Whispering_Jack

More explosive revelations ~ • North Melbourne won’t be pursuing Leek Aleer. The Roos have considered a move for him after St Kilda pulled out, but won’t be going any further. Aleer expected now to stay at GWS on the three-year offer the club has made for him. • Tom Morris - Hawthorn has offered a deal to Essendon for Zach Merrett - Pick 9, a future first, a second rounder this year or next and Henry Hustwaite. • Sam Edmund: Melbourne has an interest in Changkuoth Jiath. Jiath has an agreement with the Hawks to explore the market in search of greater playing opportunity. The Demons have emerged as a potential suitor for the rebounding defender, but there is no offer yet. • clarifying that swap of picks ~ Brisbane Lions receive a third-round pick (currently No.59) and a 2026 third-round pick (tied to Melbourne) - Collingwood receives two third-round picks (currently No.45 and 56) Only involves a pick tied to Melbourne as a result of the Brody Mihocek trade. • and the big one for today. A player likely to end up at GWS or GCS where he will find good company

The day begins a bit like Groundhog Day but no doubt something will eventually happen to bring the AFL Radio team to life. • some news on JUH (he’s just emerged from the nightclub?) - "The Suns board is on board, the AFL is on board. All that is left is for Robbie D'Orazio and Craig Cameron to sort it out. It will happen today or early tomorrow." - Tom Morris on Jamarra Ugle-Hagan to the Suns Callum Twomey • Sam Edmund expects Changkuoth Jiath to be on the move, but Carlton won't be his next home... • a three-way trade has been approved. Brisbane trade 2025 Round Three Pick 45 and 2025 Round Three Pick 56 to Collingwood for 2025 Round Three Pick 59 and 2026 Round Three selection (tied to Melbourne) in the respective Telstra AFL Drafts. There has to be more to this than reported and will try to find out. - "Gold Coast and Melbourne are meeting today around the Christian Petracca deal and the Jamarra chase is likely to tip into tomorrow. The Fiorini deal, there's some talking to be done there." • soon after the above statement was made, there followed an interview with Michael Oakes the manager of Bailey Humphrey in which he explained why his client was keen to get back to Victoria. Also on the subject of a trade: "Bailey is a contracted player and whilst contracted he has always known it is at the club's discretion. I think the Suns have been consistently resolute they won't trade him. I'd say so (he won't be traded). " • Sydney's first official trade offer for Charlie Curnow is in.

Trades today - • GWS receives a first-round pick (12) - Western Bulldogs receive a first-round pick (14) and a second-round pick (27) • West Coast Eagles receive Tylar Young - Richmond receive a second-round pick (38) • Port Adelaide receives Will Brodie - Fremantle receives a sixth-round selection (103)

Great start to the morning from the AFL Trade Radio gurus. They are on fire ~ • Tom Morris has impeccable sources (apparently, he lives in the Hardwick household): "Gold Coast will give 7 and 8 to Melbourne, providing they get 24 back. If this happens, it essentially means Melbourne will lose Petracca and McVee for 7 and 8... That's a pretty good deal. As much as Melbourne would have loved Bailey Humphrey to be part of this deal, I think that's been a nice wish but is off the table entirely. Petracca will be a Gold Coast Player, it will get done." • The same Tom Morris on Clayton Oliver: "The more Melbourne pays, the better pick they expect. They might be able to get Pick 35 or 37 off GWS, but I think it's very likely Clayton Oliver gets to the Giants for a future third rounder." • It's not looking like Steven May will be finding a new home in this trade period. • Max Heath was interviewed: "It is obviously pretty hard to leave a club you have loved for four years but the tutelage from Max Gawn and Tom Campbell was too hard to overlook."

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.

Then there’s this interesting comment from Ralphie. Although not strictly AFL Trade Radio related it’s worth bringing into the conversation and asking every ATR commentator why they don’t apply this principle when they discuss the possibility of a trade of Christian Petracca to the Gold Coast Suns -

Problem is that nothing really happens on the weekends but I guess it’s worth mentioning that Cal Twomey has reported a pick swap agreed over the weekend and is set to be lodged tomorrow. The Western Bulldogs will trade pick 12 to Greater Western Sydney for picks 14 & 37. That latter pick (37) is separately set to be used by the Dogs to get a deal done for Connor Budarick. This could have some bearing on an Oliver trade if it goes ahead and a swap of picks takes place.

So we could still potentially swap picks and move up the list as well if there was a particular player we really wanted. I must say I do like the idea of Jacob Farrow and Josh Lindsay in that list: both excellent users of the football which should be uppermost in the minds of our list management team.

The Zero Hanger clickbait site has its current mock top 10 for the forthcoming draft as follows If the selections fall that way, Melbourne would under the media’s almost unanimous GCS trade for Tracc, select Sullivan Robey and Xavier Taylor while giving up pick 24. While these players might sound okay, there’s very little to show of Robey (he was a latecomer to the conversation) and Taylor may or may not turn out as good as the experts expect. Aussie Rules Rookie Me CentralSullivan Robey Draft ProfileSullivan Robey is the bolter of this year's draft crop, possessing physicality and power as a high-impact midfielder/forward.Aussie Rules Rookie Me CentralXavier Taylor Draft ProfileEastern Ranges prospect Xavier Taylor has ascended draft boards this year with his competitive nature and defensive versatility.I think we would be expecting at least this and the capacity to land a decent player, perhaps in conjunction with the Oliver trade.

The 2025 AFL National Draft order as at the weekend in the middle of draft week - ROUND ONE 1 West Coast Eagles 2 West Coast Eagles 3 Richmond 4 Richmond 5 Essendon 6 Essendon 7 Gold Coast Suns 8 Gold Coast Suns 9 Hawthorn 10 Carlton 11 Sydney 12 Western Bulldogs 13 West Coast Eagles 14 GWS Giants 15 Gold Coast Suns 16 Adelaide 17 Brisbane Lions 18 Gold Coast Suns 19 Geelong 20 Fremantle 21 Essendon 22 Carlton 23 Brisbane Lions ROUND TWO 24 Melbourne 25 North Melbourne 26 North Melbourne 27 Essendon 28 Melbourne 29 Gold Coast Suns 30 Essendon 31 Hawthorn 32 Sydney 33 Western Bulldogs 34 West Coast Eagles 35 GWS Giants 36 Gold Coast Suns 37 GWS Giants 38 West Coast Eagles 39 Collingwood 40 Geelong 41 West Coast Eagles 42 Melbourne 43 Hawthorn ROUND THREE 44 Brisbane Lions 45 Brisbane Lions 46 North Melbourne 47 Fremantle 48 Adelaide 49 Port Adelaide 50 St Kilda 51 Brisbane Lions 52 Gold Coast Suns 53 West Coast Eagles 54 Carlton 55 Adelaide 56 Brisbane Lions 57 Adelaide 58 West Coast Eagles 59 Collingwood 60 Geelong 61 Collingwood ROUND FOUR 62 Hawthorn 63 Sydney 64 North Melbourne 65 St Kilda 66 Melbourne 67 Carlton 68 Brisbane Lions 69 Fremantle 70 Gold Coast Suns 71 Melbourne 72 Carlton 73 Adelaide 74 Gold Coast Suns 75 Adelaide 76 Hawthorn 77 Collingwood 78 Geelong 79 Brisbane Lions

Today was fizzle Friday ~ • Brody Mihocek and Pick 71 heads to Melbourne for Pick 61 and Melbourne's 2026 R3 selection. • Mihocek on his conversations with the Melbourne captain - "He said it will be like a new club, and there are a lot of fresh faces coming in. I've always admired Max Gawn." • a Three way deal - PORT ADELAIDE Gets Corey Durdin, 2026 second-round pick (tied to Carlton) and Gives Pick 29, 67 CARLTON Gets Ben Ainsworth, pick 67 and Gives Corey Durdin, 2026 second-round pick GOLD COAST Gets Pick 29 and Gives Ben Ainsworth • Campbell Chesser has been traded to Carlton. Pick 41 heading the way of the Eagles.

It’s okay, we’ll get it back in the Oliver trade … er

As we near the end of trade week 2025, I’m so disillusioned with the state of football journalism to the point where I’m seriously considering closing this thread because of the groupthink among the presenters on AFL Trade Radio. Too much nodding of heads in agreement at the most ludicrous scenarios being put forward … and their inconsistency. Then along comes a journalist who I might not have always agreed with in the past and this happens: Robbo, Baz, Caro and the case of the missing Trade Radio audio “It's the mysterious case of the missing audio and AFL censorship. Filling air time on the AFIs Trade Radio product is a tough gig and the Thursday morning crew, hosted by Channel Nine's Tom Morris and former Essendon great James Hird, decided to give an old friend a call. They got former Herald Sun chief football writer Mark "Robbo" Robinson on the line to tell a few stories from the good old days of trade week like Chris Judd's move from West Coast to Carlton. The chat soon veered onto more recent topics and this is where things got interesting”. … “This is where Inspector Clouseau needs to be called in. At the 41-minute mark of the podcast review of the show Morris throws to Robbo coming up next. But there is no Robbo on the other side of the break. In fact he is nowhere to be found.” … For those who are wondering what all the fuss is about, this is a taste of Robbo on Trade Radio. ‘Some of the players are really starting to s**t me,’ he said” … and he goes on to specifically criticize Bailey Smith’s recent conduct and then raised said, "I'm disappointed in Greg Swann and in Andrew Dillon for allowing that to go through to the keeper without punishment." He also went on to express disappointment about Clayton Oliver's expletive-laden response to a TV reporter last week, "The Clayton Oliver stuff. Fair dinkum. Does the AFL understand that the whole country is watching their players act like absolute bozos and it's a bad reflection on the AFL and the players where it's f-n this and they drop c-bombs," he said. Why AFL Trade Radio dropped this from its daily audio is answered somewhere between the lines. The audience is being told to believe what the AFL wants them to believe.

Lots happening today • @cac1963 on Christian Petracca - "We have had some preliminary discussions, it will take a little while to work through, but we have been talking to Melbourne about a deal." • … on BH - "We are really clear though, we are NOT trading Bailey Humphrey, we just won't look into that at all." • and on JUH - "We were looking at someone who was committed to getting himself back to playing football. He met with our leadership group. He will do a medical with us today, and we need to get the AFL to clear it as well, but we are progressing that." • Callum Twomey - There's been progress on a deal for West Coast's Campbell Chesser to get to the Blues. Carlton's pick No.41 is in there as part of the mix of options. • There's been progress on a deal for West Coast's Campbell Chesser to get to the Blues. Carlton's pick No.41 is in there as part of the mix of options. • Tim Lamb interviewed - 1. "Gold Coast have made their position clear Bailey Humphrey is not on the trade table and you need to respect their position." 2. Re Clayton Oliver - "From the media speculation it appears he wants to get to the Giants but we haven't spoken with them. A deal would need to get worked out." 3. Re Brody Mihocek- "At this stage it is looking likely he could be a free agent. We are talking to Collingwood on a couple of things. We are comfortable bringing him in a free agent." 4. Appears that Steven May remains a Demon. For more see @BLWNBA ’s post above. • Riley Beveridge expects Charlie Curnow to be playing in new colours in 2026.

Today’s action • Sam Flanders has been traded to the Saints for Pick 7. • "So make of this what you will, Clayton Oliver no longer follows Melbourne Football Club on Instagram but he does follow GWS Giants." - Tom Morris NOTE: An indication of Clarrie’s maturity which probably explains it all. • “The expectation is the Oscar Allen move gets lodged today and lands West Coast pick No.2. Deven Robertson will also get his way to the Eagles at some stage.” - Cal Twomey on West Coast’s next moves. • The three-club trade has been approved and is in the system . The Eagles received Brandon Starcevich plus picks 12, 33 and 52, with the Dockers getting picks 19, 23 and 46. The Lions receive picks 16, 22, 44 and 50. • Paperwork has also been lodged for the Judd McVee trade - pick 23 heading to Melbourne. • Starcevich has gone from the best team to the worst team. He’s only the fifth restricted free agent in 14 years to leave a club and join a team that finished in the bottom-six on the ladder.” - Cal Twomey • in the afternoon, paperwork lodged for Oscar Allen's free agency move from West Coast to Brisbane with the Eagles handed Pick 2 as compensation.

AFL Trade Radio just blew up. Tom Morris departed from the script: "Bailey Humphrey is intriguing me. Clubs are still agitating to get him out of the Suns. There is a view Damien Hardwick is somewhat sympathetic to Humphrey's personal situation."

The obvious one would be one about Kozzy Pickett being blindsided into signing his contract extension and wants out.

• "I think you give 6 and 17 for Petracca...that is more than fair for him. He is a better player than Dan Rioli, and Rioli got them pick 6." I checked and Cornes was wrong. These were the terms of the Rioli trade:- Traded Player: Daniel Rioli: Richmond Tigers defender joins Gold Coast Suns on a five-year contract. Trade Terms: Gold Coast Suns Receive: Daniel Rioli Picks 51, 61, 70, and 76 Richmond Tigers Receive: • Picks 6 and 23 I haven’t read the whole thread so I don’t know if it’s been picked up but it says something about Cornes and his credibility which was never a strength. It’s something he shares with others in his business.

The morning started on a bad note for Kane Cornes and just got worse. • "I think you give 6 and 17 for Petracca ... that is more than fair for him. He is a better player than Dan Rioli, and Rioli got them pick 6." - Kane Cornes on what is fair for Christian Petracca. NOTE: I checked and Cornes was wrong. These were the terms of the Rioli trade:- Traded Player: Daniel Rioli: Richmond Tigers defender joins Gold Coast Suns on a five-year contract. Trade Terms: Gold Coast Suns Receive: Daniel Rioli Picks 51, 61, 70, and 76 Richmond Tigers Receive: • Picks 6 and 23 Next time, please do your research. This set the tone for a day of commentary bordering on the inane and sometimes comical. • "The tension in this discussion is whether Geelong should give up a pick in this year's draft or next year's draft. St Kilda is more interested in next year's draft." - Tom Morris on Rowan Marshall • "The most simplistic view in all of this is that is not the case. People will say this has been planted from the Merrett camp to destabilise Essendon. I have been chasing this story for several weeks." - Tom Morris on the view the Zach Merrett camp leaked the Essendon drugs story • Tom Morris (dramatically) - Adelaide took a look at Clayton Oliver but pulled out leaving the available choice to Collingwood and GWS Giants. Meanwhile, Oliver completes a medical at GWS as Collingwood plans a meeting. • "I feel like at Melbourne I played the small forward role and it gave me good building blocks but it was a rigid role, without freedom. I spoke to North about playing a role with a bit more freedom. I play my best when playing on instinct." - Charlie Spargo • DONE DEAL - the first trade is in. Paperwork has been lodged on the Liam Reidy trade. Carlton will get Reidy and Picks 53 and 71, Fremantle will get Picks 50 and 68. • GCS player Brayden Fiorini has nominated Essendon as his new home. • DONE DEAL - Sydney has secured a trade for Malcolm Rosas jnr. The two clubs have agreed a deal that will see Sydney land Rosas and Pick 62, while Gold Coast will receive Picks 51 and 69. • Callum Twomey - Over the past week multiple clubs have reached out directly to Nick Daicos & to his management to gauge any interest he has in a move. • Saints and Suns reportedly agree to a pick 7/Sam Flanders trade. • a complicated pick swap is being hatched between Brisbane, Fremantle and West Coast for Brandon Starcevich. * my hunch is that it could unlock the McVee trade.

Absolute nonsense. Petracca is a substantially better player than Rioli and is contracted for a significant period to come. Each draft is different but pick 6 this year is not going to be anywhere near close to pick 6. To suggest that pick 17 = the difference between Petracca and Rioli is an insult to Cornes’ intelligence if indeed, he has any.

Precisely … the principle of a contract being in place is the same.

Gold Coast Suns list manager Craig Cameron was always a straight shooter when he spoke to us at Demonland back in the day when he was in charge of recruiting at the Melbourne Football Club. He even posted under the handle of @cac1963 or something of that nature. This is what he said yesterday about Bailey Humphrey who is under contract to the his club: “The thing about having a player contracted is that sort of sits with the club as to make a decision and with Bailey, he is just a no.” Very true … but as long as his club is pursuing Melbourne superstar, premiership player and Norm Smith Medallist, Christian Petracca, it might be worth noting that, like Humphrey, he is also a contracted player and that Cameron’s counterpart at Melbourne is also very much able to utter the word “no”.

What the clubs are saying (from the Herald Sun: • Melbourne says trading Oliver and Petracca will only be done if the club feels it sets them up for their next premiership. • List boss Tim Lamb says he “will dispute” that Oliver was pushed out of the club. • Lamb also confirmed the Demons are interested in Bailey Humphrey and now expects Steven May to remain at the club.

If you’re lamenting the possible loss of Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver, consider this:- • on Saturday, 17 August 2024, at People First Stadium, Carrara, Melbourne scored 18.9.117, defeating the Gold Coast Suns, who scored 9.9.63. Neither Petracca nor Oliver participated in that game. • on Saturday, 28 June 2025, at People First Stadium, Carrara, Melbourne scored 12.13.85, losing to the Gold Coast Suns, who scored 15.14.104. Both Petracca (32 possessions) and Oliver (24) participated in that game. Make of that what you will.

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