Carlton considering pick swaps with Essendon and North Melbourne ahead of expected West Coast bid on Harry Dean

The Blues are expecting the worst on a bid for Harry Dean, with rivals set to swoop on their prized picks 9 and 11. See the details on the agreed bids.

Essendon is in line to secure a third top-10 pick in this year’s national draft in a bombshell trade with arch rival Carlton.

This masthead understands that the Blues are weighing up their options to trade picks 9 and 11 as an early bid on father-son prospect Harry Dean looks increasingly likely.

While no deals have been confirmed and any trade cannot officially be made until the first round of the national draft kicks off on Wednesday night, talks have been held between Carlton and Essendon over a swap.

One mooted trade would see the Bombers swap picks 21, 27 and 30 to the Blues in exchange for pick 9.

North Melbourne is in the mix to secure the Blues’ pick 11, in exchange for pick 25 and a future second-round selection.

Carlton’s move to put picks 9 and 11 firmly on the trade table comes as West Coast prepares to place a bid on Dean as early as pick 2 or 3.

The Eagles are widely expected to select midfielder-forward Willem Duursma with the No. 1 pick, before lodging bids on Gold Coast Suns Academy ace Zeke Uwland and Carlton father-son Dean.

Carlton would require 2233 points to match a bid at pick 2 or 1960 points to match a bid at pick 3.

The Blues are expecting a bid on Dean as high has pick 2. Picture: Rob Lawson/AFL Photos.

West Coast has been a big fan of Dean throughout the year and some recruiters have suggested that they could mount a case for the Murray Bushrangers defender to be the No. 1 pick this year.

Essendon’s picks 21, 27 and 30 have a combined points value of 1708 – 353 more points than Carlton’s pick 9 (1355 points) is valued at.

The Blues would also collect an additional 590 points from North Melbourne’s pick 25, for an overall total of 1945 points.

Carlton would also retain picks 43 and 54 in this year’s draft, while banking some more draft points in 2026 to help match another early bid on father-son prospect Cody Walker.

Under the proposed deal, Essendon would be left holding picks 5, 6 and 9 in this year’s draft.

The Bombers have been linked to a raft of players inside the top-10, including Dyson Sharp, Sam Cumming, Sullivan Robey, Xavier Taylor, Jacob Farrow, Aidan Schubert and Lachy Dovaston.

Robey, Taylor and Dovaston – who were Eastern Ranges premiership teammates in the Coates Talent League this year – were all spotted watching a Bombers’ training session at Tullamarine this week.

However, Robey also has interest from West Coast (picks 1 and 2) and Richmond (picks 3 and 4), while Taylor has been strongly linked to the Tigers.

Essendon recruiting manager Rob Forster-Knight had said earlier this week that the club remained “open to advancing our hand” in this year’s draft and felt “aligned on the level of talent and character we’re looking to bring into our program”.

Essendon most recently had three top-10 picks in the Covid-affected 2020 national draft, selecting Nik Cox (pick 8), Archie Perkins (pick 9) and Zach Reid (pick 10).

Originally published as Carlton considering pick swaps with Essendon and North Melbourne ahead of expected West Coast bid on Harry Dean