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Just hours before the season began on Thursday the AFL released the 2018 free agents list.
Today, I’m taking a club-by-club look at who is on the market, and who is said to be interested.
Adelaide Crows
Restricted: Rory Sloane
Unrestricted: Richard Douglas, David Mackay, Andy Otten
It was only a short while ago that some said Rory Sloane would re-sign with the Crows before Round 1. Well… no.
The good news for Adelaide is that he has officially been named a restricted free agent despite the fact this is his tenth year at the club, giving them the option to force a trade if he wants to leave.
There hasn’t been anything concrete just yet about who might be targetting him though. He’ll be 29 by Round 1 next year, and only clubs who believe they can win a flag in the near future should consider it.
As for Douglas, Mackay, and Otten, it seems unlikely they would be playing AFL football anywhere other than Adelaide in 2019.
(Photo by Mark Brake/Getty Images)
Brisbane Lions
Restricted: none
Unrestricted: Rohan Bewick, Ryan Lester
Unlikely that opposition clubs would be interested in either player.
Carlton Blues
Restricted: none
Unrestricted: Marc Murphy, Kade Simpson
Hard to imagine either player wearing anything other than navy blue in 2019.
Collingwood Magpies
Restricted: none
Unrestricted: Jarryd Blair, Alex Fasolo, Tyson Goldsack, Ben Reid
West Coast put forward an interest in Alex Fasolo around trade time last year, but any chance of a deal being done was shut down pretty quickly.
Now that he’s an unrestricted free agent things might be different, and it wouldn’t be surprising if the Eagles have another crack.
Port Adelaide had an interest in signing Tyson Goldsack when he was last eligible for free agency, but that seems unlikely to recur four years later.
Essendon Bombers
Restricted: none
Unrestricted: Tom Bellchambers
Bellchambers seems to be Essendon’s preferred option ahead of Matthew Leuenberger at the moment so unless the Bombers acquire a ruckman they like better from elsewhere, he’s got no reason to do anything but remain at the club.
Fremantle Dockers
Restricted: none
Unrestricted: Hayden Ballantyne, Michael Johnson, David Mundy, Aaron Sandilands
You’d expect that all four of these players will either re-sign with Fremantle or hang up the boots at the end of the season.
That said, Mundy was courted by Richmond last time he was eligible for free agency, and is probably the most likely of these players to play on. If he doesn’t fit into Ross Lyon’s rebuild then a move home to a Victorian club that can find room for him could be a chance.
Geelong Cats
Restricted: Cam Guthrie
Unrestricted: George Horlin-Smith, Daniel Menzel
Both Guthrie and Menzel could attract attention from opposition clubs as they have some good attributes, though no one seemed interested in Menzel last year when he was on the market.
That said, he was in excellent form on the weekend, and another injury-free year of AFL football might make opposition clubs realise he’s worth writing a cheque for.
Horlin-Smith has been on the fringe of the Geelong side for a while now and would probably already have looked at moving clubs for more opportunities if there was anyone offering it.
Gold Coast Suns
Restricted: Tom J Lynch
Unrestricted: Jarrod Harbrow, Michael Rischitelli
Undoubtedly the biggest name on the free agency list this year is Tom J Lynch who will have every club in Victoria – and probably some outside of it, too – weighing up what they can afford to offer.
At this stage Richmond and Hawthorn appear to be the most likely destinations if he does choose to return to Victoria, but Collingwood and St Kilda have also signalled a serious interest in his services.
That said, Lynch has every reason to stay at Gold Coast – he’ll likely make more money there than he would anywhere else, and the club’s impressive Round 1 peformance suggests things may be turning around under Stuart Dew.
There might be some clubs out there that consider Jarrod Harbrow, there wouldn’t be any that would consider Rischitelli.
(AAP Image/Tracey Nearmy)
GWS Giants
Restricted: none
Unrestricted: none
The Giants are still a year away from having to worry about free agency.
Hawthorn Hawks
Restricted: none
Unrestricted: Shaun Burgoyne, Taylor Duryea, Paul Puopolo, Ryan Schoenmakers, Brendan Whitecross
Bar Burgoyne, all four of these players have been talked about in trade discussions at some point along the line over the past few years, but nothing has ever come to fruition. Will 2018 be different?
Melbourne Demons
Restricted: Tom McDonald
Unrestricted: Neville Jetta
There was a fair bit of interest in Tom McDonald last time he came out of contract, from Sydney in particular, and expect that to intensify now that he has added another string to his bow, showing he’s capable of playing as an effective tall forward.
Plenty of clubs would be interested in signing a 25-year-old tall who is capable of playing quality footy at either end, however the early expectation would be that he’s like to remain at Melbourne and play alongside his brother Oscar.
Jetta has experienced a remarkable career revival at Melbourne in recent years and surely would not consider a move anywhere else.
North Melbourne Kangaroos
Restricted: Shaun Atley
Unrestricted: Scott Thompson, Sam Wright
North desperately need more draft picks to refresh their list with so it’s not inconceivable that they could let Atley walk if an opposition side is willing to offer him enough to get them a second-round selection in compensation.
Thompson and Wright, realistically, won’t attract interest from other clubs.
Port Adelaide Power
Restricted: none
Unrestricted: Justin Westhoff
Westhoff most likely plays on next year and if so you’d expect it will certainly be with Port Adelaide.
Richmond Tigers
Restricted: Bachar Houli
Unrestricted: Reece Conca, Shaun Grigg
Conca has been regularly mentioned in trade period discussions as someone who might return home to Western Australia over the years, but it has never come to be – perhaps largely due to lack of interest from clubs in his home state. Expect the conversation to be had again this year.
Premiership players Bachar Houli and Shaun Grigg surely wouldn’t consider playing anywhere else.
St Kilda Saints
Restricted: none
Unrestricted: Sam Gilbert
Gilbert most likely will retire at the end of the season.
Sydney Swans
Restricted: none
Unrestricted: Heath Grundy, Jarrad McVeigh, Nick Smith
There was some talk about McVeigh playing a bonus year at another club as a precursor to a coaching role in 2018, but the Swans opted to re-sign him for this season instead. You’d expect he’ll retire at the end of the year.
Smith should go around again, and Grundy would be a reasonable chance to do the same.
West Coast Eagles
Restricted: Andrew Gaff, Scott Lycett, Jeremy McGovern
Unrestricted: Mark LeCras, Eric Mackenzie
Both Gaff and McGovern will draw strong interest from rival clubs.
West Coast are clearly keen to retain McGovern and reportedly made him an offer of $4 million across five years early in the preseason. However, this is said to have been trumped by an offer of $7 million over six years from an unknown Victorian club.
I suspect it’s Collingwood, but that’s just a guess.
If it purely comes down to dollar value for McGovern you’d expect that there is no way West Coast will be willing to match that amount – but, as a native Western Australian, he’ll have more to consider than just that.
The rumour mill has been quieter on Gaff, who probably looks the more likely of the two to move clubs.
There was plenty of talk ahead of the trade period last year about the Eagles possibly selling him one year early, but this was shut down fairly early on.
At the time, St Kilda, Essendon, Melbourne and Hawthorn were all said to be suitors, though Essendon and Melbourne’s busy 2017 offseasons may mean they’re less interested this time around.
He’d be a good fit at either the Saints or the Hawks, and is the kind of player North Melbourne might make an offer to also.
As restricted free agents West Coast will have the right to match a bid for them if they wish to, but having already traded away their 2018 first-round pick they might see the value of getting an early compensation pick in return.
Odds are that both Gaff and McGovern will attract band 1 compensation if they leave.
Scott Lycett is also one to keep an eye on. He received heavy interest from Port Adelaide last time he was out of contract and it wouldn’t be a surprise if they again consider pursuing him.
Eric Mackenzie’s fate might depend upon what decision McGovern makes, while Mark LeCras will either retire or re-sign with the Eagles.
(Photo by Daniel Carson/AFL Media/Getty Images)
Western Bulldogs
Restricted: Jordan Roughead, Mitch Wallis
Unrestricted: Luke Dahlhaus, Tom Liberatore, Dale Morris
Possibly the most interesting revelation on this year’s list was that Luke Dahlhaus and Tom Liberatore will be unrestricted free agents.
This is the eighth year in the AFL for both of them which means that to qualify for unrestricted free agency, they cannot be inside the club’s top 25 per cent highest-paid players (roughly the top nine or ten best-paid).
Conversely, Mitch Wallis, for whom this is also the eight year in the league, apparently is.
It means that if either wants to move clubs at the end of the year, the Bulldogs won’t have any right to match a bid for them, making them an attractive proposition for potential suitors.
Luke Beveridge recently denied reports in the media that the Bulldogs had shopped around these players at the trade table last year – it’d be nice to take him at his word, but that can so rarely be done when it comes to trade talk.
If the Bulldogs were putting them on the trade table last year, it does suggest they won’t be all that keen to retain them at the end of this one.
That could make for an interesting set of affairs given that, after his unfortunate ACL injury on the week, Liberatore declared he will eschew free agency and sign a long term contract with the Dogs. It’d feel wrong to see him playing anywhere else, so fingers crossed it pans out.
Dahlhaus on the other hand will certainly draw interest from a number of clubs, but nothing in the realm of a concrete suitor seems to have emerged just yet.
Roughead and Wallis you’d expect probably won’t be heavily targetted, and Morris seems most likely to retire at the end of the year.
My top ten most valuable free agents of 2018
1. Tom J Lynch
2. Jeremy McGovern
3. Tom McDonald
4. Rory Sloane
5. Andrew Gaff
6. Luke Dahlhaus
7. Neville Jetta
8. Tom Liberatore
9. Alex Fasolo
10. Scott Lycett