contract with the reality someone desperate might offer $600,000 a year for the free agent.
FREMANTLE
Nathan Fyfe is a 2023 free agent but the club and its captain are happy for him to get some games under his belt early in the season and then sit down relatively early in the year to strike a new deal.
A strong first month would allow him to secure a two-year deal — and likely better terms — for a dual Brownlow Medallist who played only seven games last year.
Fyfe has only managed 20 or more games twice in the past seven seasons and will be desperate for some continuity.
Regardless of his new deal he will take a pay cut on a current deal worth around $1.2 million a season.
Liam Henry is one to watch given he hits the end of his contract and was seen to be frustrated other medium-sized forwards were preferred to him, which saw some trade speculation across the off-season.
He is too talented to be stuck playing WAFL so he needs to bust his backside across the summer and the club needs to find him a role or he will be elsewhere in 2024.
Michael Walters is an unrestricted free agent at year’s end.
GEELONG
The reigning premiers have already done some heavy lifting by taking defender Sam De Koning off the board with a new two-year deal and a contract for Tyson Stengle is surely their next priority.
The All Australian has been told by Eddie Betts he should believe he can spend a decade at Geelong so the Cats would want to hand him a deal which incentivises continued excellence but gives him some financial security.
Forwards Brad Close, Gryan Miers and Gary Rohan are all out of contract, with Sam Menegola a restricted free agent.
If he can’t find his way into the team rivals aware of his running power and contract status will clearly sniff around.
Mark Blicavs turns 32 in March — the age where one-year deals are par for the course — but has so much football left in him a two-year deal would seem more appropriate for the brilliant ruck-defender-midfielder hybrid.
Ruck-forward Esava Ratugolea has been promised more chances, and while he’s not a free agent Port Adelaide will continue to monitor him if he isn’t a 2023 regular.
GOLD COAST
Gold Coast has finally broken the back of its contract issues, likely to extend Brayden Fiorini and Alex Sexton into 2024 to smooth out their hefty 2023 contracts and give them more security.
As revealed by the Herald Sun, Matt Rowell has committed for another two seasons.
His best mate Noah Anderson has only had very early talks and at this stage looks every bit an $800,000-a-year player given his full package of skills including goal power, breakaway pace and clearance dominance.
The Suns will be keen to secure Malcolm Rosas early given Izak Rankine’s departure leaves them slightly thin for small forwards and Essendon tried to drag him out of the club 12 months ago.
Ben King is contracted to the end of 2024, so if he can return from an ACL tear with some authority the club would at least hope to offer him an early mega-deal to ensure the final year of his contract isn’t a circus.
GWS
Tom Green could have as much leverage as any player in the competition given he is out of contract and could have suitors lining up around the block.
The midfielder could emerge as footy’s best clearance player at some stage in the near future.
He is seen to be happy at the club and while his management hasn’t yet worked out a strategy for his future, if he did want to sign up early he could demand his own price.
Especially given the Giants were happy to move on Jacob Hopper and Tim Taranto in the knowledge he was their new midfield star.
Harry Himmelberg is also out of contract and a big part of the future under Adam Kingsley, whether forward or back.
As a restricted free agent it might be smart business for him to hold off on talks to assess who else is interested in his services.
Lachie Ash also has a bright future as part of the new-look Giants. They will be keen to lock him away early with minimum fuss.
If Braydon Preuss can put together a solid early stint he can show he is the No. 1 ruckman at the club and push hard for an early extension.
HAWTHORN
Dylan Moore is a free agent by dint of the club delisting him and then putting him back on the rookie list, but with huge opportunity and enough time at only 23 to be part of the club’s premiership window, he isn’t going anywhere either.
However, the club might have to pay a free agency premium for Moore.
Will Day signed an early two-year extension in 2020 through to 2023 but given his significant injury issues he might want to put together a few months of excellent form to remind the club of his potential and maximise his worth.
Chad Wingard and Jarman Impey are also out of contract but surely there will be no rush in extending Wingard, who might not be in the premiership window so represents trade collateral.
MELBOURNE
Kysaiah Pickett is the No. 1 priority for a club that just signed up Blake Howes and Jacob Van Rooyen and doesn’t have too many other areas of concern.
The Power doesn’t have the draft picks to secure him — which will ease some Demons fears — and he isn’t desperate to head back to SA or WA after spending time in those states as a kid.
The Demons will want him to sign quick-fast but having lost his two good mates in Luke Jackson and Toby Bedford he might take some time to settle in and agree to a new deal.
Steven May is out of contract and only turns 31 in January, so one of footy’s premier defenders again deserves to be well compensated.
There are few other must-sign players at a club that has so many stars on ultra-long deals.
NORTH MELBOURNE
Ben McKay hits free agency and a line-in-the-sand moment in his career.
Is he prepared to back in the club’s direction early or will he wait until late in the season to ponder ridiculously large deals?
The Roos would likely secure a top-five compensation pick if he left but elite intercepting defenders are extremely rare in the AFL.
They have such vast cap space that surely they will offer him a six-year deal on something between $800,000-$1 million a season early on and hope he wants to remove the contract as a distraction.
Todd Goldstein is out of contract again but surely has made his decision he will see out his career at the club as a loyal and beloved stalwart.
PORT ADELAIDE
Key forward Mitch Georgiades is the No. 1 priority given West Coast asked after him as part of the Junior Rioli deal in a move that would have sparked interest across other clubs.
Surely he sees his future at the Power alongside Todd Marshall and veteran Charlie Dixon but the Power has plenty of cap space so his management might ask for a hefty pay rise.
Scott Lycett comes out of contract after his initial deal and is only 30.
Miles Bergman endured injury and illness but the Power has big plans for him across half back and wing so the ideal scenario would be him establishing himself as a first-team player by mid-year so he feels comfortable signing a new deal.
Charlie Dixon hits free agency but after only 12 games last year might wait until the back-end of the year for a new deal, with Travis Boak and Tom Jonas among the other veteran free agents.
RICHMOND
Dylan Grimes deserves to be handed a one-year deal early in the year to give him some certainty but clearly Jack Riewoldt and Trent Cotchin could be in the last seasons of their decorated careers.
Nathan Broad turns 30 in April and has been spectacularly good value for the Tigers.
He hasn’t been overpaid and as a free agent it would be smart business to lock him away before rival clubs considered whether he had another three years left on more than Richmond would pay him.
Toby Nankervis and Noah Balta are also out of contract, and while the Nankervis deal surely won’t take long Balta didn’t finish in the top 20 in the club’s best-and-fairest.
He is a huge part of the club’s plans but would he want to prove himself across 2023 to be paid what he believes he is worth?
ST KILDA
Jade Gresham is a 2023 restricted free agent but after only 32 games in the past three years how does St Kilda put a price on his worth?
Both parties might want to assess his 2023 form before locking him away on a five year deal.
Allowing him to depart as a free agent isn’t inviting given the gut feel is St Kilda could finish in the 6th-10th part of the ladder which means they would not receive a top-10 pick as compensation.
Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera is yet to extend his contract and while SA clubs might be interested, Port Adelaide doesn’t have a first-round pick, which would complicate any chase.
Hunter Clark and Nick Coffield, both former top-10 picks, are out of contract.
Clark was nearly traded to North Melbourne and Coffield is coming off a long-term injury so don’t hold your breath for them to sign deals in the first half of the year.
SYDNEY
The Swans don’t have too many of their top dozen players out of contract apart from Lance Franklin, who will now surely play out whatever is left of his career at Sydney after committing through the finals.
Tom Hickey, Joel Amartey, Hayden McLean and Dane Rampe are the talls out of contract at the end of 2023.
Amartey and McLean couldn’t secure places in the team through the finals and had suitors but nothing happened across the trade period, so will surely wait until late in the year to see where they are in the pecking order.
Lewis Melican is a free agent so if he can’t secure regular games he would have suitors who would pick him up for free.
WEST COAST
Jeremy McGovern’s mega-deal finally finishes this year, which will provide the club with even more salary cap relief even after he took a pay cut this year to ease the squeeze.
He is only 31 in April so if the Eagles again fall from contention would someone launch a bid at the unrestricted free agent?
It could be a win-win deal.
Shannon Hurn, Jamie Cripps and Luke Shuey are veteran free agents but the Eagles barely have another must-sign player given other uncontracted players include Sam Petrevski-Seton, Jake Waterman and Jack Petrucelle.
WESTERN BULLDOGS
The Dogs lost Josh Dunkley but did exceptionally well to sign up the likes of Tim English, Bailey Smith, Caleb Daniel, Jackson Macrae and Bailey Dale.
The big-name recent signing was Cody Weightman, which means the elite crop is mostly signed up long-term.
Aaron Naughton has another two years on his deal, while Josh Bruce is out of contract but will surely try to re-establish his place in the front six before any talks take place.
Sam Darcy hasn’t signed on past an initial contract expiring at the end of 2023 but the son of club legend and board member Luke isn’t going anywhere.
He could be anything, so his options are to accept a two-year contract for 2024-25 worth up to $1 million or hold out to see if his form by year’s end is worthy of a contract that rewards him for even more money.
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