AFL trade and contract news: Key defenders in limbo, Todd Goldstein to re-sign at Essendon
Key defenders have become one of the hottest commodities in trade talks and this off-season promises to be no different, with Collingwood in desperate need of reinforcements.
Hawthorn has told No.6 draft pick Denver Grainger-Barras it cannot guarantee him a new contract as the defender joins the list of key backs who could be on the market this off-season.
Grainger-Barras missed months during the middle of the season with a toe complaint but has still failed to make the most of his early selection in the 2020 draft playing 28 games across four years.
Clubs across the country are desperate to stockpile young talent in a November superdraft that will push many fringe players into delisted free agency.
Hawthorn has told Grainger-Barras that until it can execute a trade for West Coast’s Tom Barrass and land St Kilda free agent Josh Battle its list position will be unclear.
The Hawks might eventually be able to hand him a one-year deal but will not know until after the trade period.
He has rival interest but given he could be a delisted free agent clubs will be unlikely to want to trade for him, so he faces weeks of limbo before his position is clear.
Carlton’s Lewis Young, contracted for another two years, is another player assessing rival interest after the Blues told him he was free to look around.
Carlton will secure GWS free agent Nick Haynes as an unrestricted free agent so has more defensive cover, but has also delisted Caleb Marchbank.
Young played in Carlton’s elimination final loss to Brisbane but as they try to free cap space and list spots he will now assess the market.
Clubs like Collingwood will now scour the market for key backs, with former Pie Mark Keane committing to a new three-year deal at Adelaide instead of returning to Melbourne.
Geelong will not release Sam De Koning, contracted to the end of next year, but his disappointment after missing selection for Saturday night’s preliminary final against Brisbane will surely see clubs trying to lure him out of the Cats.
Essendon’s Jayden Laverde has interest from clubs including St Kilda, with the Dons unwilling to negotiate a new deal with him past 2025.
Hawthorn’s Sam Frost is a required player but St Kilda is also interested in him despite signing up Dougal Howard for another season.
Sydney’s Joel Hamling is well down the pecking order at the Swans, while Gold Coast’s Caleb Graham has again been stuck in the VFL despite impressive numbers and a contract to 2026.
KEY EAGLES SET TO RE-SIGN
West Coast co-captain Oscar Allen will look to sign a contract extension of up to six years as fellow Eagles key forward Jake Waterman closes in on a fresh four-year deal.
The Eagles are confident they will lock away both key forwards in coming months, with Waterman set to secure a huge pay rise after his All Australian season.
He is contracted to 2025 as clubs like Geelong and Melbourne express interest, but will add another four years to that contract.
Waterman has been on a modest deal after form and injury concerns, but while his new deal will be heavily incentive based it will give him the capacity to earn up to $1 million a season.
He kicked 50 goals in 23 games this year and while the deal will give him huge earning scope and have a solid base component it also gives the Eagles some safety given he has had only one breakout year.
A deal is imminent given the final incentives and clauses are being brokered between his management and the Eagles.
Waterman finished third in the club’s best and fairest won by Jeremy McGovern on Thursday night.
Allen returned from a serious knee concern in round 15 after being the Eagles leading goalkicker in 2023 and becomes a free agent next season.
Those contract talks are well under way, with discussions continuing on the exact length of the deal.
Fellow key forward Aaron Naughton signed an eight-year extension last October but while he is from the same management firm his deal will not be that long.
Allen turns 26 in March so a six-year deal would take him through to 33 years of age.
GOLDY SET TO PLAY ON WITH BOMBERS
Todd Goldstein is poised to become the second-longest serving ruckman in league history after signing a one-year deal with Essendon.
The former Kangaroos crossed to the Bombers last off-season and played 14 games, taking his career tally to 329.
A contract for 2025 comes with the knowledge he may be left out at times to allow Nick Bryan and Sam Draper to grow in the ruck but he said he was happy to work with the pair, and project tall Vigo Visentini.
FREE TRADE TRACKER: EVERY PLAYER LINKED WITH YOUR CLUB
Among pure rucks, only the Madden brothers have played more games than Goldstein’s 329.
The Bomber should pass Justin Madden’s tally of 332, but would need to play on beyond 2025 to reach Simon Madden’s 378 games.
The 36-year-old said he was looking forward to the selection tussle against Bryan and Draper in 2025.
“To have three really viable options to play in the ruck is going to create a really competitive environment to hopefully drive us all to improve and give us multiple options next year,” Goldstein said.
“I am really excited by what I have seen over the last 12 months and feel like we have all the capabilities in the room to be a successful side.”
Goldstein became the first player to break through the 10,000 hitout barrier in round 8 this season.
Goldstein’s former club North Melbourne announced four cuts on Friday, including former Tiger Bigoa Nyuon.
Nyuon crossed to Arden St from Punt Rd last off-season but played just three games for the Roos before he was delisted.
Curtis Taylor, who played 76 games for the Roos, was also delisted, as was ruck Hamish Free and Tyler Sellers.
$800K SUB: WHAT STAGGERING WAGE MEANS FOR MACRAE’S NEXT MOVE
St Kilda will hope to give a later pick to the Western Bulldogs for Jackson Macrae given his significant salary in the next two seasons of his remaining three-season deal.
Macrae has chosen St Kilda as his new home, but Ross Lyon’s side is determined to retain early picks to go heavy in the upcoming national draft.
The Dogs usually drive a hard bargain for players and might ask for an early pick on a player contracted for so long.
But the Herald Sun understands the next two seasons of Macrae’s deal are over $800,000, which is a considerable sum for a player who has regularly been the sub for Luke Beveridge’s side.
St Kilda has picks seven, 24 and 43 in this year’s draft as well as next year’s draft hand.
So they will be keen to factor in that salary cap relief for triple All Australian Macrae when it comes to a trade negotiation.
The Dogs made clear when 30-year-old Macrae decided he wanted out that they would consider his request but would need to be satisfied in a trade.
But a club which has free agents Marcus Bontempelli and Ed Richards out of contract next year will need the cap space to satisfy those players.
Sam Darcy is also out of contract at the end of next year and while he is going nowhere given his loyalty and family history by the end of next season he could be one of the game’s best forwards.
St Kilda likes Macrae’s silky skills and leadership, having moved on stalwart Seb Ross given he had given excellent service but was not a polished kick.
Macrae has never had a turn of speed but believes he has many good years ahead of him as an elite midfielder.
He was overlooked at selection early in the year as he came back from a hamstring complaint and then after another stint in the VFL he played in the final as a sub.
Ex-Melbourne midfielder James Harmes played ahead of him after missing much of the back end of the season with a hamstring injury in what was seen as the final nail in the coffin for Macrae.
CATS SET TO BOW TO DANGERFIELD DEMAND
Patrick Dangerfield will secure the two-year deal he wants at season’s end despite the rarity of a 34-year-old winning a multi-year contract.
Dangerfield has been keen to sign a deal of that length but is in no hurry given the priority is his premiership campaign as Geelong captain.
The Cats and his management are happy to wait until the post-season so he can show to the club his body is durable enough for him to win a multi-year deal.
While Dangerfield is not on the lucrative figures that he was when he crossed from Adelaide he is happy to have the security of that two-season contract.
Dangerfield arrived at Geelong happy to take less money than offers in Melbourne and while the Cats eventually traded for him instead of securing him as a free agent it has been a riotously good deal for both parties.
If he decided at the end of next year to retire he might walk away from the 2026 sum but when fully fit Dangerfield still seems at the peak of his powers and in no hurry to call it quits.
Most players of his age would sign a procession of one-year deals but 31-year-old Mason Wood just signed a three-year deal at St Kilda.
Dangefield led the charge in the qualifying final against Port Adelaide and has added explosiveness to a Geelong midfield that coughed and spluttered at times in the mid-season form slump.
Dangerfield missed four games with a hamstring issue in round 2 and then eight weeks after a round 7 concern but has played the last 12 games of the season.
He is in exceptional form and continues to lead from the front as he attempts to chase a second flag and his first as Geelong captain after taking over when Joel Selwood retired after the 2022 premiership.
Veterans Mitch Duncan, Gary Rohan and Rhys Stanley are still out of contract and while they have been in regular talks with the Cats all decisions on their futures will wait until the post-season.
Tom Hawkins, set to be overlooked by the Cats for Saturday’s preliminary final, has already announced his retirement from football.
THREE CLUBS WHO COULD POUNCE ON UNWANTED BLUE
Carlton midfielder Matt Kennedy is yet to test the market after a frank conversation in which the Blues indicated he would be free to pursue a trade.
The big-bodied onballer is contracted next year and is seen as most likely to be at Ikon Park but opposition teams will now begin to ask the question whether he is better off in their midfield.
While the meeting with Carlton was honest, Kennedy has not been pushed out the door.
The former Giant is much loved within the playing group and his wife Mary-Anne has equally become part of the Carlton family since Kennedy joined the club at the end of 2017.
The Blue was subbed off during a miserable elimination final loss in Brisbane, which came just two days after the birth of son Theodore.
Kennedy, 27, has played his best football as an inside midfielder but with Carlton searching for more speed and dynamism around Patrick Cripps and Sam Walsh, he has been pushed outside clearances.
He averaged just 2.1 clearances a game in 2024, his lowest mark since 2019, and kicked a career-best 16 goals as he spent more time forward.
Amazing news! 💙
— Carlton FC (@CarltonFC) September 7, 2024
Congratulating Matthew and Maryanne Kennedy on the arrival of their son, Theodore James 🥰
📸: maryanne_kennedyy on Instagram pic.twitter.com/xr2nXVEVX3
Kennedy was one of just three Blues — alongside Cripps and Nic Newman — to play in all 24 matches this season.
Kennedy does not yet have a landing spot, should he seek a trade, but clubs such as North Melbourne, Geelong and Collingwood are searching for more inside grunt to add to the midfield this off-season.
A weeks time…Matthew Kennedy is seeking a trade https://t.co/RKHhegknld
— Jeppa (@JeppaDT) September 7, 2024
Interstate, Adelaide and West Coast could use a big body around the clinches.
Blues defender Lewis Young may scour the market for more opportunities, despite having a contract that rounds until the end of 2026.
And forward Matt Owies remains unsigned despite being keen to stay at the Blues, as Carlton weighs up renovations to a list that is expected to challenge for the premiership next season.
The Blues cut Jack Martin, David Cuningham, Caleb Marchbank, Alex Mirkov and Dom Akuei last week.
SAINTS DEFENDER INKS NEW DEAL
Defender Dougal Howard has inked a one-year extension as the Saints shore up a backline that will lose Josh Battle next year.
Howard missed the opening months of the season after a hamstring injury he picked up in a practice game and missed another month in the backhalf of the year but was otherwise a reliable presence in Ross Lyon’s backline through 15 games.
Battle will walk to Hawthorn as a free agent in the off-season so Lyon will be forced to tinker with his defence as the Saints continue to attempt to stay competitive amid a list rebuild.
The reliable Howard will pair again with All-Australian Callum Wilkie, while Anthony Caminiti showed good signs when thrown into defence mid-year.
The Saints had a huge list of off-contract players as the season wound down.
They have since announced re-signings of Mason Wood, Jimmy Webster, Ryan Byrnes, Liam Stocker, Angus McLennan, Max Heath and Issac Keeler.
Veteran Seb Ross was let go, alongside James Van Es, Matt Allison, Tom Campbell and surprisingly Riley Bonner.
Tim Membrey and Zak Jones are among the Saints to have yet confirmed their status for 2025.
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