ADELAIDE: An all-too-familiar situation for the Crows as they manage the departure of another talented player. Nathan Bock, Phil Davis, Jack Gunston and now Kurt Tippett. Monday's start of the Gillette AFL Trade Period will see the talks over Tippett's new home start in earnest. Tippett rocked footy with his decision to ask for a trade to the Sydney Swans on Saturday. Midfielder Chris Knights is now a Tiger and his exit as an unrestricted free agent surprised few at the Crows.
BRISBANE LIONS: The Lions have been low-key this week. After missing out on Tippett, Lions list manager Rob Kerr says the club would like to bring at least one "mature body" to the Gabba in 2013. Melbourne's Brent Moloney and Hawk wingman Clinton Young have been linked with the Lions.
CARLTON: New coach Mick Malthouse had barely finished expressing his satisfaction with the state of the playing list at Carlton and playing down talk the Blues would be active in trading when reports surfaced that the Blues were in it up to their necks in the Kurt Tippett stakes and were also interested in Essendon's Scott Gumbleton. Welcome to life at Visy Park under Mick. Bret Thornton has yet to find a new home, while Jordan Russell will get to Port Adelaide some time in the next few days.
COLLINGWOOD: The Pies moved swiftly to secure the signature of Eagles forward Quinten Lynch but in doing so, ruffled the feathers of Chris Dawes to the stage where he is now looking elsewhere, even though he is under contract. Perth boy Sharrod Wellingham wants to return home to West Coast and the wheeling and dealing between those clubs will start on Monday. It will be interesting to see the approach of the Pies to this given that this is pretty much the reverse of the Luke Ball situation at the end of 2009. Andrew Krakouer, Brent Macaffer and Ben Johnson will get one-year deals, leaving Wellingham as the casualty of a Magpie salary cap that is full to the brim after a series of high-profile re-signings over the course of the year. Luke Rounds, if not traded, might be delisted.
ESSENDON: Brendon Goddard is the biggest name from a rival club to join the Bombers perhaps since Des Tuddenham crossed from Collingwood 40 years ago. Certainly, he is loads better than some of the C-Graders who used to lob at Windy Hill with alarming regularity towards the end of the Kevin Sheedy era. Trade week will determine whether the likes of Tayte Pears remain with the Bombers or whether an excess forward such as Scott Gumbleton is traded out for another midfielder.
FREMANTLE: It's been a good week for Fremantle. Danyle Pearce is on his way west having been secured by as a free agent, while veteran defender Luke McPharlin has signed a two-year contract extension. Defender Lee Spurr has been elevated to the senior list. Fremantle would have been keen to benefit from Sharrod Wellingham's desire to return west, but they look to have missed out on the Magpie with Wellingham stating West Coast as his desired destination. Talent young Saint Jamie Cripps wants to return to Western Australia but has also nominated West Coast as his preferred new home.
GOLD COAST: Disappointed at missing out on Tippett, the Suns say they go into Trade Period with a strong focus on what they need. Ruckman Tom Hickey is eyeing a trade to a Victorian club. Maverick Weller is reportedly the subject of attention from five Victorian-based clubs.
GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY: The focus of the Giants this week has been the NAB AFL Combine and the signing of Leon Cameron as senior assistant coach and heir apparent to Kevin Sheedy. Like the Suns, they have no free agents, but the trade period shapes as a fascinating three weeks, with much speculation surrounding the future of midfielder Dom Tyson. Richmond is circling with a three-way deal that would send Tyson to Punt Road, high draft picks to the Giants and crack West Australian youngster Jack Martin from the Giants along with slightly lower draft picks to the Western Bulldogs.
GEELONG: The Cats are all over this free agency caper. With a gaping big hole in their salary cap to play with, they're in the free agency hunt for North ruckman Hamish McIntosh and Melbourne defender Jared Rivers, while the trade period could well land them Gold Coast midfielder Josh Caddy. So far, the only likely free agency departure will be midfielder Shannon Byrnes, who has joined Melbourne. A shrewd operator, it is illustrative to watch how Geelong goes about its business at this time of the year.
HAWTHORN: All quiet so far on the player front at Hawthorn, so far. Enquiries about free agents Clinton Young, Michael Osborne and Tom Murphy have been met with a firm, but polite, "no comment". The Hawks have recruited impeccably from other clubs in recent years and speculation persists they have another target in their sights, but his identity remains a mystery so far. On Friday, it was announced former Carlton coach Brett Ratten had joined Hawthorn's coaching group, replacing Leon Cameron, who joined Greater Western Sydney.
MELBOURNE: It has been a frantic few days for Melbourne. Geelong free agent Shannon Byrnes came on board on Thursday and the Demons are working Chris Dawes and Sharrod Wellingham hard to convince them their futures are at AAMI Park, just a few drop punts down the road from the Westpac Centre. St Kilda's Farren Ray has also been mentioned in dispatches and what helps is that the Demons have three first round draft picks, including picks three and four, which they will part with for the right deal. Then there is the Jack Viney situation, where a relatively straightforward father-son selection has been complicated by the interest of both GWS and Gold Coast. Should either club place a first-round bid for Viney at Monday morning's father-son bid meeting, Melbourne will then need to use one of its first-round selections for Todd's oldest son. And finally, Melbourne has about 10 uncontracted players whose futures will remain in limbo until after the free agency and trade periods are done.
NORTH MELBOURNE: Ruckman Hamish McIntosh would appear a good thing to join Geelong, having determined that his future at North is, at best, playing second fiddle to Todd Goldstein. Fellow big man Cam Pedersen is also likely to leave the club through a trade, with Melbourne showing some interest. Ben Warren has been linked to Melbourne.
PORT ADELAIDE: It starts with the coach at Port Adelaide. The Power still doesn’t have one although surely the appointment of Ken Hinkley will come soon after what has been a long and drawn out saga. Port worked hard this year to sell itself as a destination club for lower-profile free agents and in that respect, departing pair Danyle Pearce (Fremantle) and Troy Chaplin (Richmond) could and should be replaced by Henry Slattery (Essendon) and Jordan Russell (Carlton). We did enjoy the subtle dig by Port at Chaplin's dodgy knee in their media release confirming his departure.
RICHMOND: Loud applause here for the Tigers. Having identified the need for another key defender and some more depth through the midfield, they used the start of the free agency period to snare Troy Chaplin from Port and Chris Knights from Adelaide. Both players would appear to comfortably fit into the club's best 22 come the opening round of 2013. If they can swing the deal to bring midfielder Dom Tyson from the Giants, they'll be doing brilliantly.
ST KILDA: The Saints were always a chance to lose a good player because of a tight salary cap, yet you still get the feeling that Brendon Goddard's move to Essendon was something of a bombshell. Fellow midfielder Farren Ray also appears set to depart through the trade period, but the Saints have needs in the backline and the ruck that they need to address. Ruckman Tom Hickey from the Suns has been linked with the Saints and they would like to believe they remain in the race for Josh Caddy, also formerly of the Suns. Youngster Jamie Cripps wants to return to Western Australia to join the Eagles, but the Saints reckon they can keep him at the club. There is also talk Raph Clarke may depart.
SYDNEY SWANS: Even premiership teams need to be turned over, even just by a fraction at the end of the season. So what better way to tweak the Sydney Swans than by adding Kurt Tippett, the best uncontracted power forward on the market? Already there is discussion over the extra salary cap space the Swans receive, which is supposed to help with player retention in the most expensive city in the country, not so much to pluck discontented star players at will. Whatever the case, all eyes will be on the Swans to see if they can satisfy the Crows and get Tippett to the Harbour City.
WEST COAST: Quinten Lynch has gone to Collingwood as an unrestricted free agent and the work at West Coast is now to bring midfielder Sharrod Wellingham to the club through the trade period. Talented St Kilda youngster Jamie Cripps is also seeking a trade back home and has indicated he wants to play for the Eagles.
WESTERN BULLDOGS: Ruckman Will Minson returns from his South American jaunt on Friday and appears certain to re-sign with the club for another season. There has been some talk of Hawthorn sniffing around for Brian Lake, which has since been scotched by the club and his agent. Otherwise all is quiet on the western front, perhaps frustratingly so for Bulldogs supporters who would like to see their club make a bit more of a splash. Surely one of key forwards Scott Gumbleton or Chris Dawes would fit that club's 'develop our own while they're still young' mantra.
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You can follow AFL Media senior writer Ashley Browne on Twitter @afl_hashbrowne
