AFL trades finale at it happened: Host of players find new homes in frenzied finish

Hawthorn finally found middle ground with West Coast on contracted key defender Tom Barrass in the final half hour before the trade deadline.

Premiership-winning Eagle Tom Barrass is now a Hawk.Credit: AFL Photos

The Hawks put a spanner in the works when they traded their pick 14 on Friday to Carlton after days of fruitless discussions with the Eagles on Barrass.

West Coast had insisted on two first-round picks for the 29-year-old premiership player for much of the negotiations, but ended up settling on a future first-rounder, second-rounder and third-rounder, while giving Hawthorn their 2025 fourth-rounder.

Barrass joins free agency addition Josh Battle, from St Kilda, in reinforcing the Hawks’ backline.

One last multi-club swap proved the deal-buster in a typically hectic climax to the AFL’s trade period on Wednesday night that delivered new homes for Bailey Smith, Jack Macrae and Matt Kennedy.

A flurry of trades went through in the final 10 minutes, with none of the 2024 trade period’s key players left stranded despite some nervous moments.

Jake Stringer (GWS Giants), Tom Barrass (Hawthorn), Caleb Daniel, Luke Parker and Jacob Konstanty (all North Melbourne), and James Peatling (Adelaide) also switched clubs in the dying stages, but the four-club trade between Geelong, Western Bulldogs, St Kilda and Carlton was the headline act.

New Cat Bailey Smith and new Hawk Tom Barrass.Credit: Getty Images

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Hawthorn finally found middle ground with West Coast on contracted key defender Tom Barrass in the final half hour before the trade deadline.

Premiership-winning Eagle Tom Barrass is now a Hawk.Credit: AFL Photos

The Hawks put a spanner in the works when they traded their pick 14 on Friday to Carlton after days of fruitless discussions with the Eagles on Barrass.

West Coast had insisted on two first-round picks for the 29-year-old premiership player for much of the negotiations, but ended up settling on a future first-rounder, second-rounder and third-rounder, while giving Hawthorn their 2025 fourth-rounder.

Barrass joins free agency addition Josh Battle, from St Kilda, in reinforcing the Hawks’ backline.