TRADE IMPLICATIONS WITH DRAFT UNCERTAINTY

THE UNCERTAINTY around the top end of this year’s draft class is having an impact on the readiness of clubs to be open to trade deals this off-season.

The likes of star trio Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera, Miles Bergman and Matt Rowell all remain out of contract and would command major trade deals if they move, while clubs such as Essendon, Richmond, St Kilda, Geelong and Hawthorn will continue to try and prise Harley Reid out of West Coast while under contract.

But the backdrop of a draft class lacking the star power of recent years in the early stages, and the depth at the back, is set to see clubs push for more future picks to be part of any significant trade deals for players.

The capability for clubs to trade future picks two years in advance this year will assist in getting deals over the line as recruiters wait for the draft class to assert themselves as prized early selections.

South Australia has so far dominated the Marsh AFL U18 Boys National Championships, with Dyson Sharp‘s month of form showing him to be the best crash-and-bash midfielder in the pool.

But there remains a top group in flux, with the likes of Willem Duursma, Cooper Duff-Tytler, Josh Lindsay and Academy pair Zeke Uwland (Gold Coast) and Dan Annable (Brisbane) considered all in the mix as top-five picks. Another Suns Academy player, Dylan Patterson, is tipped to be in the five or so picks after that.

Ollie Greeves, Aidan Schubert, Sam Grlj, Archie Ludowyke and Carlton father-son Harry Dean are others who are in top-15 considerations, with West Australian Jacob Farrow also catching interest as a possible riser in the second half of the season.

The under-18 championships have produced two blowouts in four games so far, with recruiters far from buoyed by the lack of players to emerge in the open draft pool. And due to that, there is less of a push from clubs to get into the top end of the draft if they are to lose key players in trades.

Wanganeen-Milera continues to weigh his future, with his links at Port Adelaide strong and Adelaide also strongly pursuing him, while Bergman has a stack of Victorian clubs keen, including the Western Bulldogs, Melbourne and Essendon. The indications have continued to be that Rowell is more likely to stay at the Suns but talks on a two-year deal have yet to progress. – Callum Twomey

PIE WANTS TO STAY ON

COLLINGWOOD big man Mason Cox is another Magpies veteran to have indicated that he wishes to play on into 2026, as the flag favourites continue to evaluate a host of intriguing contract calls within their aging list.

The club has 12 players who will end the year on the other side of 30 years of age, with eight of those uncontracted beyond this season.

As revealed by AFL.com.au last week, the 37-year-old Scott Pendlebury is among that crop and has already opened talks on a new one-year deal that will help him chase down Brent Harvey’s all-time AFL games record next season.

Jeremy Howe (set to turn 35 later this year), Steele Sidebottom (34) and Jamie Elliott (33) are also in stunning form heading into the back half of the season and appear likely to go around again next year.

Cox, who turned 34 in March, is another hoping to play on into next season and also forms part of an interesting ruck quartet at Collingwood.

The in-form Darcy Cameron is contracted for next season, though talks around an extension have stalled recently and alerted a series of clubs – including West Coast and Carlton – to his potential availability.

Uncapped duo Oscar Steene and Iliro Smit are alongside Cox as Cameron’s ruck deputies, with talks around extensions for the young pair likely to begin soon having both impressed at VFL level throughout the season.

Brody Mihocek (32), Tom Mitchell (32) and Will Hoskin-Elliott (32) are also uncontracted beyond this season, while Jack Crisp (32), Tim Membrey (31), Dan McStay (30) and Cameron (30) all have deals for next year. – Riley Beveridge

EXTRA AMERICAN ATHLETES JOIN COMBINE

TWO BASKETBALLERS have been added to the USA Combine in Dallas this week as the five clubs descend on the United States.

AFL.com.au last week revealed the eight athletes from around America who were confirmed to take part in the three-day testing in front of scouts from Collingwood, St Kilda, Hawthorn, Gold Coast and Geelong this week.

But another two players have been added this week – 208cm Donato Pakak and 206cm Ryan Pondant.

The 26-year-old Pakak is from Sarasota, Florida, and has a Sudanese background but has lived in USA for 11 years. Pondant is from Mary Hardin-Baylor University and is 24 years old.

It takes the group to 10 athletes vying to show clubs their athleticism in the hope of landing a Category B rookie spot. More could be added in coming days.

The AFL targeted players who were 206cm and above for the Combine in the hope of attracting alternative talent to the game. – Callum Twomey

YOUNG HAWK SET TO STAY

HAWTHORN is closing on a new deal for gun midfielder Josh Ward, with the youngster establishing himself as an important cog in Sam Mitchell’s engine room this season.

It’s understood Ward and the Hawks are on the cusp of agreeing a fresh multi-year deal, with the club set to tie down a key part of its improving young group.

A number of clubs, both in Victoria and interstate, had registered an interest in Ward earlier this year as contract discussions rumbled on but the 21-year-old is now destined to stay at Hawthorn having become a mainstay in Mitchell’s plans.

Ward endured a frustrating 2024 campaign, but muscled his way back into the Hawks’ team on the eve of their finals campaign and has broken through to play in the side’s last 13 consecutive matches.

He has averaged 21.8 disposals and 3.5 clearances per game in a stretch of form that is reflective of the potential that saw him recruited with the No.7 selection in the 2021 national draft.

Ward is one of a number of contracts Hawthorn has been working through this year, with the club having tabled a deal to re-sign free agent midfielder James Worpel while also being locked in negotiations to extend important duo Lloyd Meek and Massimo D’Ambrosio. – Riley Beveridge

BOMBER CLOSE TO CONTRACT

ESSENDON has one of the longest lists of out-of-contract players in 2025, but Saad El-Hawli is set for another year in red and black after dashing onto the scene earlier this season.

The Bombers are finalising a deal for 2026 for the mature-age recruit, who arrived at The Hangar via last year’s Mid-Season Rookie Draft.

El-Hawli made his debut against Port Adelaide in round three and played five games across half-back and on a wing, before being sidelined recently by a hamstring strain in the VFL.

The 24-year-old finished with 21 disposals, 467 metres gained and a goal in his only full game in the win over Sydney in round nine, captivating fans with his run-and-gun game, like he has done in smaller bursts as the sub.

El-Hawli became the sixth Muslim to play AFL when he debuted during Ramadan, after graduating from the Bachar Houli program before playing for the Northern Bullants in the VFL.

Essendon is close to extending former top-10 pick Nate Caddy beyond his initial three-year contract, but ruck Sam Draper is still considering his free agency options while he recovers from Achilles surgery.

Former first-round pick Ben Hobbs is without a deal beyond 2025, as are veteran pair Todd Goldstein and Dylan Shiel, while Will Setterfield has played 10 straight games for the first time since crossing from Carlton.

The Bombers have been forced to use a League-high 39 players – two more than the next best, eight more than ladder leader Collingwood – across the first 14 rounds due to an injury crisis, which led to Essendon recruiting four players in the Mid-Season Rookie Draft, after adding two during the pre-season supplemental selection period. – Josh Gabelich 

FRINGE GIANTS GET INTEREST

JACOB Wehr has caught interest as an unrestricted free agent at the Giants as the club works through a number of out-of-contract players on the radars of rivals.

Wehr qualifies as a free agent having previously been delisted through his 37-game career at Greater Western Sydney, with the Giant having a one-year contract offer to remain at the club.

Clubs are monitoring Wehr’s form in the VFL as he considers his decision, and he is one of several Giants in the same boat.

Leek Aleer has a two-year offer from the club to remain, as revealed by Inside Trading in May, but has strong interest in the market, including from St Kilda. He will go through the process of assessing his options before a decision later in the year.

After requesting a trade to Melbourne last year, versatile tall Wade Derksen is another who is out of contract at GWS this season and expected to again seek a move. The Demons have remained linked to Derksen, among other clubs.

Like Derksen, Giants midfielder Xavier O’Halloran was held to his contract by GWS last off-season amid a strong bid from the Western Bulldogs and is another who faces a call on his future at the end of this year.

TIGER LOCKED IN

RICHMOND has rewarded in-form half-back Sam Banks with a two-year contract extension.

The 22-year-old is now locked in at Punt Road until the end of 2027.

Banks has played 33 games since being selected at pick 29 in the 2021 AFL Draft, including 22 of the past 23 under Adem Yze.

The Clarence product collected nine coaches’ votes after finishing with a career-high 28 disposals in the win over West Coast in round nine, before collecting 25 last weekend against North Melbourne.

With Tasmania slated to enter the AFL in 2028, Banks will be a target for the Devils after making serious inroads in 2025. But right now, Banks is making the most of increased opportunities at the Tigers. – Josh Gabelich

CROWS BIG MAN TO SIGN

ADELAIDE ruckman Lachie McAndrew is in talks for a new two-year deal to extend his stay at the Crows.

McAndrew signed at the Crows for this year as a pre-season supplemental selection period addition as late cover for injured big man Kieran Strachan.

That came after the former Sydney Academy graduate was delisted by the Swans at the end of last season after two games for the club in 2023.

The extension would take McAndrew through to the end of 2027, having shown strong form in the SANFL, where the 211cm 25-year-old has averaged 37 hitouts and 13 disposals a game.

The Crows are in the ruck market, with interest in Essendon free agent Sam Draper, while they are looking to re-sign their own free agent ruck Reilly O’Brien. – Callum Twomey

YOUNG DEE EYES NEW DEAL

MELBOURNE has started discussions to extend Luker Kentfield‘s stay at the club as the rookie key forward bounces back from a rough summer.

Kentfield faced an unknown in his career over the pre-season after falling ill with pneumonia and spending time in hospital with complications.

He remained in Perth with his family through his recovery after the health scare but made it back to the club when back to better health and has shown encouraging progress at VFL level with Casey.

The Demons’ mid-season rookie from last year is expected to add another year to his stay at the club, which would take him through to the end of 2026. – Callum Twomey

BACKFLIPPING INTO A NEW DEAL?

RICHMOND is in talks to reward Seth Campbell for his hot start to the campaign, with the club looking to tie down the goalsneak to a multi-year deal that extends beyond next season.

The Tigers reworked Campbell’s contract midway through last year with a new deal that runs through until 2026, but have now opened discussions around another extension at Punt Road.

Campbell has already kicked 19 goals this year to entrench himself in coach Adem Yze’s long-term plans, including eight games where he’s booted multiple goals from his first 13 appearances.

His impact was most keenly felt in round one, when a backflipping Campbell kicked the sealer in the club’s significant upset win over Carlton.

A rookie recruit out of North Launceston in the TSL, there has been intrigue among clubs around whether Campbell’s next deal at Richmond will extend beyond Tasmania’s impending entry into the competition in 2028.

Campbell is one of three Tasmanian Tigers currently at the club, having joined captain Toby Nankervis and midfielder Sam Banks when he was recruited in the 2022 rookie draft. – Riley Beveridge

LIONS ACADEMY PROSPECT EYES RETURN

BRISBANE Academy prospect Harrison Bridge is aiming for a return to the field later in the year after an ankle injury ended his under-18 carnival prematurely.

Bridge played in the Allies’ first game of the Marsh U18 Boys National Championships against South Australia but went down with the syndesmosis ligament strain and ankle fracture, ruling him out of the remainder of the carnival.

But the sharp-kicking half-back is aiming to return later in the season with the Lions’ VFL side to show his wares ahead of the November national draft.

He averaged 20 disposals in Brisbane’s four Coates Talent League games this year, including a two-goal effort against Oakleigh in its final match, and is one of three Lions Academy players in the Allies squad, alongside potential top-five pick Daniel Annable and tall prospect Isaac Waller. – Callum Twomey