AFL trades day five as it happened: Dees ridicule claim on Oliver; Blues pounce on high Hawthorn pick

Carlton and Hawthorn shook up a painfully dormant AFL trade period on Friday with a pick swap that stunned the industry – and changes the look of some of the biggest deals still to be made.

The Blues first brokered a deal with Brisbane for an extra second-round selection in 2025 that enabled them to satisfy league rules in their more seismic trade with the Hawks for their top pick this year, currently No.14.

That Hawthorn selection was expected to be central to Tom Barrass’ move from West Coast to Waverley Park, which the Eagles would then have forwarded to Richmond for Liam Baker in a separate deal.

Tom Barrass (right) last season before he requested a trade from the Eagles to Hawthorn.Credit: AFL Photos

The Hawks instead now have the Blues’ future first- and second-rounders to work with after failing to reach an agreement in the first four days with the Eagles, who would ideally like two first-round picks in return.

Pies still in box seat for Houston

Carlton’s big move does not remove Collingwood from pole position for Port Adelaide’s back-to-back All-Australian Dan Houston, with the Blues hovering in the background, but content to use picks 12 and 14 in a strong and deep draft.

They have a skinny hand (69, 72 and 73) behind those two first-round selections to match bids on the Camporeale twins, Ben and Lucas, but neither is tipped to receive an opposition bid in the top 30.

Carlton still has time to bolster their draft points, and may even try to bundle their top two picks to climb inside the top 10.

North Melbourne loom as the greater threat to the Magpies for Houston – particularly with Melbourne threatening to pinch Gold Coast’s pick 13 from under Collingwood’s nose – given they are willing to hand him a lucrative five-year contract, and could stump up the best offer of all the star defender’s suitors.

The Suns are seriously considering the Demons’ offer of a future first-rounder and their second-round pick this year, currently No.28, which they received back from Adelaide in the Alex Neal-Bullen trade on Monday.

Melbourne’s chances of scoring the coveted pick, which Gold Coast will trade because they expect to match a bid before then for academy prospect Leo Lombard, increase the longer the Pies fail to find middle ground with the Suns over John Noble.

Joe Richards’ trade request to join Port Adelaide is the other wrinkle in this situation that aids Collingwood’s chances with Houston – but securing pick 13 is crucial because their best selection without it this year is No.36.

The Power are waiting patiently in the background while all this plays out, still without a concrete offer from any of the pack chasing Houston. There is a decent likelihood that Jack Lukosius’ impending move from Gold Coast to Alberton will be separate to the pick 13 discussions.

Hawks should still land Barrass

Hawthorn remain in a good position to make a deal for Barrass, with more assets to play with, but West Coast miss out on having an extra stake in this draft.

One positive in that respect is that just one West Australian, Bo Allan, is tipped to be selected in the top 30.

The Hawks have offered Barrass, 29, a four-year deal with a contract trigger for a fifth season.

Fremantle could try to convince Baker to pick them after Friday’s developments, but they have prioritised another Tiger, Shai Bolton, who is likely to become a Docker despite not nominating his preferred destination.

Fremantle hold picks 10, 11 and 18 in the first round, so have the assets to make both deals work, although Richmond knocked back their offer of 10 and 18 for Bolton and would prefer both 10 and 11.

Sharp replacement

Fringe Brisbane wingman Harry Sharp has requested a trade to Melbourne, who are on the hunt for run and speed after the recent exits of Neal-Bullen and Lachie Hunter.

An emergency in the Lions’ grand final team after six games during the season, Sharp’s hopes of more game time in the club’s powerful midfield next year won’t be helped by the impending arrivals of young guns Levi Ashcroft and Sam Marshall.

The Lions want points to bid for father-son prospect Ashcroft and academy product Marshall.

Ashcroft is a contender to go at No.1, while Marshall – best afield for Sandringham Dragons in their Talent League grand final win over GWV Rebels – is a chance to attract a bid inside the top 20, or not far beyond that.

Melbourne have pick 40 and a suite of third- and fourth-round selections that could form a deal for Sharp, but future picks may be needed to satisfy Brisbane, who traded out a future second with Carlton as part of a deal that gained them picks 34 and 66.

The Lions also significantly swelled their points tally by trading out pick 20 to Richmond on Friday, in return for 32, 42, 43 and 45 from the Tigers, a net gain of 792 draft points.

That’s day five of the official AFL trade period done and dusted.

After close to 72 hours without a deal, there was noticeable activity today with three deals – all involving pick swaps and not players however. The wrangling between clubs over players and picks continued with intense behind-the-scenes negotiations. The main take out was that Carlton picked up Hawthorn’s first round pick, No.14 overall, to now have picks 12 and 14.

Only two players have officially been subject to a trade so far – Alex Neal-Bullen (Melbourne to Adelaide) and Jack Darling (West Coast to North Melbourne) – while some others have found new homes via free agency.

There are still many more scenarios for clubs, recruiters, players and player managers to consider over the next five days of trade action before the deadline on October 16.

We’ll be back with you with live coverage from Monday as the wheeling and dealing continues. To while away the hours, however, you can listen to today’s edition of our Real Footy podcast, available later tonight, via all good podcast apps, and stay tuned to our website for the latest news and analysis from the best in the business.

Enjoy your weekend and rest up for three days of trading next week.

Good night.

Interim Melbourne president Brad Green has taken to social media to ridicule a claim that Clayton Oliver – the club’s star midfielder who is subject to intense trade speculation – had “cleaned out his locker”.

Former Essendon great Matthew Lloyd was speaking on 3AW on Friday about the Oliver situation and said Melbourne had “really fallen apart”.

“There are reports over the last 24 hours that he still wants out despite Melbourne saying they’re not trading him,” Lloyd said on 3AW on Friday.

“And the fact that he’s cleaned out his locker a lot of people believe. And he was willing to take a pay cut, and he just doesn’t want to go back there.”

Green must have heard the radio grab and responded to Lloyd on X: “Every player cleans out their locker every year. We go between AAMI and Casey. Non story.”

Green had previously called for unity while speaking at the club’s best-and-fairest on October 4.

“I know come round one next year, when I see the first ball bounced, and our midfield of [Max] Gawn, [Jack] Viney, [Clayton] Oliver and [Christian] Petracca, our first clearance, that you Melbourne faithful will be there in full force,” Green told the crowd.

Carlton have the No.12 and No.14 picks following today’s deals.

Nothing changes for Carlton in the Dan Houston race despite today’s blockbuster pick swap. The Blues love this year’s draft - as every club does - and went hard for Gold Coast’s pick 13 before pivoting to Hawthorn’s 14 in a huge move that has flow-on effects for the Tom Barrass and Liam Baker deals.

However, Collingwood remain in pole position for Houston, given Gold Coast want John Noble and Port Adelaide are keen to secure Joe Richards. It would take a breakdown of negotiations for Carlton to move back into the Houston race, which could still happen, but is unlikely. The Blues now have two first-round picks to bring in high-end talents who can energise a list already with plenty of star power.

Essendon are open to the idea of paying a small portion of Jake Stringer’s wage in return for a higher selection in this year’s draft if he heads to the Giants on a two-year deal.

Although the Giants are yet to commit to securing Stringer, and the clubs have not spoken with each other in great detail about a trade, both parties know the Bombers are keen to get a reasonable draft pick in return for Stringer.

Jake Stringer could land at his third club as the Giants show interest in the 30-year-old.Credit: AFL Photos

The Giants have picks 15, 16, 21, 37, 53 and 56, and therefore could be open to using their pick 37 in a trade for Stringer, depending on their list spots and whether they want to package up their first-round picks to move higher up the draft board.

Essendon list manager Matt Rosa was non-committal about what selection they would be asking for.

Read more from Peter Ryan, Marc McGowan and Michael Gleeson

Catch up on our latest trade podcast, recorded before Carlton’s pick-swapping on Friday which enabled them to grab Hawthorn’s first-round pick.

Clayton Oliver has started his own pre-season early, as the 27-year-old clings on to hope that Melbourne will trade him to Geelong before next Wednesday’s deadline.

The four-time Melbourne best and fairest has been spotted several times in his home town of Shepparton this week, training weights and running.

In the spotlight: Melbourne’s Clayton Oliver.Credit: Getty Images

A source at Geelong, who wasn’t willing to speak publicly given that Oliver still has six years of his contract still to run at Melbourne, said the star midfielder was willing to take a pay cut if it helped get a deal across the line.

Read more from Sam McClure