Money for nothing: Revisiting the Jack Bowes trade which changed trading forever
Two years ago, Gold Coast’s homegrown talent Jack Bowes was traded away for nothing. CALLUM DICK unpacks the AFL’s most controversial trade ahead of Bowes’ first meeting with the club that didn’t want him.
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It is among the most controversial trades in AFL history.
Gold Coast’s decision to cut ties with its most successful homegrown talent and a first-round draft selection in a last-ditch salary dump manoeuvre sent shockwaves through the AFL at the end of 2022.
Geelong, Hawthorn, Essendon, Adelaide and Brisbane joined the queue to take on Jack Bowes’ heavily back-ended contract and the sweetener of the No. 7 overall pick in that year’s draft.
Owed upwards of $1.6m over the final two seasons of a lucrative five-year deal, Bowes’ lofty salary had become a handcuff for the Suns who only used the Cairns product five times in 2022 and needed to clear crucial cap space to sign a long list of young stars over the coming seasons.
Ultimately it was Geelong, an admirer of Bowes long before the salary dump saga, who shot to the front of the queue and cashed in.
In the blink of an eye the reigning premier had nabbed an in-his-prime utility and high-end draft pick for a measly future third-rounder in return – one that almost immediately was shipped on to Adelaide and then Brisbane.
Bowes is only the second Suns Academy product to eclipse 100 AFL games, alongside Lachie Weller. Until Jed Walter went No. 3 overall last year, he was also the highest draft pick to come out of the Suns Academy when he went No. 10 in 2016.
Though buoyed by the prospect of joining the Cats, Bowes was left frustrated and angry at the means with which he was jettisoned by the club.
For just the second time since he was shipped off by the Suns, he will come face-to-face with his former teammates on Thursday night at TIO Stadium in Darwin.
Almost two years removed from his exit, did Gold Coast make the right choice?
THE FALLOUT
Bowes’ departure was finalised only a day after the Suns begrudgingly sent Izak Rankine to Adelaide for the Crows’ No. 5 pick and a swap of late-rounders. Part of the Suns’ salary dump would have undoubtedly been used to keep Rankine, however the wantaway small forward wanted only for a return to South Australia.
The controversial trade also had clubs questioning the legitimacy of a salary dump situation. Geelong was able to smooth out the money owed to Bowes on a four-year deal at a much more palatable figure per season, while banking a prized first-round selection they ultimately used to take midfielder Jhye Clark.
Gold Coast’s tough decision to cut ties with Bowes was the first domino in a string of strategic trade and list moves designed to set the club up for the long term.
At the end of 2022 it already had one eye on the 2023 draft and the looming quartet of Suns Academy products in Walter, Ethan Read, Jake Rogers and Will Graham.
Between the Bowes trade and the end of the 2023 draft, the Suns completed 11 player and/or pick swaps to position themselves for the strongest haul in recent memory.
Little more than 12 months after the Suns were lambasted for the Bowes trade, they were being lauded for the wheeling and dealing that allowed them priority access to four of the best young talents in the draft.
In-between, the club successfully re-signed a trio of key players – using some of the cash kept safe by offloading Bowes – who many in Victoria felt were gettable.
Noah Anderson (2027), Matt Rowell (2025), and Sam Flanders (2027) all turned their backs on rival interest to stay on at the Suns and chase success under Hardwick.
A few months after the draft, spearhead Ben King (2026) joined his teammates in recommitting to the club.
THE PRESENT
Under Hardwick the Suns are playing arguably the best brand of footy the club has seen since the Gary Ablett era, with the master coach promising even more in the coming weeks and months.
Thursday night’s clash in Darwin, the Suns’ home away from home, could be the foundation on which a maiden finals appearance is built.
Geelong is without spearheads Jeremy Cameron and Tom Hawkins for the tussle in the Top End. They look vulnerable after consecutive defeats to Melbourne and Port Adelaide. This is a hurdle the Suns have stumbled at time and again over the years. Could this time be different?
When Hardwick was announced as Gold Coast coach last August, he boldly declared 80 per cent of the club’s maiden premiership list was already in the building.
While the jury is well and truly still out on that statement, the cutthroat call to move on Bowes has undoubtedly played a role in building the side that Hardwick has at his disposal.
The $1.6m the Suns saved by sending Bowes to the Cattery has helped them lock away a swath of stars who, in Hardwick’s grand plan, will form the key core of a finals and premiership assault.
The aforementioned four stars are all under 25 and all going well will be at the club for the length of Hardwick’s seven-year contract.
Young guns Bailey Humphrey (2028) and Ethan Read (2028) have been locked down long term and there is an expectation Read’s fellow 2023 draftees will soon follow suit.
| Suns’ Key Re-Signings Since Bowes Trade | ||
| Player | Age | Contract |
| Bailey Humphrey | 19 | 2028 |
| Ethan Read | 18 | 2028 |
| Noah Anderson | 23 | 2027 |
| Sam Flanders | 22 | 2027 |
| Ben King | 23 | 2026 |
| Matt Rowell | 22 | 2025 |
The move also proved a success for Bowes.
He played 17 games in his first season in Geelong and six so far in 2024, averaging more than 20 disposals and a touch under four clearances in his past five outings.
Unwanted – at his price tag – on the Gold Coast, the north Queenslander has found a happy home at Kardinia Park and looks set to play a role in a team with top four potential.
Given the depth of midfield talent at the Suns, Bowes could still be toiling in the twos if he stayed at Carrara.
Instead he will get a chance to prove to the Suns on Thursday night he was worth every bit of the money they did not want to pay him.
THE FUTURE
The Suns will reacquaint themselves with Bowes on Thursday night but it’s fair to say both parties have moved on.
Restricted free agent Ben Ainsworth is now the priority re-signing at the Gold Coast.
The hard-running mid-forward has a four-year deal in front of him from the Suns, to play under a coach who sees him as an integral cog in a system that produced plenty of success at Richmond.
With the salary cap set to hit $17.7m from next season, now is the perfect time for a free agent like Ainsworth to cash in. But the Suns will have more money matters to mull over in the next 12 months.
Rowell and Mac Andrew are both off-contract at the end of next season. Right now they could be the two most important players at the club.
Rowell would be leading the best and fairest by a fair margin and well and truly in Brownlow and All-Australian calculations entering round 10. There is no better contested player in the game right now.
Andrew has gone from AFL outsider to one of the best interceptors in the league in only two months. In February Hardwick declared the 201cm defender could be “one of the best players to play the game” and he has certainly impressed since breaking back into the side in round 5.
While not to the same level as the other three, livewire small forward Malcolm Rosas has the potential to be special. Before his hamstring injury against Hawthorn last month he was playing arguably the best football of his career.
The Suns do not have a like-for-like replacement for what Rosas offers. If he can return to the form he showed at the start of this season, he could be another at the front of the queue for a pay bump.
| Suns’ Priority Extensions | ||
| Player | Age | Contract |
| Ben Ainsworth | 26 | 2024 |
| Matt Rowell | 22 | 2025 |
| Mac Andrew | 20 | 2025 |
| Malcolm Rosas | 22 | 2025 |
Gold Coast will head to the draft this year with another Suns Academy product, Leonardo Lombard, in its sights.
He rates among the top midfielders in the 2024 class and has already left a sizeable impression on the Suns, having helped them win a VFL premiership last year as a 16-year-old.
After happily sitting out the player trade period last year to focus on its Suns Academy draft haul and allow Hardwick time to properly assess the list, Gold Coast could become an active player this October depending on how the rest of the season plays out.
Hardwick will wait for the return of Lachie Weller from an ACL injury before considering how heavily – if at all – he wants to invest in defence.
Gold Coast has used the second-most players of any team this season and much of the unrest has come down back, where he has moved the magnets almost every week searching for the right mix.
Dreamworld wasn’t built in a day but the Suns have declared their intentions and outlined a road map for finals and premiership success. They are impatient and would happily jump at an upgrade if given the opportunity.
Winning games like this, in prime time against a top four contender, would go a long way towards convincing rival talent to buy into their plans.
They have the coach and the talent. Now it is time to put some runs on the board.
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