A NEW year brings a whole new range of storylines in the player movement space, so what will dominate the headlines in 2025?

Some big decisions loom that will impact the entire competition, with the futures of Chad Warner, Harley Reid and Christian Petracca not entirely clear heading into a new campaign.

Join Gettable co-hosts Cal Twomey and Riley Beveridge as they look ahead at the stories that will dominate 2025.

The chase for Chad

The chase for Chad Warner will be the biggest story heading into 2025. With clubs now able to trade picks two years into the future, West Coast has four first-round picks to play with and Fremantle has three. They both met with him this year, they've spoken to him and they've chased him hard all season. What impact, if any, does the coaching change at the Swans hold for him? Clearly, Sydney is hopeful of kickstarting talks early, but it's doubtful that will happen anytime soon. He's going to back himself and give himself a big decision to make. His value is only going up and up and up.

All the way with TDK?

We saw a rush for Tom De Koning when he was last out of contract, with Geelong, Sydney and St Kilda all keen on him. He resisted that and signed on for two more years through to free agency, but he's worth far more now. He will get lifetime offers from clubs, and it will be difficult for Carlton to match them in terms of money given their salary cap and given they've also got Sam Walsh coming out of contract in 2026 as a free agent. De Koning would have to leave a lot on the table to stay and that's a decision he's going to have to make. The way it's going and the way it's tracking, he's going to get some enormous money sent his way. And he's a free agent; clubs would have to trade for Chad Warner, but they could get TDK for nothing.

The big Dee three

All eyes are on Christian Petracca, Clayton Oliver and Kozzy Pickett heading into 2025 for obvious reasons. Petracca will be 30 by the time the 2026 season starts, so if he wants to leave again in 2025, he'll have more time to set it up and clubs will have more picks to play with to get it done. Pickett has got two years to go on his contract, but every off-season he flirts with a move and he's been linked with Fremantle, West Coast and Port Adelaide in the past. Those clubs will all come hard for him, but he is still contracted so the Dees have the right to make the play or not let him move.

Matt Rowell's call

Victorian clubs are watching this one closely. The Suns would love to have Matt Rowell signed up for another couple of seasons already through to free agency, but it hasn't moved at that pace yet. Collingwood is in for Matt Rowell; they don't have a first-round pick, but they didn't have one in 2024 either and still got Dan Houston. Essendon, with two first-round picks and two second-round picks heading into 2025, will also be in the race if Rowell remains unsigned.

LDU and the free agents

There's been no movement on a new deal for Luke Davies-Uniacke at North Melbourne yet and St Kilda has been chasing him hard, among many others. He enters 2025 as the hottest free agent in the game and someone who will get offers of eight years worth close to $1.3 or $1.4 million a season. It won't quite be at the $2 million a year mark, but it won't be too far off. There's a strong link to Essendon as well given Brad Scott is his former coach, but there's still a level of confidence he will re-sign at the Roos.

Speaking of the Bombers and free agents, their ruck Sam Draper has attracted interest from Adelaide. Draper is very settled in Melbourne and at the Bombers, but he won't get into contract talks until early in the season. He might even get some games under his belt first given he has something to prove in terms of his value after a couple of injury-hit seasons. Andrew Brayshaw is in talks at the moment, but don't expect him to be going anywhere. He's a long-term player at Fremantle. Oscar Allen is an interesting one given his injury issues, but he will be hoping to get a long-term deal to stay at the Eagles. The interesting angle around Marcus Bontempelli is how long he re-signs for at the Western Bulldogs given his last deal was a four-year deal. Brandon Starcevich is also out of contract at Brisbane, while Brayden Maynard is worth keeping an eye on. The Magpies have brought in two players his age to play his position and are paying them around $900,000 a season each. Maynard is not on that, so will another club offer him that?

The Lion hunt

This will be one of the major storylines heading into 2025. The  the timing of Joe Daniher's departure, plus the Lions needing to match bids for Levi Ashcroft and Sam Marshall at the draft meant it was near on impossible for them to get a key forward in during the trade and free agency period (no disrespect to Sam Day, who has joined as a rookie signing). But the Lions will have time in 2025 and giving the Lions time to go and attract a player is one of the most dangerous things for the rest of the competition. There's not heaps of out of contract forwards looming in 2025, so keep an eye on the contracted players. Brisbane is a very attractive proposition and have landed some big guns over the years. If Sam Darcy goes bananas next year, will the Lions come knocking for Jamarra Ugle-Hagan? The ascent of Sam Darcy is coming and he's going to re-sign at the Bulldogs soon. Ugle-Hagan is locked in at the Bulldogs until the end of 2026, but the Lions could come knocking.

The need for Reid

There is going to be a fever pitch focus on Harley Reid's contract in 2025. He has two years to run his current deal, but if he hasn't added any more years beyond that by the end of the 2025 home-and-away season, look out. Without saying it, that will tell a story about his future, one way or the other. Expect him to have a really good relationship with Andrew McQualter as coach, so it will be over to them to convince him to stay around longer than his initial three-year deal. But he's already got clubs willing to pay him up to $20 million over 10 years. He's in no rush, and the need for Reid's signature is coming thick and fast for the Eagles.

In for Finn?

Finn Callaghan comes out of the contract at the end of 2025 and GWS are keen to lock him in as soon as they can. He hasn't wanted to think about his contract until getting through the 2024 season, but he's got the ability to name his price if he wanted to explore his options. With Sam Darcy getting close to re-signing at the Bulldogs, Callaghan is probably the best out-of-contract player from that 2021 draft pool heading into 2025 (Kai Lohmann is another as well as Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera). Plenty of Victorian clubs could be in for Finn, likely the same ones who are in the race for Luke Davies-Uniacke. The difference is Callaghan is not a free agent so they would have to trade for him - what is this guy, a top-three picks only a few years ago, worth?

Power moves

There's plenty of contract interest at Port this year, starting with Miles Bergman, who is out of contract at the end of 2025. There's also Kane Farrell, whose manager Dave Trotter said on Gettable this month that they'll look to get something started soon. He's just coming back from hamstring surgery, but he clearly has a left-foot kicking weapon so clubs will see if they can entice him out. And then there is Zak Butters, who is signed until the end of 2026 and has two years until he hits free agency. Port Adelaide will be very, very keen to lock him in before he hits free agency, so that will be a big watch to see if he re-commits. Connor Rozee, his best mate at the footy club, signed that huge eight-year deal last off-season, so it's interesting to see if there will be any movement with Butters in 2025.

Devil in the detail

The AFL will announce the list build rules for Tasmania in 2025, which will be one of the big stories of the year. It will include the amount of picks they will have over multiple drafts, which selections they will need to trade, sign-on bonuses for players, access to Tasmanian prospects, their academy set up and how that aligns with the North Melbourne NGA access in that transition period, and likely some special father-son access as well. And then the whips will get cracking; by the end of 2025, we can expect Tasmania to have a recruiting manager, a list manager, a footy boss, and maybe even a coach close to locked in. They could also have a big-name recruit or two on the hook by the end of the year. These things don't just start six months out from signing; you have to plant the seed and get it in the mind of a few good players that they are wanted to become the marquee players at the new club.