Early Trade Rumours 2023

[bulldogsthru&thru]

"I can 100% confirm Aaron Naughton will NOT be moving this year. I can understand teams doing their due diligence, but he is committed to the Dogs and will be there in 2024."

- Andrew McDougall on his client Aaron Naughton

Not exactly encouraging.

[GVGjr]

"I can 100% confirm Aaron Naughton will NOT be moving this year. I can understand teams doing their due diligence, but he is committed to the Dogs and will be there in 2024."

- Andrew McDougall on his client Aaron Naughton

That' puts an end to the speculation fromy perspective

[bulldogtragic]

That' puts an end to the speculation fromy perspective

For next year….

“Dosh Junkley is committed to the dogs for 2022”.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

For next year….

“Dosh Junkley is committed to the dogs for 2022”.

"We're confident Dosh will commit to the dogs."

[Rocket Science]

Me, waiting for the first, distant rumbles of Shocktober ...

[GVGjr]

For next year….

“Dosh Junkley is committed to the dogs for 2022”.

I get that in 12 months time it might be a very different position but we shouldn't be reading anything more into what his manager has said for this season. I don't know what he could have said that would have appeased anyone with a more skeptical mind.

[Topdog]

For next year….

“Dosh Junkley is committed to the dogs for 2022”.

We all knew Josh wanted to leave, he had already asked for a trade request.
I've heard nothing to suggest Naughton wants to go.

[Mofra]

I get even more nervous when player managers say "my client is going nowhere"

I suspect there has been a delay to negotiations from a lot of manager until the CBA was finalised.
Now that's done, it's going to be a busy off-season for all clubs & managers

[MrMahatma]

He has no contract beyond next year and will be hoping to negotiate a massive pay day. No reason he’d say anything about 2025 yet.

I think it’s good news.

[Bulldog Revolution]

He has no contract beyond next year and will be hoping to negotiate a massive pay day. No reason he’d say anything about 2025 yet.

I think it’s good news.

Correct MrM - and he should get a massive pay day, and we all hope it is with us

[GVGjr]

This from Code Sports

There is a left-field solution to Melbourne’s Brodie Grundy trade bust.

The discount move for the former Collingwood superstar went in the bin when coach Simon Goodwin finally made the call to drop him two months out from finals.

It was a double-punch to the guts for an All-Australian ruckman.

Booted from Collingwood, and dumped by the Demons.

But Grundy, who must have found the Magpies’ premiership triumph on Saturday tough to watch, has handled the bonfire with absolute class, and will attempt to return to his best in the anonymity of the Sydney AFL lifestyle.

However, Grundy isn’t on his own in the trade backfire stakes heading into an exchange period where out-of-contract key defenders Ben McKay and Esava Ratugolea, in particular, are set to fill their pockets.

Bomber Brandon Zerk-Thatcher and Crow Tom Doedee will also change clubs as part of the boom time for key backmen this year.

And Fremantle ruckman Sean Darcy remains a big watch as whispers continue to circle about a change either this year or next as Luke Jackson looms as a more impressive No. 1 ruckman.

The Cats have pick eight this year but are open to offers, they’ve confirmed.

But the bulk of the trade intrigue surrounds Melbourne, and whether they will hold their nerve on key forward pairing Jacob Van Rooyen and Harry Petty for next year, or push a button on something more dramatic to maximise the premiership window.

Equally, the biggest coaching spotlight in the game will intensify on Dogs’ coach Luke Beveridge and his search to strike the right balance in 2024 as the club juggles a salary cap squeeze.

As one Bulldogs’ player said after the season had come to a close, things had been "tense" at the kennel late this year.

It seems extraordinary to look back, but Western Bulldogs started the season in the round 1 loss to Melbourne with four key forwards at a time when teams are going smaller, more mobile and more dynamic in attack.

And, just as the Demons scour the competition for potential key forward-ruck options, Bulldog Rory Lobb is surplus to requirements at the kennel.

The Dogs went taller and subsequently went backwards this year, missing the finals following a horrific loss to wooden-spooner West Coast at Marvel Stadium.

Lobb, 30, kicked 24 goals from 20 matches, spent time on the wing, and was eventually dropped to the VFL in Round 18 and 19 as the Dogs spluttered towards the end of the season, losing five of their last eight games.

And now in the aftermath of another wasted season in the west of Melbourne, the Dogs will confront the biggest salary cap crunch in the game, as they attempt to keep the game's most in-demand free agent for next year, Aaron Naughton, breakout star Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, midfielder Bailey Smith and All-Australian ruckman Tim English.

And the future is not Lobb. It is Sam Darcy.

Plus, another father-son prodigy, Coates League team of the year centre half forward Jordan Croft, is also on the way.

As Hawthorn and Melbourne champion Jordan Lewis said this year the Lobb deal hasn't worked out for the Dogs.

"The Dogs would have hoped for a lot more from Lobb," Lewis said on Fox Footy.

"It was a bizarre decision to bring him to the Dogs where they've already got Naughton and Ugle-Hagan was up and coming.

"You didn’t really see a spot that he would fit."

North Melbourne great David King agreed.

"I don’t know what his role is or his function is in this team, a high priced recruit" King said.

"He doesn’t get options in terms of targets forward of centre, they hardly ever go to him. He just rolls around the ground."

And ahead of a trade period which is set to be dominated by the four-pronged key defender switcheroo led by McKay and Ratugolea, what Melbourne does in attack is the big wildcard over the next few weeks.

Aside from premier Collingwood, which plucked Billy Frampton from nowhere this time last year, and Carlton, the Demons were a big story in September, losing both finals by two and seven points.

That is despite having 32 more inside 50s than Collingwood in week one of the finals and eight more scoring shots than Carlton in week two.

When the club crunched the data, losing both finals was calculated roughly as a 250-1 chance considering the supply.

The key performance indicators suggested they should have won one or both.

Instead, the Demons rolled snake eyes, and torched the footy.

And now the club confronts key questions on personnel, how to become more efficient, and whether the midfield stars are selfless enough. Whether they have enough line breaking speed and class in the midfield.

The Demons bombed the ball too long and straight against Collingwood and then butchered golden goal kicking opportunities against Carlton to bow out in straight sets.

Straight sets, once again.

Grundy, 29, watched both finals from the stands, knowing his cards had been marked two months earlier.

The trade failed, and as much as Melbourne tried to say it would not let him go, sanity will prevail when Grundy finds another new home in red and white.

But Lobb is exactly the type of flexible key forward-second ruck Melbourne needs, if he is prepared to go hard in the contest. And commit.

If he is prepared to ruck, at times, like Joe Daniher does.

Melbourne's game is built on contested possession.

But would the Dogs and Demons bite the bullet on a one-and-done deal? Grundy for Lobb.

Or would Melbourne think more conservatively and not take a risk on a big man two years in a row, and instead wait a season to launch at Ben King, or free agent Aaron Naughton?

These are the types of decisions being made at Demons HQ.

Melbourne was extraordinarily unlucky in September, gambling on Tom McDonald after four months out injured, after losing forwards Ben Brown, Petty, Jake Melksham and Van Rooyen in finals.

It meant they had to send forward Christian Petracca who booted 8.13 in his last six games.

The inaccuracy cost him the Brownlow Medal, too, as he polled only once in the last six matches.

But Melbourne not only needs a back-up ruck option in case Max Gawn gets injured, the Demons also need another key forward to support Van Rooyen, and possibly, Petty.

Van Rooyen is only 20. Petty suffered a Lisfranc injury.

They can’t pull all the team’s eggs in one basket.

Adelaide Crows have also made Petty priority No. 1 in the Shane McAdam deal as Petty hails from Wudinna, a tiny town in regional South Australia.

But Petty remains contracted for two more years and the Demons have laughed off any prospect off a move home. But the interest is enormous.

Grundy was contracted when he left Collingwood and he remains contracted for another four more years, but has already booked his ticket for Bondi.

His Melbourne locker is empty.

The Dogs are stacked down the spine. They have Naughton, Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, Darcy, Tim English, James O’Donnell and should land 200cm key forward Croft in the draft.

Plus Lobb, who is contracted for two more years.

And the Dogs are certain to take the plunge on pick four in a mega swap with Gold Coast, giving up the Dogs’ picks 10, 17 and a future first-rounder for the Suns’ pick four.

It means the Dogs will be able to take 170cm electric forward Nick Watson to partner Cody Weightman at ground level. It will be more balanced.

While Collingwood, Brisbane, GWS Giants and Carlton were all on the rise in 2023, the Dogs and Demons would be among the most disappointed.

And at Melbourne, Brown, McDonald and Adam Tomlinson all look past their best, while marking targets Mabior Chol looks set for Hawthorn and Jacob Koschitzke will land at Richmond.

Chol can look disinterested at times but has talent and athleticism and Koschitzke surprisingly fell out of favour at Hawthorn this year.

Ben King will be the most in-demand player in the game if he doesn’t re-sign by mid-season under new coach Damien Hardwick at Gold Coast.

There will also be an enormous spotlight on whether Harry McKay can help lead Carlton to a flag next year and whether his twin brother, Ben, can finally stiffen an Essendon backline desperate for a big body.

Essendon has been frontrunner for the strong-bodied defender since a Herald Sun report revealed the move on June 30.

But the Bombers aren’t done, as list boss Adrian Dodoro could yet pull off moves for Saints’ goal kicker Jade Gresham and North Melbourne Todd Goldstein, as part of a historic free agency triple play.

The Bombers had less money on the table than Hawthorn in the race for McKay but he chose Essendon because of the role, the relationship with Brad Scott, and belief in the Bombers’ vision.

The backman had an indifferent season, but the uncertainty surrounding his future – there has been no offer from North Melbourne – is said to have taken a toll and had an impact on his form this year.

But Essendon may have done North Melbourne no favours offering a deal which is borderline enough to trigger a first-round compensation pick for the Roos.

A first-round pick (tied to the Roos’ ladder position) would gift the Kangaroos pick three.

But why would Essendon want to trigger a first-round pick for North Melbourne which would only shuffle the Bombers back one selection in the draft order?

[jeemak]

So who does King or Lewis suggest we get to play second ruck? Naughton or JUH? Sam Darcy who can't get on the park?

Why would we give up a second ruck who admittedly didn't have a great year but still managed to kick 24 goals as the third target?

Insane.

[Sedat]

So who does King or Lewis suggest we get to play second ruck?

English

Imagine a parallel unverse where Lobb went to the Dees and Grundy to the Dogs 12 months ago. English might not have been AA ruckman but he might have still been playing on Saturday. Ditto Lobb and Grundy.

[bornadog]

Ollie Wines is on Geelong's raider and Zac Fisher to North

[jeemak]

English

Imagine a parallel unverse where Lobb went to the Dees and Grundy to the Dogs 12 months ago. English might not have been AA ruckman but he might have still been playing on Saturday. Ditto Lobb and Grundy.

Don't trigger me.

That was my ideal situation.