Trade Rumours 2025

[jazzadogs]

I’ve always wondered why other clubs can’t bid in then player like the draft.

on the other hand when you spend Pick 7 on a player like Smith and then develop him why should any other club not have to offer pick 7 to get him in the next trade. Like the father and son rule. You can nominate a club but if another club offers pick 4 Geelong should have to work that out in points or draft picks to secure your services

So we could have traded Tim Walsh and clubs would have been forced to give us pick 4? Sounds sick.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

An apparent reliable poster on the other forum has said Silvagni is asking about Sanders.

The smoke is starting to billow re Wilkie. If indeed this is true, then the idea of landing Wilkie is suddenly a little more than 1% probable.

Would I trade Sanders for him? it's tempting.....Would I trade our first AND Sanders? No.

[JanLorMill]

An apparent reliable poster on the other forum has said Silvagni is asking about Sanders.

The smoke is starting to billow re Wilkie. If indeed this is true, then the idea of landing Wilkie is suddenly a little more than 1% probable.

Would I trade Sanders for him? it's tempting.....Would I trade our first AND Sanders? No.

I don’t think anyone said a first rounder and Sanders. Otherwise in a heartbeat.

[doggies ftw]

An apparent reliable poster on the other forum has said Silvagni is asking about Sanders.

The smoke is starting to billow re Wilkie. If indeed this is true, then the idea of landing Wilkie is suddenly a little more than 1% probable.

Would I trade Sanders for him? it's tempting.....Would I trade our first AND Sanders? No.

C4(the poster) is legit, he’s been spot on for about 10 years on there. So I think it’s true.

its interesting - as you said clearly there is something in this Wilkie talk then.

On Sanders it’s a tough call, I don’t want to lose him but I think he may end up a very good player but probably not a great one. I like the kid and I’d try to get Wilkie without him, but if that was the only way then I’d probably do it, I wouldn’t add more to the trade though.

It really depends what the deal with Butters is too, if we’re confident on him then I’d definitely move him on. Sanders for Wilkie & Butters (and picks from us) would be brilliant business

[JanLorMill]

Was Sanders at the vfl game in the celebration?

[Bornadog]

Was Sanders at the vfl game in the celebration?

YES, saw him.

[Sedat]

We've been absolutely shafted twice recently in the trade period, and it's been because we've had two stars refusing to sign contract extensions and using that in the trade period to give their chosen club insane leverage. It was particularly bad with Smith. We spent pick 7 on him, and paid him for a year where he didn't play. We lost pick 7, lost a key burst midfielder, gained pick 17, and gave a much better club the piece they needed to keep contending.

Literally any observer can see that was a lopsided trade with very real consequences for equalisation, and it should never have been approved. But the problem isn't the trade system, it's the contract system. Waiting until you are out of contract to hold your club over a barrel is a shortcut to free agency, but without any compensation for the losing club. It's a massive loophole that needs to be closed.

Players should of course be able to choose their club and broker a deal, but clubs need to be able to meaningfully say no to the deal. The Bulldogs have not been able to do that for two significant stars. I don't fully understand why the PSD isn't a solution - refuse to sign a contract and pick a team to escape to, sure, but then, the risk you run is that if you pick a team with no draft capital, you might not get to pick your club. It would also give the club losing the player a bargaining chip to bring the player back to the contract negotiation table.

Honestly, the Bailey Smith fiasco is turning me off AFL. Watching him blossom at Geelong, watching Geelong make a grand final, hearing he's in contention for a Brownlow before Bont. All of these things are just diabolical. But then just two years beforehand, Dunkley did the same thing at the Lions. These two teams can also attract talent like Jeremy Cameron and Lachie Neale - and also somehow pay for them in trade capital. How? Again, this loophole needs to be closed.

Geelong is a tight unit, and Chris Scott is a good coach. Their system works and they recruit well. We have also struggled with club culture, clearly. We shouldn't be one-eyed about this. But Geelong are also abusing a system that is full of loopholes that are being kept open by a range of powerbrokers for a range of reasons, some of which border on corruption. Almost any coach could win with Patrick Dangerfield and Bailey Smith feeding Jeremy Cameron. It's deeply dispiriting and sucks a lot of the fun out of the sport for me.

All the above is true and it is annoying (but not as much as the $500m squeezed out of the taxpayer to fund their pissant stadium that they still can't ever fill). But you have to doff your cap at their player development, recruiting and list management:

Myers pick 57
Atkins pick 11 rookie draft
Stewart rookie pick
Mannagh pick 36 (who we could have mid-season rookied)
Close pick 14 rookie draft
Dempsey pick 15 rookie draft
Humphries pick 63
Mullin/O'Connor from Ireland
Blicavs (Cat B rookie from memory)

That is absolutely masterful work led by Stephen Wells, and this is what ultimately separates teams. If you nail your recruiting, list management and player development, you get to contend most years. Take the Humphries one - Geelong haggled with Freo for an extra late pick as part of the Jordan Clark trade. Everyone thought Geelong were being stubborn dickheads, but Freo eventually caved and Geelong used that specific pick to land Humphries (who everybody had a chance to select).

[ledge]

All the above is true and it is annoying (but not as much as the $500m squeezed out of the taxpayer to fund their pissant stadium that they still can't ever fill). But you have to doff your cap at their player development, recruiting and list management:

Myers pick 57
Atkins pick 11 rookie draft
Stewart rookie pick
Mannagh pick 36 (who we could have mid-season rookied)
Close pick 14 rookie draft
Dempsey pick 15 rookie draft
Humphries pick 63
Mullin/O'Connor from Ireland
Blicavs (Cat B rookie from memory)

That is absolutely masterful work led by Stephen Wells, and this is what ultimately separates teams. If you nail your recruiting, list management and player development, you get to contend most years. Take the Humphries one - Geelong haggled with Freo for an extra late pick as part of the Jordan Clark trade. Everyone thought Geelong were being stubborn dickheads, but Freo eventually caved and Geelong used that specific pick to land Humphries (who everybody had a chance to select).

Let’s not forget they have a great geographical spot to sell , if you want to stay in Victoria you’re beaching it and enjoying a more laid back lifestyle .
Tell me what other vic club comes anywhere near what they can offer in that space .

[jazzadogs]

All the above is true and it is annoying (but not as much as the $500m squeezed out of the taxpayer to fund their pissant stadium that they still can't ever fill). But you have to doff your cap at their player development, recruiting and list management:

Myers pick 57
Atkins pick 11 rookie draft
Stewart rookie pick
Mannagh pick 36 (who we could have mid-season rookied)
Close pick 14 rookie draft
Dempsey pick 15 rookie draft
Humphries pick 63
Mullin/O'Connor from Ireland
Blicavs (Cat B rookie from memory)

That is absolutely masterful work led by Stephen Wells, and this is what ultimately separates teams. If you nail your recruiting, list management and player development, you get to contend most years. Take the Humphries one - Geelong haggled with Freo for an extra late pick as part of the Jordan Clark trade. Everyone thought Geelong were being stubborn dickheads, but Freo eventually caved and Geelong used that specific pick to land Humphries (who everybody had a chance to select).

There was an article about Nigel Lappin, who is their head of development, the other day. I don't think his influence can be underrated. Also they're not afraid to pick up 'mature agers' - on your list I think Atkins, Close, Stewart, Mannagh, Mullin, O'Connor, Blicavs, as well as Tim Kelly notably, have come in new to the AFL system when they are 20+.

Our rookies and mid season picks have been an issue lately. We've done well in the early to middle draft, but seem to be taking too many wild potshots after that.

(Also doesn't really dilute your point but Stewart was pick 40 in national draft, not a rookie)

[jazzadogs]

An apparent reliable poster on the other forum has said Silvagni is asking about Sanders.

The smoke is starting to billow re Wilkie. If indeed this is true, then the idea of landing Wilkie is suddenly a little more than 1% probable.

Would I trade Sanders for him? it's tempting.....Would I trade our first AND Sanders? No.

Depending on how you want to view it, given the trade we did for Sanders, it's effectively two first round picks for Wilkie.

[Bornadog]

Depending on how you want to view it, given the trade we did for Sanders, it's effectively two first round picks for Wilkie.

I wouldn't be letting Sanders go. That would be madness. Next year, he is 21 and in his 3rd year. We paid alot to get him and deserves a chance.

[jazzadogs]

I wouldn't be letting Sanders go. That would be madness. Next year, he is 21 and in his 3rd year. We paid alot to get him and deserves a chance.

What about if it gets us Wilkie and he is the missing piece to a flag?

[The Bulldogs Bite]

If we trade Sanders for Wilke I would hope it's not our only move. That's a 'win now' move, which I can live with, but we're more than just Wilke away from finishing top 4 and contending.

[1eyedog]

I'm not even confident Sanders will be here in 2028.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

I'm not even confident Sanders will be here in 2028.

And this would have to play into it. But surely the saints would also do their due diligence on that.

One would think, given we don't operate like the repugnant cats or lions, that we know what we're prepared to give up to get Wilkie over rather than just getting him to commit and then just offering crumbs to the saints who would rightly tell us to get stuffed.