ADELAIDE premiership star Chloe Scheer has officially requested a trade to Geelong, while Richmond key forward Sabrina Frederick is expected to become a Magpie as early as Monday.
The AFLW Sign and Trade Period will officially open at 12pm AEST on Monday, with the trade portion to close at 2pm on Wednesday, June 9.
As previously reported by womens.afl, Geelong had made an offer to the 21-year-old South Australian.
Draft picks are essentially meaningless to the Crows, who have a monopoly over the state-based South Australian draft pool.
"Chloe has spoken to a couple of clubs, which we knew about. We did our best to keep her, but she came to the club yesterday (Thursday) and said she wanted to be traded to Geelong," Adelaide general manager of women's footy Phil Harper told womens.afl.
"We can't do anything about it until Sign and Trade Period starts, so when that starts, we'll see how we go.
"I've got no idea how (a potential swap for draft picks) will play out. They'll have an idea of what they want to offer, I presume. It makes it more tricky, but the player needs to be happy with where they're playing, so if that's what she wants to do, we're comfortable with that."
LIST CHANGES Retirements, delistings, inactive players
The Crows are confident of retaining Ebony Marinoff after some strong interest from St Kilda.
The Saints are now not expecting to be heavily involved in the Sign and Trade Period.
Frederick will be playing for her third club, having previously played for Brisbane, while versatile Pie Maddie Shevlin – who can play on either flank or the wing – will go to Richmond in return, having started her career at Melbourne.
Collingwood will wait for the Delisted Free Agency period (following the Trade Period) to sign former Blues ruck Alison Downie as a short-term cover for the retired Sharni Norder.
Downie, 37 in July, has returned to basketball this winter, signing with NBL1 side Dandenong Ranges.
All eyes will be on the out-of-contract Tayla Harris, with Adelaide, Collingwood and the Western Bulldogs the latest clubs to confirm to womens.afl they will not be pursuing the high-flying forward.
The deal to get Olivia Purcell from Geelong to Melbourne looks set to involve another player going back the other way.
The Dees currently have pick Nos. 15, 32 and 47, with the All-Australian Purcell originally drafted with No.14 in 2018.
Carlton is confident of landing Giant Jess Dal Pos, with a possible trade involving former co-captain Katie Loynes on the cards.
The Blues have opted not to offer Loynes another contract for the 2021-22 season.
INDICATIVE DRAFT ORDER Your club's picks ahead of the Sign and Trade Period
The path is not as straightforward for fellow Giant Elle Bennetts, with a second player (perhaps via a third club) potentially needing to be involved to get the winger and Victorian to the Western Bulldogs.
Dogs ruck Kim Rennie wishes to be traded to North Melbourne, while Kangaroos tall Kate Gillespie-Jones is exploring her options elsewhere.
She's not the only Roo potentially on the move, with forward Sophie Abbatangelo also looking outside of Arden Street.
Daria Bannister (Geelong) and Jas Grierson (GWS) have been linked to other clubs, although North has maintained the pair will stay.
The Western Bulldogs were keen to attract a senior player in return for draft picks, but the plan was scuttled after the AFL made a decision on priority picks.
The Dogs have been pushed from pick Nos. 4 and 12 to 6 and 16, and with a comparatively shallow Victorian draft pool this year, those selections are not as valuable as they may have been in other years.
Picks 1-5 are unable to be traded by the clubs holding them in return for the priority picks given to those clubs, meaning the Bulldogs are unable to rise any higher in the draft order and hold the first tradeable selection with pick No.6.
Reigning premier Brisbane and Fremantle are set for quiet Trade Periods, while West Coast is expected to hit the draft hard, having received both a second and a third-round priority selections.
Irish Docker and tall Aine Tighe – who is yet to debut after two injury-ruined seasons – will be essentially the club's new recruit for the 2021/22 season.
AFLW EXPANSION Four new clubs, no more AFL overlap
Expansion looms over the upcoming Sign and Trade Period.
Clubs are keen to push up the draft order ahead of potentially compromised future drafts when new sides are introduced, and players who may be considering their future at their current club are mostly content to wait until expansion opens more doors.
There will also be close attention on the tier structure when the CBA is renegotiated for the 2022/23 season onwards, with 22 of 30 current list spots per team tied up with the lower tier three and four pay slots.
Clubs are also able to sign players to two-season deals, although have been told they have to renegotiate the second year if the CBA changes. Players will also be able to walk from their second season if approached by an expansion club.
Key dates for the 2021 AFLW Sign and Trade Period
Monday, May 31
Sign & Trade Period commences (12pm AEST)
Wednesday, June 9
Trade Period closes (2pm AEST)
List Lodgement #1 (4pm AEST)
Wednesday, June 16
Re-signing period closes (2pm AEST)
Restricted Free Agency Period closes (2pm AEST)
List Lodgement #2 (4pm AEST)
Friday, June 25
Delisted Free Agency period closes (2pm AEST)
List Lodgement #3 (4pm AEST)
NAB AFLW Draft order confirmed