AFL 2022: Stay up to date with the latest trade, draft and contract news
The likely No.1 pick in this year’s draft is torn on whether to nominate as a father-son. And a key component could see him pass up the open draft.
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Brisbane father-son candidate Will Ashcroft will sit down with his management in a fortnight to discuss his draft options as his brother Levi becomes the Lions’ secret weapon to land the likely No. 1 overall pick.
Ashcroft is genuinely torn about nominating for the Lions as a father-son candidate and putting himself into the open draft to give himself a chance of staying in Victoria with his family.
While Ashcroft’s brilliant form in the Under-18 championships and NAB League has him as this season’s best player, fellow Victorian midfielder George Wardlaw is yet to make his run.
Wardlaw has been laid low with injury in recent weeks and did not play in the weekend’s Under-18 championships games where Ashcroft was again prolific with 25 disposals.
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But Wardlaw has drawn comparisons to Clayton Oliver given his explosive and combative style and would be better suited to North Melbourne given they have a long list of midfield accumulators.
Ashcroft, the son of triple premiership Lion Marcus, will map out his options after the upcoming July 17 Vic Metro game between Vic Metro and South Australia as he considers his future.
He is considered an ultra-safe selection given his hardness, consistency and high possession rate but there are other players in the draft with more X factor or game-breaking ability.
He has grown accustomed to life in Melbourne after moving with his family from Queensland in recent years, with the open draft the only chance to stay in Victoria.
But brother Levi is a clear draft prospect who has been impressive in the Under-16 championships as well as playing with Will in a recent NAB League game.
The best chance to guarantee Will plays alongside his brother is to declare his hand for Brisbane as a father-son before they select Levi two years later.
Levi had 26 possessions, seven clearances, eight score involvements and kicked two goals in that July 11 Vic Metro versus Vic Country performance, with Vic Metro playing South Australia on Tuesday at Metricon Stadium.
The brothers’ younger sister Lucy is also considered a future AFLW player and is linked to the Lions as a father-daughter selection.
West Coast has the current No. 2 draft pick but would have to give it up if it secured Luke Jackson, which also complicates Ashcroft’s path in the open draft.
Melbourne has an array of star midfielders so it is not known what direction it would go in if it had a top-two pick, with key position stars like Matthew Jefferson (Vic Metro) and Aaron Cadman (Vic Country) likely in the 5-10 draft range
The Roos’ priority pick request also complicates Ashcroft’s journey in the open draft given they could take two midfielders, split one of their picks or trade off No. 2 overall on established talent.
Which tall is first cab off rank at Carlton
Bailey Smith’s new Western Bulldogs contract will be a two-year deal that will reflect his consistency and durability for the club as both parties work on a resolution.
There is still some way to go as the Dogs attempt to secure all of their out-of-contract players, which means negotiations could still drag on for some time.
Smith, 21, wants to play for the Dogs and a two-year deal would see him handsomely rewarded while still allowing him to sign a mega-deal when he came out of contract at the end of 2024.
Smith has served his two-match ban for headbutting Geelong’s Zach Tuohy. But he has two more games to wait after he admitted last month to using an illicit substance and was suspended by the AFL.
The club and his management have put support around him after he went on a bender in Queensland late last year after the grand final, telling the Herald Sun recently the stresses of the season had seen him lose control.
Dogs chief executive Ameet Bains recently confirmed the club had kickstarted contract talks.
“We had made a fair bit of progress with his manager, Paul Connors, in the last two to three weeks, so hopefully that momentum can keep going,” he said.
“The important part is … the incident was from last year. While the club didn’t have any knowledge of any vision being in existence until it came to our attention last weekend, that period that Bailey was dealing with late last year that led to the poor decision-making was something we knew about and dealt with at the time.”
Blues’ key to success
Carlton plans to have at least one of their three key tall signings for 2023 locked away before the end of the year.
While the Blues are keeping mum on their list management strategy surrounding Coleman medallist Harry McKay, the man leading the race for the award this year Charlie Curnow and improving ruck/key position player Tom De Koning, it is understood club officials are confident they have room in the salary cap to keep the trio in navy blue.
McKay and Curnow will be restricted free agents at the end of next season, while De Koning will come out of contract at the end of 2023.
McKay’s new deal might be the one that can be expedited before the start of next season, as Sam Walsh’s 2022 deal was fast-tracked and announced in February this year.
Blues chief executive Brian Cook admitted keeping the club’s exciting crop of players — as well as chasing a ready-made wingman in the trade/free agency window — represented a challenge, but stressed it was achievable.
He told 3AW this week “our list management is challenging, but it is very doable … it is not as though we can’t manage it.”
Meanwhile, the Blues’ long list of good-news-stories for 2022 could extend even further in the coming weeks with mid-season rookie Will Hayes edging closer to playing his first AFL game in two years.
Hayes played 11 games for the Bulldogs, with his last game coming in Round 16, 2020.
He has been in outstanding form for Carlton’s VFL side in recent weeks and has been very close to elevation to the senior team.
He was one of two Carlton selections in the mid-season draft, with the other being Sam Durdin, who played one game before being injured.
Cats eye rival mids
Geelong is scouring the player market for an established midfield gun to bolster the club’s engine room next season.
Despite landing Jeremy Cameron on a blockbuster deal 18 months ago, the Cats have the scope and space in their cap to be active in the exchange period this year.
And Chris Scott’s men have their sights set on another mature-age midfielder to help support superstar Patrick Dangerfield, Mitch Duncan, Brandan Parfitt and Cameron Guthrie in the engine room in 2023.
Ruckman Todd Goldstein has also been linked to the Cats and could move for nothing as a free agent after knocking back Geelong three years ago.
The Cats’ available midfield options are headed by Melbourne’s Angus Brayshaw who could finally assert himself as a top-line onballer if he switched to the hoops.
Brayshaw is also a free agent meaning the Cats wouldn’t have to cough up a top pick as part of a deal.
The premiership star is considering his future and is expected to take time making a call as Luke Jackson genuinely entertains a massive offer to join Fremantle or West Coast.
But two other local products in Hawthorn best and fairest winner James Worpel and GWS Giants’ youngster Tanner Bruhn would also appeal to Geelong, albeit as part of a trade.
Worpel was dropped to the VFL side mid-season after falling out of favour with Sam Mitchell, while Bruhn is also weighing up his future.
Bruhn’s father, Matthew, was a star midfielder in the local leagues in Geelong.
Tanner’s form has improved since Mark McVeigh took over as stand-in coach with the man taken pick 12 highly-rated for his natural ballwinning.
The Cats have managed their salary cap well with veterans Joel Selwood and Tom Hawkins known to be on modest wages.
The 33-year-old Hawkins, in particular, is having another outstanding season in attack with 36 goals and 23 behinds from 14 matches.
Geelong has again defied its critics and remained in the premiership hunt this season as Scott’s men prepare to confront a besieged North Melbourne on Saturday at GMHBA Stadium.
The Cats have finished outside the top-four only three times since 2007 in an extraordinarily successful run for the blue and white.
Dogs in Lobb mix
Rory Lobb’s certain trade request to a Victorian club will see him take a pay cut on his $750,000 contract next year as he closes in on a club of choice.
The Western Bulldogs are seen as a warm favourite by their rivals, with Lobb keen to make clear his trade request much earlier this season after an aborted trade to GWS last year.
Lobb is on the verge of locking in his club of choice for the 2023 season despite Fremantle’s opposition to a trade amid haggling on his next deal.
Lobb is seen to want a three-year deal at around $1.5 million and should that deal be forthcoming the Dockers will likely be informed in coming weeks so they can broker a trade.
St Kilda made a late play at Lobb but it is believed the Dogs are well in front given their need for a ruck-forward.
He has always been highly paid compared to his output given his promise at GWS and the Dockers’ determination to lure him home.
Now he is keen to move to Victoria for family reasons given he and his partner want to be in Melbourne.
As recently as last month the Dockers were adamant they would hold the contracted ruck-forward to the final year of his deal.
But if they were to secure Luke Jackson from Melbourne all bets would be off as they would need to secure draft capital for the ruckman given they have traded away their second and third-round picks.
Steeled for 2023
Collingwood veteran Steele Sidebottom is contracted for next year despite reports and keen to feature in the club’s rebound back into premiership contention.
Sidebottom finished fifth in the club’s best-and-fairest last year in a bounce-back season.
While the Pies didn’t announce it, he signed a contract some time ago through to the end of the 2023 season.
Jeremy Howe did something similar in quietly signing on to the end of 2023.
Sidebottom will turn 32 in January but after 278 excellent AFL games his contract will put him on track for 300 AFL games at the Pies.
He is already fourth on that list after the last fortnight, going past Wayne Richardson (277) and behind only Scott Pendlebury (334), Tony Shaw (313) and Gordon Coventry (306).
As the Herald Sun reported last week, the Pies will secure free agent Dan McStay and has significant interest in GWS small forward Bobby Hill.
And if Jordan De Goey does leave as a free agent there is strong belief that Rising Star favourite Nick Daicos can slot into a midfield role after dominating as a half back in his debut season.
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