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.
TOP PICKS ON TABLE
NORTH Melbourne's No.2 pick and West Coast's No.3 selection are on the table as trade chips as clubs contemplate moves up the draft board.
The Roos have been open to splitting the pick for another top-10 selection and a future first-round choice, while the Eagles have dangled their top choice in a mix of trade possibilities as they look to boost their draft hand whilst also securing trade target Liam Baker.
Clubs are aware of both options, with the evenness of the 2024 crop meaning those with early selections are looking at ways to add more capital to their draft hands.
North is also among the clubs to have put forward its future first-round pick to try to buy back into this year's top-end, with the selection also on the table as the Roos chase Port Adelaide star Dan Houston.
The Eagles have placed pick three in the trade mix, with a number of clubs eyeing ways to include the selection as part of deals that send players different ways.
With Gold Coast having pick No.6 on the table for Daniel Rioli, and the out-of-contract Baker wanting to join the Eagles, the possibility of pick No.3 being involved in in a mix that would see the Eagles get a pick go back their way and be able to land Baker has also been raised.
But other avenues to split the pick into multiple choices also exist, particularly with the Eagles set on pick 14 from the Hawks coming their way as part of the Tom Barrass deal.
St Kilda looms as a target for clubs looking to slide back or trade up the board after the Saints nabbed pick No.8 for their Josh Battle free agency compensation, giving them picks No.7 and 8.
The Giants will also consider shifting up the order given their hand now – picks 15, 16 and 21 – following the compensation picks for Harry Perryman and Isaac Cumming. – Callum Twomey
CROW MOVES CONTINUE
ADELAIDE'S acquisition of Alex Neal-Bullen is still on track to be completed early in the Continental Tyres AFL Trade Period, with a future selection expected to be tabled for Giants midfielder James Peatling.
Melbourne premiership player Neal-Bullen will return to South Australia for family reasons, with the Crows set to part with pick 28 to land the half-forward, who is contracted for two more years with the Demons.
That deal is expected to be one of the early transactions of this year's trade period, potentially done as early as Monday when the trade gates open.
Adelaide's next picks in this year's draft are No.45 and 63, leaving the Crows expected to use a future second-round pick to attain Peatling, who this week requested a trade from Greater Western Sydney to Adelaide.
WHO'S CALLED IT QUITS 2024's retirements and delistings
He is keen to follow GWS free agent Isaac Cumming to the Crows, with that move sealed on Friday. The Giants were awarded pick 21 for Cumming as free agency compensation.
The Crows beat out a hot field for Peatling, who will take on a four-year offer from the club after being a mid-season recruit for the Giants in 2021. – Callum Twomey
COACHES NARROW FOCUS ON DRAFTEES
RICHMOND's Adem Yze was among a number of senior coaches to grill the country's best junior prospects at the Telstra AFL Draft Combine.
The Tigers, who currently hold the No.1 pick ahead of November's national draft, have been front and centre at the MCG across the last two days for interviews as well as physical and psychological testing.
Yze was one of a handful of senior coaches to join his recruiting staff for the interviews held across the weekend, with St Kilda's Ross Lyon, Melbourne's Simon Goodwin, Hawthorn's Sam Mitchell and Greater Western Sydney's Adam Kingsley also in attendance.
A total of 67 of the country's best junior prospects filtered through clubs for a series of round-robin style interviews, with the majority of the athletic testing events set to take place at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre on Sunday.
Essendon vice-president Andrew Welsh, Geelong veteran Mitch Duncan and recently retired Hawthorn and North Melbourne midfielder Liam Shiels were among the other notable figures in attendance interviewing draftees.
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As well as holding the top pick, Richmond is likely to be heavily involved in the draft's first round when trades for Dan Rioli, Liam Baker and Shai Bolton are negotiated during the Trade Period over the next fortnight. – Riley Beveridge
RUCK GUN ON FOOTY CALL
SOUTH Australian draft prospect Alex Dodson turned down multiple college basketball offers in the United States and an NBL roster spot on the Adelaide 36ers to nominate for this year's AFL draft.
Dodson, an athletic 203cm draftee considered by clubs as the best ruck in this year's pool, had been weighing up his call through the season, but made his decision to opt for footy back in August.
A potential top-25 chance, Dodson sat out his bottom-age year in 2023 but returned to football this season and enjoyed a terrific campaign with SANFL side Sturt and South Australia in the under-18s championships.
Dodson burst onto the scene with 27 disposals and 19 hitouts in his first match in more than 12 months against Glenelg in April, producing another standout performance with 32 disposals and 34 hitouts against Woodville-West Torrens late in the year.
His eye-catching campaign had followed Dodson helping Australia's under-18s basketball team to a gold medal in the Albert Schweitzer Tournament in Germany earlier in the year, one of his last appearances on the court.
"It was just a personal decision," Dodson told AFL.com.au.
"I have a deep love for both sports, but it was just about weighing up the pros and cons and what I thought I could make more of a future and a career out of. What best suited me was ultimately coming to that decision of footy.
"It's been a challenge. This year, with Year 12, it's been tough. I probably got quite overwhelmed and stressed at times with it all. You've got friends at school and people telling you what to do and giving you their opinions. For me, it was about not getting too focused on that or what was online and sticking to me and my family.
"When I was able to let go of that stress and those overwhelmed feelings and focus on my sport and my school, that's when I was really able to make my decision and get that complete focus." – Riley Beveridge
AFL HEAD OF TALENT TO DEPART
THE AFL will be searching for a new head of talent, with Grant Williams quitting the role and moving out of the football industry.
Williams has been head of talent pathways at the League for four years, overseeing the boys and girls under-18s programs around the country as well as associated development programs.
Williams has quit to return to the engineering industry after more than two decades in the AFL across multiple roles.
He has worked at Carlton as well as AFL Victoria and has been the League's head of umpiring and head of community and international development as well.
Williams will leave the League later this month, having also been at the Telstra AFL Draft Combine over this weekend in his final major event in the role. – Callum Twomey
SAINTS ACADEMY PROSPECT KEEN TO JOIN
ST KILDA Next Generation Academy member Adrian Cole would love to follow in the footsteps of Mitch Owens and Marcus Windhager at the Saints, but is happy landing anywhere in the AFL.
The 195cm key defender played in the Sandringham Dragons' Grand Final win last month and for Vic Metro in the Marsh U18 Boys National Championships.
Cole joined the Saints' Academy at the age of 13 and has worked under Brendon Goddard and Nick Dal Santo.
The 18-year-old is yet to receive any indication from St Kilda and has met with a handful of other clubs ahead of the 2024 Telstra AFL Draft.
"I have spoken to them [St Kilda] a few times," Cole told AFL.com.au at the Draft Combine.
"I've had one formal meeting when they came over to my house. Simon [Dalrymple] spoke to us on an NGA camp and did a big presentation.
"I'm happy wherever I land, I just want to get into the AFL, so fingers crossed that happens.
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"I would give my best to any team, but I think there is something special to giving back to a club that I've been a part of since 13. They've given me a lot of support since then, so I would like to repay the support."
St Kilda's NGA has produced seven AFL graduates, including current Saints Owens, Windhager and Angus McLennan. – Josh Gabelich
