Trade Rumours 2025

[jazzadogs]

From AFL.com.au
Deven Robertson The midfielder will be delisted by Brisbane in the coming days, paving the way for him to join West Coast after six seasons and 47 games with the Lions. The Eagles have been given four extra rookie spots as part of their assistance package and are keen to add Robertson via one of those. He met with coach Andrew McQualter in the week following the Grand Final, with the Eagles pitching their vision for the 24-year-old to play as a contested, inside midfielder. A WA product, Robertson has long been seen as an Eagles' target and they will finally land him for free.

I remember there being a cap on rookie wages in the past. Why would Robertson agree to this? Surely we were offering him more than a rookie spot...what am I missing here?

[doggies ftw]

Some those deals were crazy! If the going rate for good players is 3 first what’s Bont or Diacos worth, 6?!

Nah I don’t think any of them were crazy, except for Bombers asking price.

For example Curnows trade included a 1st round 2027 going to Blues, and pick 31 (2nd round) this year going back to Swans. In reality that pick 31 going to Swans will be a better pick than Swans ‘27 1st but the media says it as 3 first round picks!

The media were just very sensationalist about it all, “Geelongs biggest offer ever, 3 firsts!) which in reality was very mid at like pick 25, pick 20, pick 30 etc

They either haven’t learnt (or just don’t care because headlines sell I guess) that in the current system there’s such a huge difference between first rounders. A pick 5-10 (on the night) is gold, a late first rounder. Meh, basically steak knives at this point.

[Axe Man]

From AFL.com.au
Deven Robertson The midfielder will be delisted by Brisbane in the coming days, paving the way for him to join West Coast after six seasons and 47 games with the Lions. The Eagles have been given four extra rookie spots as part of their assistance package and are keen to add Robertson via one of those. He met with coach Andrew McQualter in the week following the Grand Final, with the Eagles pitching their vision for the 24-year-old to play as a contested, inside midfielder. A WA product, Robertson has long been seen as an Eagles' target and they will finally land him for free.

I remember there being a cap on rookie wages in the past. Why would Robertson agree to this? Surely we were offering him more than a rookie spot...what am I missing here?

I don't believe there is any cap on rookie wages. Around the first $100,000 is outside the salary cap I think (the rookie base amount), it's up to the clubs if they want to pay above that.

Being on the rookie list only makes a difference to new draftees these days with often 1 year contracts and lower wages. For existing players I'm not sure there is any real difference to being on the primary list.

[kickit2Koly]

Nah I don’t think any of them were crazy, except for Bombers asking price.

For example Curnows trade included a 1st round 2027 going to Blues, and pick 31 (2nd round) this year going back to Swans. In reality that pick 31 going to Swans will be a better pick than Swans ‘27 1st but the media says it as 3 first round picks!

The media were just very sensationalist about it all, “Geelongs biggest offer ever, 3 firsts!) which in reality was very mid at like pick 25, pick 20, pick 30 etc

They either haven’t learnt (or just don’t care because headlines sell I guess) that in the current system there’s such a huge difference between first rounders. A pick 5-10 (on the night) is gold, a late first rounder. Meh, basically steak knives at this point.

I don’t disagree, my post was more around the value of the top 5 players in the league if guys in the top 20 are worth so much.

[Sedat]

Seems like a few of the bigger clubs have gotten ahead of themselves honey dicking senior players and then not stumping up to get the deals done.

I know some on here love a good pity party when it comes to the Dogs, but both Hawthorn and Geelong significantly failed to deliver specifically identified and targeted players in areas of urgent weakness for them. Hawthorn actually has eroded their midfield depth with Worpel moving on, and Geelong will be relying once again on Stanley as key no 1 ruckman. Likewise, what did Adelaide do to improve their ordinary midfield this trade period? They'll probably get him in PSD but they couldn't even land Ah Chee in a trade. Collingwood have done nothing except shuffle the deck chairs from one forward workhorse to another (highly speculative) one. Freo didn't do much (probably don't need to).

I don't see how any of the above teams improve to Brisbane's level, who actually got better in areas of concern during the trade period. Gold Coast are the only other top 8 team to have improved their top end (but at the expense of squad depth). GWS and Sydney have both taken calculated risks in areas of weakness and both might be able to improve (Sydney have also taken a hit on squad depth).

So much negative spin from the media and some on here about us not being able to land a quality KPD, when Wilkie aside one didn't exist. Serious Bulldog watchers would know that small lockdown defenders were just as big a problem for us and we have gotten the best available for a small price. Getting JUH out of our life will be a massive boost for us, not just the $900k next season but the constant never-ending speculation about his extra curricular activities would have been an enormous drain on our internal resources.

For mine, we need to change our game style when we have to defend the entire ground more than we need the key defender magnet down back. It's time to get to work in the off-season.

[Mofra]

Some those deals were crazy! If the going rate for good players is 3 first what’s Bont or Diacos worth, 6?!

Media are reporting Essendon wanted 4 first rounders as part of any Merrett deal. Madness

[whythelongface]

Really good post Sedat. It does put things in perspective. it does show that trading is challenging and even the top teams struggle at times negotiating to get players to their respective clubs.

Obviously disappointed we didn’t land a big fish for our defensive stocks but also glad we didn’t bring in a non required player in this space.

[Bornadog]

I know some on here love a good pity party when it comes to the Dogs, but both Hawthorn and Geelong significantly failed to deliver specifically identified and targeted players in areas of urgent weakness for them. Hawthorn actually has eroded their midfield depth with Worpel moving on, and Geelong will be relying once again on Stanley as key no 1 ruckman. Likewise, what did Adelaide do to improve their ordinary midfield this trade period? They'll probably get him in PSD but they couldn't even land Ah Chee in a trade. Collingwood have done nothing except shuffle the deck chairs from one forward workhorse to another (highly speculative) one. Freo didn't do much (probably don't need to).

I don't see how any of the above teams improve to Brisbane's level, who actually got better in areas of concern during the trade period. Gold Coast are the only other top 8 team to have improved their top end (but at the expense of squad depth). GWS and Sydney have both taken calculated risks in areas of weakness and both might be able to improve (Sydney have also taken a hit on squad depth).

So much negative spin from the media and some on here about us not being able to land a quality KPD, when Wilkie aside one didn't exist. Serious Bulldog watchers would know that small lockdown defenders were just as big a problem for us and we have gotten the best available for a small price. Getting JUH out of our life will be a massive boost for us, not just the $900k next season but the constant never-ending speculation about his extra curricular activities would have ben an enormous drain on our internal resources.

For mine, we need to change our game style when we have to defend the entire ground more than we need the key defender magnet down back. It's time to get to work in the off-season.

Great summary Sedat.

[Bornadog]

Media are reporting Essendon wanted 4 first rounders as part of any Merrett deal. Madness

The team that could have had Dunkley but they were too stingy.

[Axe Man]

The team that could have had Dunkley but they were too stingy.

And Brisbane that wouldn't put forward a reasonable offer for an out of contract Dunkley refused a reasonable offer for an out of contract Ah Chee.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

So we saved 900k and it's great. But are we just gonna chuck it in a high interest savings account with ING? We need to go out and spend it!!

We already had enough for Butters so next trade period is a big one. If we don't land Butters or a high calibre player or two it's gonna get ugly.

It really feels like it's all hanging on Butters' signature and I hate that because we never land big fishes.

[Grantysghost]

The team that could have had Dunkley but they were too stingy.

And the picked they wouldn't give up ended up being the superstar that is Ben Hobbs. Nick Cox and Ben Hobbs v Dunkley. Dodo wins again !

[Sedat]

And Brisbane that wouldn't put forward a reasonable offer for an out of contract Dunkley refused a reasonable offer for an out of contract Ah Chee.

Their offer wasn't amazing, but he was out of contract and then we farked most of it up by selecting Charlie Clarke with one of the key planks of the trade - that's 100% on us. Hopefully Sanders and Croft (parts thereof) go some way to redressing the current massive loss on this deal.

[1eyedog]

I know some on here love a good pity party when it comes to the Dogs, but both Hawthorn and Geelong significantly failed to deliver specifically identified and targeted players in areas of urgent weakness for them. Hawthorn actually has eroded their midfield depth with Worpel moving on, and Geelong will be relying once again on Stanley as key no 1 ruckman. Likewise, what did Adelaide do to improve their ordinary midfield this trade period? They'll probably get him in PSD but they couldn't even land Ah Chee in a trade. Collingwood have done nothing except shuffle the deck chairs from one forward workhorse to another (highly speculative) one. Freo didn't do much (probably don't need to).

I don't see how any of the above teams improve to Brisbane's level, who actually got better in areas of concern during the trade period. Gold Coast are the only other top 8 team to have improved their top end (but at the expense of squad depth). GWS and Sydney have both taken calculated risks in areas of weakness and both might be able to improve (Sydney have also taken a hit on squad depth).

So much negative spin from the media and some on here about us not being able to land a quality KPD, when Wilkie aside one didn't exist. Serious Bulldog watchers would know that small lockdown defenders were just as big a problem for us and we have gotten the best available for a small price. Getting JUH out of our life will be a massive boost for us, not just the $900k next season but the constant never-ending speculation about his extra curricular activities would have been an enormous drain on our internal resources.

For mine, we need to change our game style when we have to defend the entire ground more than we need the key defender magnet down back. It's time to get to work in the off-season.

Agree with everything you've said.

Sydney are the interesting one. I totally get you have to pay overs to bring in contracted top end talent, but you have to question moving on Florent who was a decent workhorse who can play a role and a pretty sharp player in Haywood. That's still two role players you have to replace with bottom 23-25 players and it's often said that it's not the top 5 that win you GFs it's the bottom 6 (mind you Sydney's top 5 are pretty good).

Will be interesting to see how they go next season.

[Sedat]

Agree with everything you've said.

Sydney are the interesting one. I totally get you have to pay overs to bring in contracted top end talent, but you have to question moving on Florent who was a decent workhorse who can play a role and a pretty sharp player in Haywood. That's still two role players you have to replace with bottom 23-25 players and it's often said that it's not the top 5 that win you GFs it's the bottom 6 (mind you Sydney's top 5 are pretty good).

Will be interesting to see how they go next season.

Yep, it's high risk high reward. For mine the biggest risk is Curnow not being quite as advertised. His only 3 finals in 2023 were all rubbish and he doesn't strike me as wanting to be the big dog. He's a prodigious talent and I guess Sydney believe he can recapture his absolute best in an environment away from the Melbourne bubble and at a home ground that will benefit him. I'm just happy he didn't end up at Shithole Park, where if he dominated next year the media would go into their usual fapping frenzy.

Florent and Heywood were both absolute Longmire favourites, so this is Cox stamping his DNA all over the team (as he should do). I personally think they can both play and the loss of depth might hurt them. If you're playing the long game, what will Sydney do if Warner leaves as a FA in 2 years?