The 2014 AFL Trade and Free Agency period is expected to take off today, with the expected movement of Dayne Beams to the Brisbane Lions early in the morning likely to set off a cascade of further trades as clubs scramble to get their work done before the 2pm Thursday deadline.
LATEST
Tue, Oct 15, 5:12 PM
Looks like despite speculation that trading would begin in earnest today, we have yet another day without a transaction.
Tue, Oct 14, 3:15 PM
A massive five team deal that will see the movements of Dayne Beams, Jack Crisp, Levi Greenwood, Travis Varcoe, Mitch Clark and Heritier Lumumba is expected to be finalised and lodged this afternoon.
Tue, Oct 14, 1:40 PM
Hawthorn’s Mitch Hallahan appears likely to sign a three year deal with the Gold Coast Suns. Hallahan played just six games for the Hawks in the front-end of the 2014 season before losing his place.
Initial reports were that the 22-year-old midfielder was hopeful of sticking with Hawthorn and finding a place in their star-studded midfield, however a trade is looking increasingly likely.
Also in trade news Greater Western Sydney ruckman Jon Giles has nominated Essendon as his preferred destination after requesting a trade several weeks ago. The Giants have promised to seek an equitable trade for Giles who played 51 games for the club.
It is also reported that Geelong have offered up pick 21, recently secured from Brisbane, to St Kilda in exchange for Rhys Stanley. The Saints are reported to be weighing up the offer, and have publicly stated a desire to hold three picks inside the top 25.
Tue, Oct 14, 10:02 AM
Melbourne’s Jack Trengove has re-aggravated the navicular injury that kept him sidelined through the 2014 season.
It was rumoured last week that Trengove was weighing up an offer to join Richmond via a trade, but this has been taken off the table now that Trengove has re-injured himself.
Tue, Oct 14, 9:45 AM
Good morning and welcome to another day of the trade period. We have just four trades completed so far after more than a week, but today looks like the day that the dam will break and trades will come flooding through.
There was late mail over night that the Dayne Beams trade is finally ready to go through, with Collingwood likely to accept an offer of picks 5, 25 and Jack Crisp after Crisp successfully passed a medical exam at Collingwood yesterday.
The Beams trade, which has been in negotiation for more than a week, is expected to be a ‘circuit breaker’ when it goes through with a number of other trades reliant on its occurrence.
Collingwood are expected to immediately on trade pick 25 for North Melbourne’s Levi Greeenwood, and are also expected to finalise a deal that will see Travis Varcoe join Collingwood, Heritier Lumumba join Melbourne, and Mitch Clark join Geelong.
It is also expected today that GWS will finalise a trade with Carlton that will see the Giants trade Kristian Jaksch, Mark Whiley and pick 19 for Carlton’s pick 7.
This in turn will further set up interest in the big one – the impending trade war between Greater Western Sydney and the Western Bulldogs over the futures of Ryan Griffen and Tom Boyd.
The confirmed movements so far are as such:
Jarrad Waite, Shaun Higgins signed to North Melbourne.
James Frawley signed to Hawthorn.
Nick Malceski signed to Gold Coast.
James Gwilt signed to Essendon.
Jonothan O’Rourke and pick 43 traded from Greater Western Sydney to Hawthorn for picks 19 and 40.
Jeff Garlett and pick 83 traded from Carlton to Melbourne for picks 61 and 79.
Joel Patfull traded from Brisbane to Greater Western Sydney for pick 21.
Allen Chirstensen traded from Geelong to Brisbane for pick 21.
Slane
Guest
Ouch.
Thomas
Guest
Jono Freeman and Marco Paparone have looked pretty capable in patches, and Brent Staker is a pretty handy third - tall. That'd be a hard group to match up on form and injury permitting.
Josh
Expert
Agree, if the Lions get Beams across the line I'll be giving them an 'A' in my trade review.
Josh
Expert
coughShaunHampsoncoughcough
Josh
Expert
I agree it's a pretty decent trade but Varcoe as good as Beams? Long way off there in my opinion. Beams is a star but I wouldn't put much trust in Varcoe. Pies I think can "win" the trade if they draft well.
Josh
Expert
They could if they wanted to, but I doubt they would. Petrenko isn't very similar to Goodes, he's more of a small forward, there's about 15cm and 20kg of difference between the two. On top of that - and this is my opinion - Petrenko is a pretty average footballer, aside from that one nightmare-haunting goal.
Dean
Guest
West Coast during the Judd, Cousins, Kerr era are a prime example of a team based almost entirely on midfielders. Good midfields make guys like Gunstan, Mooney, Mark Williams, Jay Schulz, Kent Kingsley and plenty of others look very good and these same guys have looked pretty ordinary with bad midfields. The one who will play the best at Brisbane will be Rich. He's an outstanding kick of the footy and will get a lot less attention and more freedom to get onto some direct passes. I just wish Josh Drummond was still playing, he was the best kick in the league (arguably) when he was fit.
Jack Smith
Roar Guru
Just putting it out there but... Could Swans get Petrenko (as he is a delisted player, as I understand, just about the only people they can go after) while Reid goes back effectively shoring up the backline and adding a younger quick forward to the mix? The replacement for Goodes in 2016...
Brian
Guest
I think you guys might be better then 12th. Midfield wins games. Watch the GF and see how having the better forwards and backs is useless when you are inferior in midfield. Christensen for pick 21 is an absolute bargain.
TomC
Roar Guru
Honestly, it makes me very happy to see him re-enter coaching, particularly in that kind of role. Port Adelaide midfield coach would have to be one of the best jobs in footy right now. He had a long ambition to be a successful senior coach. Circumstances and his own limitations cruelled his first crack at it, but hopefully it doesn't kill his dream. He's an extraordinary individual and will be a huge asset to the Port Adelaide footy club. Another extraordinary man, Shaun Hart, no doubt convinced him to take the job. Another sign of the newly found confidence and effectiveness of your footy team, Radelaide.
Brian
Guest
Geelong seem to be the winners here as I wouldn't put much value on Varcoe or Lumumba I think both have had their best years. If I were Collingwood I would ask for a better player then Varcoe given how desperate Geelong would be for Clarke.Otherwise I expect Varcoe's Collingwood career to resemble Quinton Lynch or Clinton Young
TomC
Roar Guru
Zing. If he could lay a shepherd, I wouldn't care if he was chucking hissy fits at incorrect uses of semicolons on the cheer squad banner.
Radelaide
Guest
So Tom, what's your opinion as Voss the new Port midfield manager.
Paul D
Roar Guru
I don't know, he's very good at being defensive when he throws angsty tantrums and plays them out in the media.
TomC
Roar Guru
Yep, pretty much. The effect of Beams and Christensen will be significant, but it won't be transformational. Some serious work needs to be done on the forwardline. I expect that with the power in the midfield we'll blow away weak teams, but with the lack of effectiveness in the forwardline we'll struggle against organised, disciplined teams in the middle and top of the ladder.
TomC
Roar Guru
Hmmm. I don't think Varcoe holds a candle to Beams, fit or unfit. Varcoe is a very ordinary player. Crisp's kicking is probably the big weakness in his game. It's very inconsistent. He knows where the goals are, though. He's a powerful midfielder who can take a tackle and lay a tackle. He's potentially a useful player. I agree that Lumumba is not a big loss. He's a defender who isn't very good at defending.
Paul D
Roar Guru
Gardiner is a very good player - for me, the one I really like is McStay. Geez they're going to be calling his name a lot over the next decade. Very exciting young talent. I'm with you on Leppa's plan - in the absence of a Hawkins-like titan in the goal square, I think he's trying to get as many goals out of the midfield and our half forwards. If our talls can't consistently win the 1-1 battles, or are getting double teamed by the defence, at least they can bring the ball to ground, and hopefully our little band of mozzies can win the ball from the ensuing confusion or stoppage, and get the goal that way. And as you say, when a player like Beams becomes available you grab him with both hands, and sort out the structure afterwards.
mattatooski
Guest
Im guessing that is Justin Leppitchs thinking too. The midfield is going to be such a strength in the coming years. I really hope Freeman and Close can step up next year. If not, hopefully we can institute a new style of play, where we win the ball in the middle and give it off to our flyers to streak away and score all our goals. When a player like Beams becomes available and wants to come back to Brisbane, you have to go all out to grab him. Im sick of the homesick boys going home, so to get a keeper is worth it. The midfield stocks are great, and I hope the young key position players fulfil their destiny. Darcy Gardiner is going to be rock down back for us. And I choose to live in eternal hope at the start of each season. Lions to play finals in 2015. (maybe) (possibly) (yeah you're right, no chance)
slane
Guest
Agree wholeheartedly. Beams was worth what Brisbane paid, but is certainly not the player they need. They need a superstar forward.
Paul D
Roar Guru
Some will play up forward and out of half back. Not everyone is available every week. Injuries etc will play their part also - and at the end of the day I'd rather we have a couple of extra midfielders than not enough. Don't waste too much time hoping for finals, I don't think that's a realistic goal for us this year. 2016, yes. But not next season. I'd be thrilled if we made it, but a lot of things would have to go right, and we'd need a couple of clubs ahead of us to have tragic seasons. At some point you have to trust the players you've recruited - we have some decent defenders and forwards who are still developing. To get an A grade key position forward we'd need to let go of someone like Rich or Hanley, as well as a first round pick. I'd rather take a chance on someone like Close or Freeman continuing to evolve before we went out and sold the farm. So give them 2015 to see what they can do, and if it's obvious that they need help, then we can go shopping. Rushing out and trading players because we thought we were better than we were was how we wound up lumbered with that maggot Fevola. So let's not go down the path of pre-emptive trading again unless we have to.