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Hawthorn’s exit from the finals race on Friday night was accompanied by rumours coming to the surface over the weekend that they had told small forward Luke Breust during the week that he will be used as trade bait in the off-season.
Now, to be clear, the Hawks have already denied this rumour. And as much as it’s common for AFL clubs to deny pretty much everything, I suspect that they’re being truthful here – telling a key player they might be traded while the season is still live is just really dumb business, and not the type of mistake the Hawks would make.
Still, the Hawks don’t seem to have gone so far as to deny that Breust will be traded – so maybe it is on the cards, whether or not the notion has been broached with Breust so far.
The Hawks have a rather enviable problem this off-season, and that is the question of how they’re going to afford, both in salary cap and trade value terms, the slew of talented players who want to come to their club.
Jaeger O’Meara has already declared that he wants a trade to the Hawks. Tom Mitchell is expected to follow suit whenever the Swans’ season ends, and Tyrone Vickery is also expected to sign with them as a free agent.
While the Hawks could possibly pay for all three by giving up their present and future draft picks, there has been speculation that they might need to let a senior player go.
The Suns are more interested in senior players than they are in draft picks, and giving up a player would allow the Hawks to make some salary cap room, and retain some of their draft picks to invest in new talent.
That’s where Breust hypothetically comes in. He’s a player that any club in the league would be happy to have, a talented small forward who has kicked 50-or-thereabouts goals a year over the last three seasons.
He has also indicated an interest in being more of a midfielder every now and then which is an experiment the Hawks have never really gotten to try but might be possible if he went to Gold Coast.
Alternatively, you’d expect that Sydney and GWS would both be interested in recruiting the New South Welshman.
The Swans could certainly benefit from adding an experienced small forward, and a straight swap of Mitchell for Breust could be on the cards there.
However the same salary cap issues preventing the Swans from re-signing Mitchell would probably come into play if they looked to make an offer to Breust.
The Giants have a talented forward line already but would certainly be willing to find a way to make room for a player like Breust.
They reportedly made a big play for him in the closing hours of the 2014 trade period. Nothing got done then, but with a wealth of high draft picks in their hands, they might be willing to make the Hawks an above market value offer in terms of trade capital.
The Hawks could then either use those picks to being in fresh highly-rated talent themselves or on-trade them in the deals to secure O’Meara and Mitchell.
Well, who really knows if there’s any truth to the rumours here, but certainly this will be one to watch.
One concrete piece of news coming through is that GWS’ Caleb Marchbank has settled on Carlton as his destination of choice in the upcoming trade period.
The former top ten draft pick has spent two years developing on the list at the Giants but without any clear route to more senior opportunities has requested a trade back to Victoria.
The Blues have basically become a GWS satelitte club in recent years, trading in four ex-Giants last year, their list managed by former GWS list manager (and, of course, former Blues player) Stephen Silvagni.
That trend looks set to continue this year with Marchbank on the way to the club, and it’s been reported that they’re also interested in key forward prospect James Stewart.
Collingwood are also keen on Stewart which is ironic given that the Pies had the opportunity to select him as a father-son but elected not to – a decision that may come back to haunt them if Stewart is still feeling stung by the snub.
Stewart, like Marchbank, has impressed on occasion but just can’t crack into a GWS side that is already chock-full of elite talent.
In news that really won’t shock anyone, West Coast have confirmed they have an interest in Jesse Hogan, who is contracted to the Dees until the end of 2017.
I reckon there would be about seventeen opposition clubs interested in Hogan so this isn’t exactly mind-blowing, but it does suggest Fremantle could have a fight on their hands if Hogan does eventually decide to seek a trade back to WA.
One would think that if that’s going to happen it won’t happen until the end of next year at least, and my gut feel is still that he will eventually re-sign with the Demons.
The future of Scott Thompson of Adelaide is up in the air at the moment as the Crows’ season has ended and he is still yet to be offered a new contract.
My guess is that Thommo has probably played his last game for the Crows. Moving him on would free up some salary cap room for them to retain Jarryd Lyons, or aggressively target Tom Rockliff.
It was reported a while back that Thompson might have a free agency offer in the works from Melbourne, where his good mate Simon Goodwin is taking over as coach in 2017.
It’d be a bit funny, given that Thompson actually started his career at Melbourne many years ago before seeking a trade to the Crows and spending the bulk of his career there.
The deal might involve one or two seasons on the list before transitioning into being an assistant coach. Personally, I’m not sure that’s the kind of move the Dees should still be making at this point, but we’ll keep an eye on this one.
Another veteran Matthew Boyd is set to remain in the game for another year at his club, the Western Bulldogs, after Luke Beveridge said on the weekend that Boyd will play on next year.
Essendon youngster Jayden Laverde has knocked back a few offers to move elsewhere, with a two-year deal at the Bombers expected to be announced in the near future.