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Well folks, after much anticipation, the time has arrived. At 10am today (AEDT), the 2016 AFL trade period will officially open!
» All the trade rumours
» List of free agents
» Every trade and free agency move
Now, don’t explode with excitement too much, because as we all would remember from trade periods past, there’s usually little in the way of confirmed trades early on.
Like a uni student studying for an exam, the majority of the work doesn’t get done until the time the deadline starts being measured in hours, not days. (Click to Tweet)
For the record, trade period officially closes at 2pm (AEDT) next Thursday, October 20.
So what trades might we see on the first day? The most likely one is Travis Cloke moving to the Western Bulldogs on a two-year deal.
This deal seems to be more or less already sorted out – Cloke has agreed to a contract with the Dogs, and Collingwood and the Bulldogs have probably already settled on what the trade will be.
It’s expected the Magpies will gain just a third or fourth round pick for Cloke. While that’s little return, they’ll probably be happy enough just to clear some salary cap room and get rid of a perpetual selection headache by moving him on.
Another trade that is reportedly likely to get done early, possibly on the first day, is Cam McCarthy’s move to Fremantle.
The word is that this trade will see a number of pick swaps between the Giants and the Dockers, quite possibly involving Fremantle’s pick No.3.
Outside of that? Well, it’s hard to say.
Clubs are going to focus on the big fish before looking at players of lesser note, but those big-name trades are also the ones that will take a while to nut out.
One deal that will likely go through however is Tyrone Vickery’s move to Hawthorn. Vickery agreed to a two-year contract with the Hawks on Friday, and this afternoon is the deadline for Richmond to say whether or not they will match the offer.
It’s believed they have decided not to match, with it being reported that Vickery will earn $1 million on his two-year deal, probably enough to net Richmond a second-round or end-of-second-round draft pick.
Not a massive return for a guy once drafted in the top ten, but much like Collingwood and Cloke, it’ll mean salary cap space and one less headache around the club. The Tigers will be happy with that.
Daniel Wells and Chris Mayne could also both land at Collingwood today. Free agency is only open till 5pm on Sunday this week – October 16 – so the Pies will be looking to get these deals done as soon as possible and move on to other matters.
There wasn’t a whole lot of action on the rumours front on Sunday, but a few tidbits did emerge.
It’s been known for a while now that Fremantle are interested in out-of-contract Bulldogs premiership player Joel Hamling, and yesterday the news surfaced that Hamling’s potential Freo deal is bigger than what the Bulldogs have offered and he is seriously considering a move.
It makes a degree of sense; he is a Western Australian, so the go-home factor is always there, plus the increased deal and likely greater job security at the Dockers would be very appealing. Still, he might decide to stick with the Dogs all the same – walking away from premiership teammates would be a hard thing to do.
The chances of Steven Motlop leaving Geelong look to be increasing, with it being reported he had meetings with Richmond last week to potentially discuss joining the Tigers.
Michael Barlow is said by some to no longer be in the mix for the Gold Coast Suns – with no clear reason as to why that is – which leaves him without a clear potential destination for 2017.
Hayden Ballantyne is likely to join the West Coast Eagles in exchange for a third-round draft pick, though the Eagles may wait until other deals are finalised before officially making the offer.
St Kilda have thrown their hat in the ring for Koby Stevens, who is a chance to leave the Western Bulldogs. Essendon were seen as the club most likely to gain his services.
Sydney’s Toby Nankervis will make a decision this week on whether or not to seek a trade, with Richmond expected to be his most likely destination if he leaves.
Eric Mackenzie is likely to stay at the West Coast Eagles, despite some interest from other clubs.