Get all the latest news in the trade, free agency and draft landscape every week in Inside Trading, AFL.com.au's dedicated column for player movement. Find out the latest on contracts, deals, trades, draftees, rules, agents and who is going where from the AFL.com.au team.
FREE AGENCY MOVES SET
FRIDAY could see a free agency frenzy, with clubs ready to lodge a number of deals to seal players' moves.
The free agency window opens at 9am AEST and moves for free agents are expected to be confirmed across the day, which will have ramifications for the draft order.
Three key free agents are anticipated to be at their new homes by the end of Friday, with Josh Battle's move to Hawthorn on a six-year deal, Harry Perryman's cross to Collingwood and Isaac Cumming's switch to Adelaide all set to be lodged.
Each free agency deal will be submitted electronically and then see the clubs have an online meeting with the AFL. Given the players moving clubs this year are unrestricted free agents, the draft compensation pick will be delivered almost automatically to the clubs losing the players.
St Kilda is sweating on if Battle's move will hand it a band one pick (No.8) or band two (No.19), while the Perryman deal is also edging band one territory for the Giants. A first-round pick would give the Giants picks No.14 and 15 but an end of first-round selection would be several spots further down the ladder.
Cumming's move is likely to generate a second or end-of-second-round pick for the Giants, meaning a mid-30s selection or pick around No.40.
Another three free agents are all considered likely to land at their new homes on the opening day of the free agency window.
Nick Haynes (from GWS to Carlton), Tom Campbell (from St Kilda to Melbourne) and Elliott Himmelberg (from Adelaide to Gold Coast) are all set to be lodged as soon as Friday to make official their moves to new clubs. They won't generate any free agency compensation picks for the clubs they are departing.
Meanwhile, Richmond unrestricted free agent Jack Graham will return from his trip to Western Australia where he toured West Coast's facilities but is yet to make an official call on his future.
Graham is still expected to head to the Eagles on a four-year deal but is likely to make a formal decision on his future next week. Richmond does not have the option to match a free agency offer for him but would receive a compensation selection for him. – Callum Twomey, Riley Beveridge
LIONS' LIMITS AFTER JOE BLOW
BRISBANE is limited on how it can approach replacing retiring star Joe Daniher given its need to trade pick 18 for draft picks to match bids on Levi Ashcroft and Sam Marshall.
Aside from the key forward market being bare, Daniher's exit after the Lions' Grand Final comes as the club's first pick is being put up for sale for more draft picks so they can match bids on father-son Ashcroft and Academy talent Marshall at November's Telstra AFL Draft.
Richmond is one of the clubs targeting Brisbane's pick 18, with the Tigers having ample later picks to bolster the Lions' draft hand. If a bid comes on Ashcroft in the top five and Marshall in the top 20, it will stretch Brisbane's points.
But the pair's arrival will make it difficult for the Lions to make any late play for a key forward of high-end quality to help fill the void left by Daniher, who kicked 58 goals this season and had a brilliant finals series for Brisbane.
Tiger Tom Lynch has continued to be linked as a trade target with one year to run on his contract but has pledged his future to Richmond, while the likes of Tim Membrey, Sam Day, Matt Taberner, Levi Casboult, Josh Schache and Matt Allison are among the tall forwards to have been either delisted or be without contracts for next year at their clubs.
Adelaide's Lachie Gollant, who had interest from North Melbourne last year, remains unsigned, while Bomber Sam Weideman, Magpie Nathan Kreuger and Saint Jack Hayes are also without deals.
Last year the Lions traded in mid-season recruit and ruck/forward Brandon Ryan in the middle of the trade period when Jack Gunston requested a trade back to Hawthorn. – Callum Twomey
TOP GUNS OUT OF COMBINE TESTING
A NUMBER of high-end talents will be sidelined from testing at this week's Telstra AFL Draft Combine, which begins on Friday at the MCG.
There will be 67 prospects attending the Combine, with testing starting on Friday afternoon with the 2km time trial. A skills session will also take place on Saturday at the AIA Centre before athletic testing – such as agility, sprints and jumps – take place at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre on Sunday.
Levi Ashcroft's shoulder surgery this week adds him to the list of top-end draft hopefuls to be sitting out of the Combine, with fellow top-10 talents Sam Lalor (hamstring), Sid Draper (back) and Murphy Reid (ankle) also not going to test.
Isaac Kako is coming back from ankle surgery so will also not test, as won't Cooper Hynes, who carried an ankle concern late in his season.
Xavier Lindsay's PCL knee injury that prematurely ended his draft campaign will keep him out of taking part in the tests, while a hip issue will mean Sandringham Dragons prospect Luke Trainor won't take part in the testing. – Callum Twomey
DOCKER EYES NEW DEAL
OUT-OF-CONTRACT Fremantle forward Tom Emmett is expected to secure another deal at the Dockers, but will need to wait until after the Trade Period.
The 22-year-old spent the first 11 rounds of 2024 in Justin Longmuir's side but struggled for opportunities in the second half of the season, adding only two more appearances.
Fremantle will be active this Trade Period with Richmond star Shai Bolton the main target.
The Dockers explored a move for Jack Martin as a free agent, but the West Australian is set for a fresh start at Geelong.
Emmett arrived at the club via pick No.41 in the 2022 Telstra AFL Draft and has played 15 games in purple since moving from South Australia.
The Sturt product might need to be delisted and then added to the rookie list in November, but he is expected to be retained by Fremantle. – Josh Gabelich
HOPEFUL SIGNS FOR PIES MID
THERE are "positive" signs for the future of Collingwood midfielder Lachie Sullivan, who remains in limbo and without a contract offer for 2025 as things stand.
Sullivan joined the Pies on the eve of the campaign as a pre-season supplemental selection period (SSP) signing, breaking through for 10 senior games and showing promise as a hardworking onballer.
However, the 27-year-old is yet to be offered an extension to the one-year deal he signed at the club upon joining and is likely to be made to wait through the Continental Tyres AFL Trade Period before finding out where his future lies.
Speaking to Gettable on Continental Tyres AFL Trade Radio on Thursday, Sullivan's agent James Pitcher from Bravo Management said he was hopeful the former Footscray VFL star would still be handed a contract for next season.
"He is (in limbo) unfortunately," Pitcher said.
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"I think that's the worst position to be in at this time of year. Sometimes it's easier to know that you have been delisted and you can go into that market. He is in limbo a little bit, but the conversations with the Pies have been really positive.
"I'd like to think, coming in as an SSP, playing 10 games and even seeing his growth through his career – his second or third year in the VFL, he started winning best and fairests – you give him another opportunity and see what he could do.
"I'd like to think he's going to be there in 2025." – Riley Beveridge
EX-KANGA HOPES FOR SECOND CHANCE
CURTIS Taylor is hopeful of earning a second opportunity on an AFL list as a delisted free agent, having been let go by North Melbourne last month.
Taylor was told he wouldn't be offered a new contract by the Kangas for season 2025, despite playing 76 games across six years at Arden Street.
The versatile winger made just eight senior appearances under coach Alastair Clarkson this season, struggling to earn his place in a young and developing side.
However, speaking to Gettable on Continental Tyres AFL Trade Radio on Thursday, Taylor's agent James Pitcher from Bravo Management said the fact the 24-year-old had been delisted could actually aid his cause to find a second club this off-season.
"We can see the talent that he's got. We were probably a little bit surprised that North went down that angle," Pitcher said.
"But, similar to the Jack Martin situation, maybe it is a better position to actually be delisted. Instead of being in limbo and the potential of a trade, you can be put on a list as a delisted free agent." – Riley Beveridge
