Every Thursday AFL.com.au presents Inside Trading, with breaking news and the best analysis of the AFL trade landscape covering contracts, re-signings, free agents, the AFL Draft and industry insights.
CLUBS ON PRE-AGENT WATCH
WESTERN Bulldogs gun ruckman Tim English, Brisbane pair Hugh McCluggage and Jarrod Berry, Fremantle duo Sean Darcy and Brennan Cox and Collingwood star Josh Daicos are among the standout players in this year's group of 'pre-agents'.
Pre-agency refers to the group of players who are a year away from reaching free agency – usually for the first time. It has become a notable part of the player movement landscape with pre-agents being a central factor in recent trade periods.
Players have used pre-agency to explore their trade options if a move to a rival is possible or to leverage that interest to sign a long-term lucrative contract extension with their club ahead of the start of their free agency year.
Clubs have also used the pre-agency year to move players a season before they reach free agency so they can strike a trade deal that will net them a better outcome than a single free agency compensation draft pick the year later.
Last year, Jacob Hopper was the prominent pre-agent to move clubs after seeking a trade from Greater Western Sydney to Richmond a year before he would have reached free agency status with the Giants. Darcy Tucker (from Fremantle to North Melbourne) and Sam Weideman (Melbourne to Essendon) were other pre-agents to move while in contract.
Players who were drafted in 2016 shape as the key names in the pre-agents pool.
Star Dogs ruckman English will be one of the headline acts of the crop as he hits his peak and will garner interest from Western Australia, while McCluggage and Berry are also due to reach their free agency calls next year.
TRADE HUB All the latest player movement news
Daicos' value has skyrocketed since the start of last year and he shapes as one of the big-name pre-agents, as is Essendon vice-captain and former No.1 pick Andrew McGrath.
Geelong premiership defender Tom Stewart will be a free agent next year for the first time but, after starting his career as a 24-year-old, is in a different position to other pre-agents, including teammates Brandan Parfitt and Jack Henry, who will hit in in their mid-20s.
North Melbourne's Cam Zurhaar and Nick Larkey are pre-agents this year, as are Power duo Todd Marshall and Willem Drew, while Gold Coast's Ben Ainsworth, Greater Western Sydney's Harry Perryman and Isaac Cumming and Sydney's Ollie Florent and Will Hayward are also in the group. – Callum Twomey
2023 KEY PRE-AGENTS
Adelaide: Elliott Himmelberg
Brisbane: Hugh McCluggage, Jarrod Berry, Oscar McInerney
Carlton: Nil
Collingwood: Josh Daicos, Will Hoskin-Elliott
Essendon: Andrew McGrath
Fremantle: Sean Darcy, Brennan Cox
Geelong: Brandan Parfitt, Tom Stewart, Jack Henry
Gold Coast: Ben Ainsworth, Darcy MacPherson
Greater Western Sydney: Harry Perryman, Isaac Cumming, Nick Haynes
Hawthorn: Blake Hardwick
Melbourne: James Harmes
North Melbourne: Nick Larkey, Cam Zurhaar
Port Adelaide: Todd Marshall, Willem Drew
Richmond: Jack Graham, Dion Prestia, Dustin Martin
St Kilda: Josh Battle, Jack Sinclair
Sydney: Ollie Florent, Will Hayward
West Coast: Andrew Gaff, Elliot Yeo, Jack Darling, Liam Duggan
Western Bulldogs: Tim English, Tom Liberatore
CATS TO LOCK IN FLAG WINNER
PREMIERSHIP Cat Gryan Miers is set to be rewarded for his strong start to 2023 with a new three-year deal.
The 24-year-old is understood to be finalising an extension that will tie him to GMHBA Stadium until the end of 2026.
Miers has continued his evolution into a high half-forward under Chris Scott this season. He has kicked only one goal from the first 11 rounds but has had greater impact on the scoreboard than ever before.
The Geelong Falcons product is ranked No.1 in the AFL for score assists (2.5 per game), No.2 for goal assists (17), No.6 for score involvements in the forward half (71) and No.7 for overall score involvements (80).
Greater Western Sydney superstar Toby Greene is the only general forward to be involved in more scores than Miers, according to Champion Data, and is one of the more damaging field kicks in the business.
Geelong list boss Andrew Mackie has now locked away three small forwards who played in last year’s flag – Tyson Stengle, Brad Close and Miers – to start the year and will turn his focus to Esava Ratugolea and veteran pair Tom Hawkins and Zach Tuohy in the second half of the season. – Josh Gabelich
DEES FATHER-SON IN TALKS
MELBOURNE is in discussions on a new deal for youngster Taj Woewodin as he pushes for an AFL debut.
The versatile youngster is due to come out of contract this season at the end of his standard two-year contract after being drafted at the end of 2021, but is in contract talks for an extension.
A two-year extension would be likely as with the majority of draftees coming out of their initial contract.
Woewodin, the son of 2000 Brownlow medallist Shane, was recruited as a father-son pick two years ago and has been pushing to break into the Demons' line-up recently.
He has been an emergency several times for the Demons while piecing together strong form at VFL level with the Casey Demons, where he has averaged 20 disposals. – Callum Twomey
'BIG COHUNA' HEADING FOR NEW DEAL
FREMANTLE youngster Josh Treacy is hopeful of being rewarded for his impressive recent return to the side's forward line, with the Dockers expected to soon begin discussions over a new deal for the rookie.
Treacy has provided a spark for Justin Longmuir's attack since earning a recall to the senior team a month ago, kicking a goal in every game he's played this year and slotting two important majors in the side's win over Melbourne on the weekend.
It follows a breakout maiden campaign with Fremantle in 2021, where he kicked 13 goals from 15 matches, before his 2022 season was hampered by groin and ankle injuries – as well as a bout of glandular fever – that kept him to just four appearances.
The powerful 20-year-old is coming towards the end of the two-year rookie extension he penned in 2021, but Treacy's manager Matt Bain of TLA Worldwide told AFL.com.au's trade and draft show Gettable that talks over a new deal will begin soon.
"He's a bull at the gate. It's about reminding him that he's still young. For a key forward he's posting up some good numbers, especially in his first year," Bain told Gettable.
"We'll catch up with the club pretty soon and get something sorted, hopefully. Their forward line is in pretty good nick at the moment." – Riley Beveridge
TRIO OF MSD PICKS GET LONGER-TERM DEALS
THREE of the 13 players taken in Wednesday night's AFL Mid-Season Rookie Draft are already contracted for 2024, with West Coast's No.1 pick Ryan Maric among those to have nominated terms for an 18-month contract.
Maric, North Melbourne's Robert Hansen jnr and Hawthorn's Clay Tucker – the first three selections in the mid-year intake – were the only players drafted to have done so after requesting a longer-term deal.
The remaining 10 players picked will have the next six months to vie for their spots, with Greater Western Sydney the only club with a list availability to pass up the chance to select a player on Wednesday evening.
Richmond pair Matt Coulthard and James Trezise, as well as Sydney's Harry Arnold and Jack Buller, nominated six-month deals as did Geelong's Mitch Hardie, Fremantle's Ethan Stanley, Essendon's Jaiden Hunter, the Dogs' Caleb Poulter, Port Adelaide's Quinton Narkle and Hawthorn's Brandon Ryan. – Riley Beveridge
KANGAS CAPTAIN WANTS TO PLAY HIS PART
RECENTLY re-signed North Melbourne co-captain Jy Simpkin believes the Kangaroos are ready to begin attracting mature-aged recruits, saying he wants to play an active role in pitching to the club's next wave of potential targets.
Simpkin last week chose to ignore the lure of free agency, signing a five-year extension on top of the season he had remaining in a long-term deal that will keep him with the Kangaroos until at least 2029.
Upon signing his deal, Simpkin said the club had built a solid platform of youngsters – led by its former first-round picks such as Harry Sheezel, George Wardlaw, Will Phillips and Tom Powell – and revealed his desire to play a part in future list management calls.
"It's really important that you do have those relationships with your list manager, like Brady Rawlings, because a lot of the time you do go through your junior footy playing with or against these sorts of players that you might be targeting," Simpkin told AFL.com.au.
"If they've got their eyes on players, we might know the ins and outs of someone who might be looking for a trade. It's important we do have those close relationships where we can work together. It's definitely something that I'll be pushing for in the future."
Simpkin's signature followed the two-year deals signed by top-four picks Sheezel and Wardlaw earlier this year, with the North Melbourne co-skipper hopeful their commitments could help persuade free agent Ben McKay to also stay at Arden Street.
"He's obviously been going back and forth for a while now in what he's going to do. You see it in the media. But hopefully he can start to see towards the future like I have. If I'm signing deals and hopefully we can get a few of the younger boys signing on, then it helps make his decision a lot easier," Simpkin said. – Riley Beveridge
TOP GIANT HAPPY TO WAIT
GREATER Western Sydney will continue letting last year's No.1 pick Aaron Cadman settle into the senior side before opening talks on a new deal.
Cadman has enjoyed a solid run of seven successive AFL games, having made his debut in round five, with the Giants content to allow the teenager to bed into new coach Adam Kingsley's plans before focusing on potentially extending his contract.
The Giants have already locked three of their first four selections from last year's draft to respective two-year deals, taking them each through until 2026, securing agreements from Harry Rowston (pick No.16), Darcy Jones (pick No.21) and Max Gruzewski (pick No.22).
But speaking on AFL.com.au's trade and draft show Gettable this week, Cadman's agent Julian Petracca from Hemisphere Management Group said the club was on the same page in relation to when it would open talks on an extension for its No.1 pick.
"The club and I are really aligned with where things are at. That's just to let 'Cads' play footy and enjoy it," Petracca told AFL.com.au's Gettable.
"We'll sit down, no doubt. (Giants footy boss) Jason McCartney and I will at some point and just work out what that could look like. But, at the moment, we're just really happy and content to just play footy and let it see out." – Riley Beveridge
U18 CHAMPIONSHIPS GET UNDERWAY
TWO POTENTIAL top-five picks will line up for the Allies on Sunday against South Australia as the under-18 national championships begin.
Tasmanian midfielder Colby McKercher and Gold Coast Academy power forward Jed Walter are in the Allies side that will travel to Thebarton Oval for the clash on the weekend to open this year's carnival.
>> WATCH SA v ALLIES LIVE ON AFL.com.au AND THE AFL LIVE APP FROM 11AM AEST ON SUNDAY
McKercher has stormed up draft boards with an excellent first half of the season, with the talented left-footed midfielder dominant in the Coates Talent League and also impressive for the AFL Academy. His sharp ball use, consistency and smarts have seen many scouts have him as a top-five contender at the end of the season.
Walter's form has built as the season has grown, with the powerful key forward booting eight goals (against the Northern Territory) and then six goals (against Greater Western Victoria Rebels) in his past two Coates Talent League games with Gold Coast, while also showing his strengths for the AFL Academy against Carlton's VFL side last month.
Fellow Suns Academy prospects and potential first-round picks Jake Rogers and Ethan Read are also in the Allies team, while South Australia's crop includes goalkicker Ashton Moir, key forward Liam Fawcett, defender Logan Evans and Hawthorn father-son prospect Will McCabe.
McCabe, a 197cm defender and son of former Hawk Luke, has shot into first-round calculations after a run of form with Central District. – Callum Twomey
MID-SEASON DELISTED FREE AGENCY WINDOW RAISED
A MID-SEASON delisted free agency window has been raised by clubs as a way to complement the mid-season draft.
Under current rules, players who have been previously delisted qualify as delisted free agents for clubs to select in free agency windows at the end of each season, however once the season begins they must wait for the mid-season draft to get onto a list.
There, the former players have to renominate for the draft alongside players hoping to be drafted for the first time.
However, some clubs believe that a separate mid-season delisted free agency window could be opened to allow ex-AFL players to re-enter the competition if they have previously been cut by an AFL club.
By dividing the delisted free agents from the mid-season draft prospects, clubs could then use each for specific purposes – the DFAs for short-term assistance and the mid-season draft for longer-term hopefuls.
The capacity for clubs to be able to trade mid-season trade picks for end-of-year or future selections also continues to be raised by clubs as an addition to the landscape. The move has been on the radar of the AFL in recent seasons. – Callum Twomey