AFL Trade 2023: All the latest news and whispers ahead of the exchange period

Hawthorn has secured the services of want-away Suns forward Mabior Chol, while their pursuit of the Eagles’ No.1 pick is very real.

Hawthorn has secured the commitment of Gold Coast ruck forward Mabior Chol as the Tigers prepare to offer a third-rounder for departing Hawks tall Jacob Koschitzke.

Chol on Thursday afternoon nominated the Hawks as his club of choice, with the Suns happy to let him go despite two years on a contract worth over $400,000.

It means the Hawks have a second forward and back-up ruckman to play alongside Mitch Lewis, with the enigmatic and unpredictable 26-year-old kicking 44 goals last year but languishing in the VFL at times this season.

The Hawks Chol offer of four years and a trigger for a fifth season - trumping Adelaide’s three-year deal with conditional salary based on performance - means the Suns will ask for a future second-rounder for their player.

Mabior Chol kicked 44 goals for the Suns in 2022. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

Hawthorn had offered key tall Koschitzke a one-year deal so the Tigers will only want to hand over a third-rounder to secure him as Tom Lynch’s backup.

That trade is expected to go smoothly given Chol landing at Hawthorn.

It comes as the Tigers told Port Adelaide it does not have enough trade assets to make a play for Ivan Soldo

The Tigers continue to work on their list with dasher Hugo Ralphsmith about to sign a new deal and Thomson Dow and Rhyan Mansell winning new deals.

Soldo is contracted to the Tigers until next year and while he only played eight games this year given plantar fascia issues he was selected when fit and available.

This masthead revealed Port Adelaide’s interest in Soldo last month to team up with new Western Bulldogs acquisition Jordon Sweet and the Tigers’ determination to keep him.

Port Adelaide football boss Chris Davies made clear the club’s interest in Soldo had not waned on Thursday.

But Richmond wants to play two rucks, believes 27-year-old Soldo has a long-term future past his current deal, and is aware the Power has few draft picks to hand over.

Richmond will secure Ralphsmith on a new deal but will have to delist project ruckman Mate Colina after three years as a Category B rookie then re-rookie him.

Uncontracted athletic tall Bigoa Nyuon will have to wait until post trade-period to be informed whether he has a new deal.

HAWKS DON’T WANT BAILEY BUT HARLEY IS ANOTHER QUESTION

- Ed Bourke

Hawthorn has declared its pursuit of the No.1 draft pick is “definitely real” but its chase for Bailey Smith is off, with the midfielder set to remain a Bulldog.

Hawks list boss Rob McCartney said Smith was a “wonderful player”, but the powerful midfielder’s management had made it clear to the club he wanted to stay at Whitten Oval.

Holding pick 3 in the draft, Hawthorn was “willing” to deal with West Coast for the top pick, McCartney said. which would likely be used to take Bendigo Pioneers star Harley Reid.

He said 20-year-old forward Tyler Brockman, who wants to return home to play for the Eagles, would definitely enter conversations to be part of a deal involving a swap of picks.

“Tyler has already indicated to us (that he wants to move) and he’s a ripper young father, but being closer to home is really important to him,” McCartney told AFL Trade Radio.

Hawthorn’s chase for Bailey Smith is off. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos

“As much as we would’ve loved him to say, we see the reasons why it is important for him to return home, and I think there’s a genuine interest for Tyler to be at West Coast, so Tyler being part of that conversation is definitely real.

“If you could turn a pick 3 into a pick 1 and the resources that you put around it aren’t to the detriment of the long-term success of the group … we’d be willing to have that (conversation) with West Coast.”

McCartney said Hawthorn had explored a trade move for Smith but heard he was not looking to play elsewhere next season after a turbulent campaign at the Bulldogs.

“Bailey, he’s a wonderful player. I reckon there’s 18 clubs including the Bulldogs who are saying, ‘he would make us better’ … in saying that, I know that conversations with his manager are very, very clear that he’s committed to the Bulldogs in 2024, so at this stage I don’t think there’s anything happening in that space,” he said.

Hawks trade target Mabior Chol was “edging closer” to a decision on his preferred destination on Thursday, with McCartney eyeing the 2022 Gold Coast leading goalkicker as an ideal foil to star forward Mitch Lewis.

West Australian Tyler Brockman could be part of a deal. Picture: Steve Bell / Getty Images

“I think he’s edging closer … we like what we see in Mabior. He’s played 60 games of AFL footy, he spent season 2022 at the Gold Coast playing regular AFL footy and topped their goalkicking list – he’s proven he can play at the level,” McCartney said.

“Mitch Lewis needs a little bit of a foil for him to play alongside, and we’ve explored a few different options over the last couple of years and haven’t really landed on something that was worked well regularly

“We think Chol definitely could be a player who … makes Lewis a better player, but also if he lands at us, we want to make Mabior a better player as well.”

McCartney said Hawthorn had put a contract offer in front of Jacob Koschitzke but was willing to work out a “fair and reasonable trade” with Richmond for the key forward after five seasons at the club.

He said the Hawks were “behind the eight ball” filling a key defensive slot after missing out on North Melbourne free agent Ben McKay but would ensure they picked the right player to be a long-term partner for captain James Sicily in defence.

“We’ve got a couple of off-seasons to deliver on a couple of positions that we’d like to add talent in, and we’ll continue to explore and be involved in conversations with the right players,” he said.

McCartney said there was still “a bit of work to do” to secure a deal for Essendon left-footer Massimo D’Ambrosio, who he said the Hawks would have taken if he had slipped to pick 4 in last year’s mid-season draft.

Originally published as AFL Trade 2023: All the latest news and whispers ahead of the exchange period