Holding Pattern

This whole week has been a wild ride through the world of trade and free agency, and I’m here to help you make some sense of it all, at least from a Melbourne perspective. In short, we’re in the eye of a storm but in a holding pattern.

Before we kick off, a message received from out intrepid private investigator who we hired to help us keep track of Tracc:

"I have a confession - the mission just hit a major snag. You're going to think I've been binge-watching too many spy movies, but basically I was kidnapped by a foreign operative who bound me up, tossed me on a boat, and sailed it into rough waters off the Queensland coast, where we drifted for a while.

“On the third day, one of the crew, whom I recognized from the St Kilda sponsor’s apartment on the Gold Coast, approached my captor in an agitated state. I heard him muttering something under his breath, but I only caught the following words: “… a leak.” I asked myself, was the boat sinking or was this an important clue?

“Rain began to fall, and the sky suddenly grew black. The wind intensified, and white-capped waves swept around the deck, engulfing us. We were going down. A hand grabbed me from behind, forced me across the bow, and before I knew it, I was pushed into another vessel, which turned out to be a submarine. It dove into the depths of the ocean, and then things got really weird - we were sucked into some kind of crazy vortex. And, just like that, we were plunged into darkness and lost all contact with the outside world.

“Some days passed until the generators started humming again and I was taken into a brightly lit man who was instantly recognisable from his intimidating orange face and the red cap with ‘Make the Suns Great Again’ embroidered on the front.”

And that brings us to the present time which is the weekend in the middle of all of the trading shenanigans.

So far, it’s been a week full of intrigue, disinformation, enjoyment, hope and disappointment like most other such periods. The low point from the sport’s point of view has been the disgraceful way that St Kilda treated GWS wantaway Leek Aleer and from Melbourne’s point of view, the departure and impending departures of players.

With the situation in a state of flux, I won’t go into any commentary on the Demon premiership players who we may possibly (most likely?) be waving farewell to next week. However, if the media is to be believed, the Demons might need some of the strong negotiating skills and firepower vested in Donald J. Trump who our private eye could have been alluding to in his above message.

Over the past week, the Demons have farewelled one premiership hero in Charlie Spargo and a promising defender in Judd McVee (through free agency and a trade respectively) and the club has thanked them appropriately for their service. Melbourne also welcomed a Collingwood premiership player and veteran forward in Brody Mihocek and a young, tall development ruckman in Max Heath, the latter hand-picked as an understudy for the other Max who we have at the club.

The coming week promises plenty of action as we move out of that holding pattern for the big deals to come.

Here are the done deals so far:

FREE AGENCY

• Jack Silvagni to St Kilda - Carlton receives an end of round one compensation pick (19)

• James Worpel to Geelong - Hawthorn receives an end of second round compensation pick (39)

• Tom De Koning to St Kilda - Carlton receives a round one compensation pick (9)

• Sam Draper to Brisbane Lions - Essendon receives an end of round one compensation pick (20)

• Jacob Wehr to Port Adelaide - GWS receives no compensation

• Charlie Spargo to North Melbourne - Melbourne receives an end of round two compensation pick (41)

• Oscar Allen to Brisbane Lions - West Coast Eagles receive a round one compensation pick (2)

The Free Agency period is now closed.

TRADES

• Carlton receives Liam Reidy, a third-round pick (currently 53) and a fourth-round pick (currently 71) - Fremantle receives a third-round pick (50) and a fourth-round pick (68)

• Sydney Swans receive Malcolm Rosas Jnr and a fourth-round pick (62), Gold Coast Suns receive a third-round pick (51) and a fourth-round pick (69), West Coast Eagles receive Brandon Starcevich, a first-round pick (12) and a third-round pick (currently 52), West Coast Eagles give Picks 16, 22 and 23,

• Brisbane Lions receive two first-round picks (16 and 22) and two third-round picks (44 and 50), Brisbane Lions give Brandon Starcevich, Picks 19, 46 and 52, Fremantle receives a first-round pick (19), a second-round pick (currently 23) and a third-round pick (currently 46), Fremantle gives Picks 12, 33, 44 and 50

• Fremantle receives Judd McVee - Melbourne receives a second-round pick (23)

• St Kilda receives Sam Flanders - Gold Coast Suns receive a first-round pick (7)

• Melbourne receives Max Heath - St Kilda receives a 2027 fourth-round pick (tied to Melbourne)

• St Kilda receives Liam Ryan and a 2027 third-round pick (tied to West Coast) - West Coast Eagles receive a 2026 second-round pick (tied to St Kilda)

• Melbourne receives Brody Mihocek and a third-round pick (71) - Collingwood receives a third-round pick (61) and a 2026 third-round pick (tied to Melbourne)

• Carlton receives Campbell Chesser - West Coast Eagles receive a second-round pick (41)

• Carlton receives Ben Ainsworth and a fourth-round pick (67), Carlton gives Corey Durdin and a 2026 second-round pick, Gold Coast Suns receive a second-round pick (currently 29), Gold Coast Suns give Ben Ainsworth, Port Adelaide receives Corey Durdin and a 2026 second-round pick (tied to Carlton), Port Adelaide gives a second-round pick (currently 29) and a fourth-round pick (currently 67)

I knew the Orange Man would have a finger in the draft pie at some point in this saga.

WEEKEND TRADE

• The Western Bulldogs will trade pick 12 to Greater Western Sydney for picks 14 & 37. To be lodged tomorrow, apparently in conjunction with a trade involving Connor Broderick.

MONDAY TRADES

• GWS receives a first-round pick (12) - Western Bulldogs receive a first-round pick (14) and a second-round pick (37)

• GWS receives: a first-round pick (12) - Western Bulldogs receive a first-round pick (14) and a second-round pick (37)

• Port Adelaide receives Will Brodie - Fremantle receives a sixth-round selection (103)

TUESDAY TRADES

Brisbane Lions receive a third-round pick (59) and a 2026 third-round pick (tied to Melbourne) - Collingwood receives two third-round picks (45 and 56)

• Essendon receive Brayden Fiorini - Gold Coast Suns receive a 2026 third-round pick (tied to Essendon)