AFL Trade Period: Follow all the latest news on the big deals as it happens
Richmond has got both of their seven-year men — with a late win. Plus, the Cats have secured Jack Bowes and a top 10 pick. Recap all the news from the penultimate day.
AFL
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The penultimate day of the AFL trade period is done and dusted.
Which big deals will get done next? And who is in danger of being stuck at their current club?
Recap all the action from day 7 below.
HOPPER JOINS TIGERS IN GIANT TRADE
— Jon Ralph
Damien Hardwick will aggressively chase Tom Hafey’s record of four premierships as Richmond coach after a dream trade period that saw the Tigers secure Jacob Hopper without the loss of ruckman Ivan Soldo.
The Tigers on Tuesday clinched the Hopper trade deal by handing over pick 31 and a future first-rounder for the GWS midfielder, pick 53 and 63.
As the Herald Sun revealed on Monday, the Tigers were desperate to retain Canberra-raised Soldo because they believe the AFL will introduce a five-person bench next year that will allow them to play two rucks.
Instead of having to hand over the king’s ransom for Soldo the Tigers in effect handed over a future first-rounder they will hope is in the mid-teens and only gave up 345 draft points (equal to selection 45) in this year’s draft.
Welcome to Tigerland, Jacob Hopper ðŸ¤
— Richmond FC 🯠(@Richmond_FC) October 11, 2022
📰 - https://t.co/7i3aQGhABN
GWS was aware they secured a deal that favoured them when they received picks 12 and 19 for Tim Taranto so were happy to agree to the Hopper deal, with both parties satisfied the cumulative parts of the deal were a win-win.
The Tigers want to take some selections in November’s draft and 53 and 63 will be much higher in the draft order by the time rivals pass up some of their selections in a draft with about 50 live picks.
Three-time premiership coach Hardwick had said earlier this year he would depart Richmond when their premiership window had been slammed shut but instead it has been ripped back open.
The Tigers have secured two inside mids in Tim Taranto and Hopper to rejuvenate their midfield and believe they have elite kids only recently drafted and emerging players like Noah Balta, Shai Bolton and Liam Baker who will keep them in contention.
New GWS coach Adam Kingsley, who finished up at Richmond, is known to believe rucks must be able to contribute strongly around the ground if they are hold their spot in the side.
So in the end Richmond’s determination to keep Soldo and the Giants’ other trade priorities helped keep Soldo at Punt Road, 12 months after he knocked back a hefty Western Bulldogs offer.
Richmond list boss Blair Hartley said the seven-year deal offered to Hopper was reflective of the club’s long-term hopes for the former GWS academy player.
“Jacob has a skill set that we know can help us across the coming years, so it is very exciting to secure this trade with the Giants,” he added.
“At only 25, we believe Jacob’s best is yet to come, and we look forward to him continuing to build off the outstanding seasons of AFL football he has already put together.
PIES REJECT GEELONG OFFER FOR HENRY
Collingwood football boss Graham Wright says a deal with Geelong on Ollie Henry is “unlikely” and is hopeful the marking forward will remain at the Pies next year.
Collingwood is not prepared to move on No.17 draft pick Henry to the Cats for their current offer of pick 25.
While the Cats could ultimately improve that offer if they trade Esava Ratugolea for Port Adelaide’s pick 33m that deal is deadlocked a day out from the trade deadline.
Wright’s Pies accepted pick 27 for All-Australian Brodie Grundy but he is steadfast that 25 is not acceptable for Henry.
The Pies had offered Henry a one-year deal that he could accept and then try to find a trade back to Geelong next year if he doesn’t secure a trade by Wednesday.
“We were reluctant to entertain a trade, it had to be a certain level for us to consider it. We were really clear with Ollie, his management and Geelong, and at this stage we are no further advanced than pick 25 which we won’t accept,” Wright said.
“Absolutely, we would love Ollie to stay. But there is a pull down the highway. We understand that. It is only 40 or 50 minutes down the road. We hope that if a trade couldn’t be secured – and it’s probably unlikely – Ollie would stay with us and we would work something out with him.”.
As reported by the Herald Sun on Tuesday, the Pies will not pursue Brayden Fiorini from Gold Coast despite earlier interest.
Wright said the club would now turn its interest to Hawthorn Brownlow Medallist Tom Mitchell.
“We have some interest,” he told Trade Radio.
“Scott Pendlebury is 35, Taylor Adams was injured at the back end of the year. We weren’t a great centre bounce team this year. Tom is prolific. We have entertained whether we would look at it. We will see where those conversations go in the next 24 hours.
“(Hawks list boss) Mark McKenzie and I have spoken a few times, he has a bit going on. He has a lot of balls up in the air. We will have a talk once things settle down.”
LOCKED IN: BOWES DEAL DONE
Jack Bowes is a Geelong player after the Cats secured the No.7 selection that could see them drafting Falcons hard-edged midfielder Jhye Clark.
Geelong and Gold Coast lodged the papers for the contentious salary dump deal on Tuesday afternoon after the deal was approved by the AFL.
The Suns received a future third-round selection back from Geelong under the conditions of a deal that required them to receive a selection given the Cats have absorbed his $825,000 salary for 2023 and 2023.
Geelong will spread that deal out over four seasons after tracking Bowes for some time and receiving recommendations from football royalty in Gary Ablett Jr and Patrick Dangerfield.
Bowes played 83 games in six seasons after being selected with pick 10 in the draft.
“A key component of our strategy this trade period was to pre-emptively position our list to attack the next phase of building our team, allowing us to be aggressive in future trade periods,” Suns list boss Craig Cameron said.
“Jack has been a great clubman for the Suns and we wish him well in the next phase of his career at Geelong.”
The Cats are determined to hold onto the No.7 deal – their highest since selecting Joel Selwood in 2006 – rather than splitting it to help with their trade for Ollie Henry.
The Cats best offer for Henry is pick 25, having already secured GWS midfielder Tanner Bruhn as they restock their onball brigade.
Geelong Falcons midfielder Clarke was named as the All Australian rover in the Under-18 championships, was runner-up in the Larke Medal and won Vic Country’s MVP award.
But the Suns’ successful salary dump will now mean midfielder Brayden Fiorini is almost certain to remain at Gold Coast next year despite being linked to Collingwood.
He is happy to stay and is seen as an impeccable character who would take the development in his stride, keen to break into the Suns midfield next year.
Collingwood has moved onto other deals including a potential trade for Hawthorn’s Tom Mitchell, with the Fiorini deal likely dead and buried for this year.
He is due $600,000 in a back-ended deal next year but could easily play a significant role if the Suns have injuries after a charmed run for Touk Miller, Noah Anderson, Matt Rowell and David Swallow.
Fiorini still played 14 games but few as a pure centre-square midfielder.
PIES, DEES AGREE TO GRUNDY TRADE
Brodie Grundy and Max Gawn will line up as teammates in round 1 next year after the Demons completed a trade for the two-time All-Australian.
Collingwood received pick 27 but will pay a portion of Grundy’s wage at Melbourne.
The Magpies have also secured key defensive support in a separate trade for Adelaide’s Billy Frampton.
Paperwork was lodged on Tuesday afternoon to send Frampton to the Pies in return for a future third-round draft pick.
Click here for full details of the Brodie Grundy trade.
WHAT DOGS WILL OFFER FOR LOBB
The Western Bulldogs are prepared to offer their future second-rounder and another selection in this year’s draft for Rory Lobb in a deal that would allow Fremantle to secure Gold Coast wingman Jeremy Sharp.
As revealed by the Herald Sun on Monday the Lobb to Bulldogs deal is now in full swing, with the two clubs meeting on Tuesday morning.
The Dogs are working on a separate deal to get Josh Dunkley to the Lions and could accept 21 and a future first-rounder for the contested midfielder.
But while the No.21 selection could then be in play for Lobb what is more likely is the Dogs will hand over next year’s second-rounder and another pick this year.
They will attempt to hold onto their No.30 pick but also have the No.39 selection and could receive other picks in that range in back-end swaps for Dunkley.
The Dockers are believed to have asked for this year’s No.11 pick in an ambit claim for 30-year-old Lobb.
Given he has just one more year on his contract - at $650,000 - and would find all available means to walk to a club next year that gave the Dockers no compensation it seems an ambitious request.
But if the Dockers secure the future second-rounder as well as a selection this year they could hand over the Dogs future second-rounder for Gold Coast’s Sharp.
Gold Coast would ask for their alternate second-rounder tied to North Melbourne instead of the Dogs selection but Sharp would still likely get to the Dockers regardless.
WHAT BOMBERS ARE PLANNING FROM HERE
Essendon is determined to bolster its key defensive stocks through the trade period or draft as it seeks to give Zach Reid, Brandon Zerk-Thatcher and James Stewart more chances next year.
The Dons on Monday found the 192cm strong-bodied midfielder they were after in Carlton’s Will Setterfield and continued to make headway on a trade for Melbourne’s Sam Weideman.
The Dons will in effect trade out Aaron Francis for a future third-rounder and secure Weideman for the same pick in what would be an upgrade of their attacking stocks.
But having conceded too many goals to key position forwards the under-sized Bombers know they must secure another tall defender.
Essendon football boss Josh Mahoney told the Herald Sun the Dons were in the market whether it came in the trade period, through delisted free agency or even the national draft.
It has been a challenge securing players with Essendon conceding they were behind the eight ball given Brad Scott’s recent acquisition.
But the Bombers are balancing the need to take the No.4 pick to the national draft while also bringing in a key defender.
“We are in discussion with a few options for a key defensive post. We want to see James Stewart play there and we have Reid developing in that post and Jayden Laverde and Zerk-Thatcher. So we think we have got options but we will try to add to our defensive stocks. It hasn’t been through a lack of trying.
“We look at the draft and trade period as a collective. We have still got the ability after the trade period to swap draft picks and the drafts are coming up.
“We think we have a young talented list and we don’t want to be bottom forever so we want to maximise the opportunities when we have access to high-end talent.
“With pick four in the draft we think it’s a very valuable pick.”
Mahoney said the Demons had pitched to former No.9 draft pick Weideman on Monday about a role at the Bombers.
“We only just met Sam. He met with Brad Scott (on Monday) and we had some discussions over the weekend. We will see how it plays out over the next few days. We think our ability to bring another key tall in certainly helps with the forward structure. Sam played that role at Melbourne at certain stages and he was limited in his options with very good players ahead of him. We will keep having discussions with Melbourne.”
The Bombers are hopeful Setterfield will join the long list of players who finally thrive when given the opportunity to play as a regular inside midfielder with centre square opportunities.
“History is littered with stories of players of a similar age to Will who have gone to other clubs and had a successful career. We will back in our program and the development of our players and are confident we will see the best of Will at AFL level.
“He suits the position we have been looking to fill as well as the age bracket. Given the opportunities we can present we think he’s a really good fit.”
GUNSTON’S MOVE TO LIONS COMPLETE
Brisbane has secured Jack Gunston as coach Chris Fagan met his new key forward in Melbourne on Monday as he prepares to return to the Lions.
The Lions closed the deal by securing 48 and a future fourth-rounder from Hawthorn on Tuesday morning.
Fagan has taken a leave of absence but met Hawks triple premiership forward Gunston for a lap around Albert Park lake as the Lions prepared to trade for the 30–year-old.
Having secured pick 35 for Dan McStay in free agency compensation the Lions will only pick up about 100 extra draft points in the exchange that saw them try to protect the McStay pick.
The Lions confirmed on Friday Fagan’s return to the club ahead of the start of pre-season was on track, with the coaching stalwart in Melbourne meeting family this week.
Lions football boss Danny Daly said the club was unsure of a return date but he is likely to meet Fagan in Melbourne in coming days.
“Fages is down in Melbourne visiting his mum. Him and Jack are pretty close. With ‘D Mac’ going out which is unfortunately he fits the bill. We know he can go and play up on a wing or go behind the ball. He has a few strings to his bow. He will be really handy for us. He brings some experience to our forward line so we have just got to get it done,” he said.
“He is 30 and he has three flags and we haven’t got too many blokes in our side who have played in premierships so it’s always good to get that experience. Even to help our younger forwards coming through, it’s a good acquisition for us.”
The Lions will on Tuesday hope to step up their chase for Western Bulldogs best-and-fairest winner Josh Dunkley but have been unable to secure a higher pick than their current No.21.
Despite their efforts rival clubs with picks inside the 20s are unwilling to trade them so far.
It means the Western Bulldogs will have to accept pick 21 and the Lions future first-rounder for Dunkley if they hope to move on Fremantle’s Rory Lobb before Wednesday’s trade deadline.
The Dockers are now expected to release Lobb but would drive a hard bargain on him, potentially even asking for a late first-rounder from Luke Beveridge’s side.
It means the Dogs might need to trade Dunkley to secure enough picks to service the Lobb deal, even if they eventually offer a mid-20s pick or future second-rounder for the Fremantle tall.
‘HORNETGONE’: TEAMMATE’S PARTING SLEDGE FOR NO. 1 PICK
Cameron Zurhaar has appeared to take a parting swipe at last year’s No. 1 pick Jason Horne-Francis offering a discount code “Hornetgone” to followers of his cooking business.
Zurhaar’s ‘Bulls Cooking’, which provides online recipes and merchandise, posted a story on its official Instagram page advertising tote bags with a 10 per cent discount available with use of the code.
The story was deleted then re-uploaded with the caption “discount code, if you know you know.”
The code “Hornetgone” was still available for use on the ‘Bulls Cooking’ website on Tuesday morning.
‘Hornet” is the nickname of talented youngster Horne-Francis who was traded to Port Adelaide in Monday’s mega four-way deal which also saw the Roos trade out this year’s pick No. 1.
Zurhaar was also active on his personal Instagram account commenting “elite” on North Melbourne’s post when the deal went through on Monday.
Roos list boss Brady Rawlings told News Corp the club was disappointed when Horne-Francis requested a trade on the eve of the trade period.
“When the request came through, no doubt it was disappointing. But having said that, we’ve got a player who obviously wants to be somewhere else,” Rawlings said.
“We want players at our football club who want to be here and want to play for the jumper and want to play for their mates.”
More Coverage
Originally published as AFL Trade Period: Follow all the latest news on the big deals as it happens
The reason Dockers won’t fold on Tigers’ Bolton demands
Richmond wants picks 10 and 11 for Shai Bolton. The Dockers only want to give up one of those alongside pick 18. ELIZA REILLY unpacks why the Dockers won’t cave to the Tigers’ demands.
AFL legend savages untrustworthy star
An AFL legend has applied the blowtorch to a wantaway Essendon star as he eyes a blockbuster trade to a third club.