THIS year's player exchange period should start with a bang on Friday with Richmond expected to lodge its free agency offer for Gold Coast spearhead Tom Lynch.
Lynch nominated the Tigers as his preferred new club on Tuesday and sources close to the deal were confident the official paperwork would be lodged at AFL House soon after the free agency window opens at 9am AEST on Friday.
Richmond's offer is understood to be for at least six years and worth about $1 million a season.
Once the Tigers table their offer, Gold Coast will have three business days to decide whether to match it given Lynch is a restricted free agent.
But it appears unlikely the Suns would do that given they're almost certain to be offered pick No.3 in this year's NAB AFL Draft as compensation for losing their former co-captain via free agency.
An offer won't be lodged on Friday for this year's other remaining big fish, Andrew Gaff, with the West Coast star not expected to announce whether he's staying or going to North Melbourne until Saturday at the earliest.
Scott Lycett's anticipated move to Port Adelaide is unlikely to be confirmed on free agency's opening day either. The West Coast ruckman toured the Power's Alberton headquarters on Thursday but, as of that evening, had yet to inform Port whether he would accept their offer.
Other players set to change clubs in the free agency period include Luke Dahlhaus (Geelong), Reece Conca (Fremantle) and Alex Fasolo (Carlton).
George Horlin-Smith (Gold Coast) and Jordan Roughead (West Coast) are also expected to be on the move, although their paths to their new clubs could be complicated by the fact the Suns and Eagles will want to avoid diluting the free agency compensation picks they receive for Lynch and Lycett.
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Wingard: Don't believe the hype
The future of Port Adelaide forward/midfielder Chad Wingard has been the subject of mixed messages all week.
First, there was a report he was set to turn his back on interest from Victorian clubs headed by the Western Bulldogs and Hawthorn to serve the final year of his contract with Port in 2019.
That was soon denied by Wingard's manager, Tom Petroro of TLA Australia, who said his client remained undecided about his future.
On Thursday, Port's football chief Chris Davies told NAB Trade Radio the decision on where Wingard played next season ultimately rested with the dual All Australian, saying: "We're certainly not going to force Chad out. If he wants to stay at our footy club in 2019, he'll be here."
Later that day, Wingard sent out a cryptic message on social media, suggesting the true circumstances surrounding his decision had yet to be revealed.
"You'll hear my side of the story when the time is right dw (don't worry) about that! But unless a statement comes from myself or management don't listen to them," Wingard wrote.
Was it a dig at the media? Was it a dig at Port? It's impossible to be sure.
We can be sure, however, that the interest in Wingard in Victoria is genuine. Western Bulldogs list chief Sam Power confirmed his club's interest on Thursday.
Much remains to play out on this one.
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Gold Coast to play hardball on May and Martin
The Suns are not about to roll over and hand contracted stars Steven May and Jack Martin to their Victorian suitors.
Gold Coast list manager Craig Cameron made that clear when he spoke to Trade Radio on Thursday.
Asked about May, who is being chased by Melbourne, Collingwood, Hawthorn and Essendon, Cameron said the Suns were hoping to learn his long-terms by early next week.
But if May requests a trade, Cameron stressed he struggled to see it happening.
"Right at the moment I don't see how anyone can come and recompense us enough to let go of Steven one year early," Cameron said.
The Suns' list boss was even more emphatic on Martin.
"Our position on Jack Martin is we won't be trading Jack," he said.
"Essendon has definitely shown an interest in him, and I understand that they're keen to grab hold of him because he's a good player, but we're not in a position where we'd be looking to trade Jack.
"I just can't see how Essendon could possibly recompense us for a player of Jack Martin's ilk when he's got a year to go on his contract."
Cameron did add the rider that "we all get surprised from time to time", but with Martin, in particular, it's hard to see a trade eventuating.
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In other news:
- Contracted Melbourne spearhead Jesse Hogan toured Fremantle's headquarters on Thursday as he considers seeking a trade home to Western Australia.
- North Melbourne has met with contracted GWS defender Jeremy Finlayson as it looks to add kicking class to its backline. Finlayson's manager, Dave Trotter of Hemisphere Management Group, told AFL.com.au his client had also attracted interest from several other clubs.
- St Kilda is confident of retaining out-of-contract small forward Jack Lonie despite interest from Collingwood, according to the Saints' new list boss James Gallagher.
- The Saints also believe their bayside location could be a selling point to Greater Western Sydney midfielder Dylan Shiel, who is working through his options at several Victorian clubs. The Dandenong Stingrays junior is understood to have met with the Saints, Hawks, Blues and Bombers.
- Player agent Scott Lucas says Sam Kerridge's future at Carlton and Tom Campbell's career at the Western Bulldogs hinge on what their respective clubs bring in during the upcoming NAB AFL Trade Period.
- Dogs' list chief Sam Power said the club had enjoyed "positive" discussions with Tom Liberatore's management over an extension for next season.
- North Melbourne re-signed midfielder Trent Dumont until the end of 2021 on Thursday, but delisted third-year defender Declan Mountford.
- Free agent Daniel Menzel's remains in limbo, with his agent Adam Ramanauskas admitting to RSN Radio he's "not as confident" his client will remain at Geelong as he was 12 months ago. Ramanauskas said Menzel was still seeking a two-year deal and had interest from other clubs.
- Out-of-contract Cats Jackson Thurlow and Jordan Murdoch are also canvassing interest from rival clubs as they await answers from the Cats on their futures.
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