Bryce Gibbs, Gary Ablett, Jake Stringer, Lachie Weller, Josh Schache and Charlie Cameron all found new homes on deadline day, alongside many others.
It’s deadline day! We’re set for a flurry of action on the final day of the AFL trade and free agency period, with the clubs having just five hours submit any remaining deals.
Join me here on The Roar for all the latest AFL trade news and rumours from 9am AEDT.
Bryce Gibbs, Jake Stringer and Gary Ablett are all waiting to know what their fate is on this final day of the trade period.
The Gibbs deal is expected to get done but one of the two parties will have to cave on the contentious issue of a late second-round pick.
Ablett should get to Geelong too, and for perhaps as little as pick 35 after all – what a step down that will be for Gold Coast from their hardball stance.
Jake Stringer is probably the most doubtful of the three, but we still expected a deal will get done, likely for a combinaton of second-round picks.
Trades for Charlie Cameron, Matthew Kennedy, Darcy Lang and Anthony Miles could all spring into action off the back of the Gibbs deal.
There’s also expected to be a flurry of pick-swap deals late in the piece, and some of those could be set in motion by the Stringer deal.
Nathan Wilson, Lachie Weller, Josh Schache and Aaron Francis are other big names who could move today, though Wilson is the only one of the four who seems likely to.
Weller is likely to be kept at Fremantle with the Dockers refusing to budge on their demand of pick 2 for him.
Schache and Francis on the other hand just don’t seem to have anyone willing to pay what their clubs expect in return for them.
Certainly some minor players will move too, ala Harrison Wigg yesterday – Brandon Matera, Aaron Young and Mitch Honeychurch are all possibilities.
Join me here on The Roar for all the latest AFL trade news and rumours from 9am AEDT.
Paul D
Roar Guru
Only if Jake Stringer is the new Buddy Franklin
John
Guest
Freo biggest loser. They have damaged their brand. No way interstate mums and dads will let their little boy travel to Freo. He'll be stuck there forever.
Dalgety Carrington
Roar Guru
GWS got a much more generous slew of concessions, so they can feel free flog their surplus for next-to-nothing to their crony mate.
guttsy
Guest
Brian, I think a big part of the problem is that the trade system doesn't tend to reward clubs who have the player that is leaving. Often the club is with player who is leving is providing a proven player and in return they are receiving an unproven draft pick. So generally clubs with more plyers leaving than arriving naturally don't do that well at the trade table. Maybe this is something the AFL needs to redress.
guttsy
Guest
Looks 50:50 to me Brian, I would advise Freo to choose to Lachie Weller rather than to go into this lottery, if Lachie wanted to stay at Freo. Sure there are some stars Cotchin, Naitanui, Kelly, Roughhed that I would rate ahead of the player that Weller is likely to become and a couple Coniglio, Thomas I would rate alongside the player that Weller is likely to become. But I see 5 players that have their careers cruelled by injury and have not or are unlikely to become anywhere near the player that Lachie Weller will become. And there are also a couple who are too young to tell. Looking at the no 2 drafts before 2004 Andrew Walker, Daniel Wellers, Luke Ball, Justin Koschitzke the players appear to be a little more consistent but I'm sure at the end of his career Weller will be able to hold his own with them all.
Don Freo
Guest
Perhaps they should stop sacking coaches and give players some stability. If they kept Vossy, they'd be stable now, they'd have kept kids and have some tradition that links to the 3 Premierships.
Don Freo
Guest
Is Jimmy the new Richard Tambling?
Stephen
Guest
After 13 seasons without a finals win (longest in the comp) - not sure Essendon should be getting too carried away.
Paul D
Roar Guru
2 gets him here this year, why wait? As I said above, what they possibly get for 2 isn't guaranteed to be more valuable than Weller in the long run. next year's first rounder is probably a top 5 pick in itself, and besides, people on the gold coast aren't known for their careful husbanding of money. They're just trying to blend in with the locals
Stephen
Guest
Macca, As I said above, I'm tipping Gold Coast would have communicated and gained the approval from the AFL for all the key trades. I take your point - pick 2's are hard to get. I guess they feel it's rare and refreshing for a player to want to join the GC. And they have seen so many early picks leave the club previously. Melbourne were criticized years ago for taking Watts ahead of Naitanui. Melbourne's response was - they always felt Naitanui would want to return to Perth in the short-term. Clubs have a lot to take into consideration. The fact it's not an exact science, perhaps makes it more interesting.
Stephen
Guest
Guys, I think it's safe to assume - Gold Coast management would have kept the AFL in the loop re all the key trades - Ablett, Weller, Pick 2 etc. And obtained their approval accordingly.
Macca
Guest
PaulD - Weller may well be as good or better than who the Suns took at 2, but they could have had both. If Freo didn't come to the party this year, wait a year and grab him for next to nothing when he is out of contract, give Freo 19, give Freo next years first rounder and back yourself to get better. It wasn't 2 or miss out forever.
dontknowmuchaboutfootball
Guest
yep
dontknowmuchaboutfootball
Guest
It's like goldy, except made out of iron.
Paul D
Roar Guru
I totally agree, barring injuries he is a 10+ year player for them. Right now the Suns need to price loyalty as their most desirable trait in players. What would the Suns have got with pick 2 that would be demonstrably better than Weller? I don't think it's 50/50, I think based on history its some way less than that. Great trade by the Suns. They need to target players who want to be here and get them. That will help bring Queensland fans on board and to more games, with that sort of narrative. I think they're finally starting to understand their market, such as it is Watch them nab Mav Weller when he comes off contract at the end of 2018 and St Kilda are going nowhere as usual. If you're going to be going nowhere might as well do it at home for more money
Paul D
Roar Guru
He's pick 2 in the same way Jimmy Toumpas is pick 4
Dalgety Carrington
Roar Guru
Agree with all of that guttsy.
Macca
Guest
It's that sort of genius thinking that has them 17th while GWS sit top 4.
Dalgety Carrington
Roar Guru
Separate out those who have gone to the frontier clubs though, 50% have moved on.
guttsy
Guest
I think Freo has generally always tried to do what is best for its players. I think it can hold itself out as a club which is good at developing players, invests heavily in its players and which genuinely looks after its players. And that Fremantle has sometimes done this to the detriment of the wider club. It is nice for once to see a return, on this approach by Fremantle, in a trade. And I maintain that a lot of people on this website are seriously underating Lachie Weller.