AFL trade period RECAP: ‘Crazy’ call Dogs must avoid after $18m splash

And that’s where we’ll drop the AFL trade period live blog today, ladies and gentlemen.

Thanks for tuning in again.

We now have only a tick over two days remaining in the trade period, with Wednesday’s 7.30pm AEDT deadline looming large.

Several major deals are yet to be done, including Nick Blakey’s desired trade from Sydney to North Melbourne and the potential trade of Lachie Whitfield from GWS to Carlton.

Join us from about 8am AEDT tomorrow.

Good night.

Hawthorn great Dermott Brereton has warned clubs about the potential risk in taking on Geelong forward Gryan Miers.

The Cats premiership winner is contracted with Geelong until the end of 2028, but he underwent a medical with West Coast last week and is now reportedly being courted by Essendon.

“We heard that West Coast had interest in him, but now it seems like Geelong are interested in trading him, doesn’t matter where,” Brereton said on SEN radio.

“He’s a good player.

“So, buyer beware here. We were told he got through the back half of last year with his knee hanging by a thread with a partial tear. So that’s buyer beware.

“But it is interesting that Geelong have moved on a much-loved player.

“He’s not young anymore, but he’s not old. He’s still got half a decade left in him.

“But it really interests me that it looks like their (the Cats’) preference is to move him on now.”

Injury limited Miers to only 17 senior games in 2026.

Fremantle and North Melbourne great Peter Bell has unloaded on the AFL in a rant about “side-deal semantics”.

“The AFL don’t help themselves, I feel,” Bell said on his SEN radio show.

“Side-deal semantics, I’m labelling this beef.

“So if you go back, they said that the Western Bulldogs and Port Adelaide can’t transact on Todd Marshall because there was money involved, essentially. That’s the rule.

“But don’t worry – the deals that got done are absolute side deals. They don’t stand up on their own, and neither does this Aidan (Schubert) one either, while I’m at it.”

For those who missed it, or need refreshing on the convoluted deal struck between Hawthorn and Gold Coast, of which Schubert was a key part, here it is:

“As long as the clubs can disguise it – add in a few more picks and everything else just to confuse the general public – we’ll allow it because we want players to be able to move and we want clubs to be able to get what they want,” Bell added.

“But it’s arbitrary, it’s subjective, and the onus now is on the clubs, it would seem: just disguise it enough and we’ll give it the tick of approval.”

Star key forward Ben King crossed from Gold Coast to Hawthorn during the free-agency window last week.

“The Schubert deal is purely part of King,” Bell said.

“They haven’t matched the deal. They get the free agency compensation and then there’s the sweetheart makeup side deal that’s part of it.

“I reckon the clubs now know the more moving parts, the better, because then there’s deniability.

“You can just say, ‘No, this deal stands up by itself’. But all these deals linked to the big free-agency moves don’t stand up by themselves. Everyone can see it.”

Hawthorn and gun midfielder Will Day will open talks about a contract extension soon, the club’s footy boss says.

The Hawks’ 2023 best and fairest is set to become a free agent at the end of next season, but locking him down is a club priority amid rival interest.

“He’s a player who is really important to the now and the future for this football club,” Hawks footy boss Rob McCartney told AFL Trade Radio.

“He’s shown a thirst to lead this group. His body hasn’t looked after him as much as he would like, but he got some continuity in his footy at the back end of this year and I’m really, really confident that Will wants to be a Hawthorn player, and I’m also strong in my belief that we definitely want him to be a player of the long-term for us.”

McCartney said Day asked to delay extension talks mid-season so he could focus on getting his body right for the finals.

Hawthorn and Gold Coast agreed to a complex swap that sent Aidan Schubert and Sam Butler up north, effectively for a future second round pick.

Zak Butters has done the media rounds, chatting about joining the Bulldogs and revealed he never committed to Geelong, despite reports.

Liam Pickering has confirmed Essendon’s interest in Gryan Miers, though there’s a lot to get done there. Sam De Koning may also be urged to find a new home in the next few days.

Sydney wants more than pick six from North Melbourne for Nick Blakey, rejecting that offer.

And Carlton and GWS appear to still be in a Lachie Whitfield stalemate.

With reports that Geelong defender Sam de Koning could be available in this trade period, following the addition of Jordan Ridley, Brad Johnson has urged North Melbourne to have a go.

The Roos are committed to Adelaide’s Nick Murray, but those trade talks have stalled given the Crows’ high asking price.

Johnson wonders whether North might have an easier time convincing Geelong to hand over De Koning at this point.

“A club would jump at a Sam De Koning. To play a full back role, it’s so hard to find these days. We have seen him do it, he can play that role,” Johnson told Trade Radio.

“North Melbourne for example, going for Nick Murray. Is SDK an easier find? Is he an actual option to support Comben? Is he better than what Corr offers? Possibly.”

Collingwood midfielder Harry Perryman has declared teammate Dan Houston isn’t going anywhere, despite reports the club is shopping him around to rivals.

The Pies and Houston haven’t quite clicked since they gave up a first round pick, John Noble and Joe Richards for him in 2024.

Reports across this trade period have suggested the club is willing to move the dual All-Australian flanker on, though the Magpies have denied this publicly.

“I don’t think he’s going anywhere. There seems to be a fair bit of chatter. I thought he had a pretty solid year. He’ll be looking to have a big pre-season and go again better,” Perryman told SEN this morning.

St Kilda is one team that has been linked with Houston in recent weeks.

Outside of the Schubert/Butler deals this morning, there has been no trade action so far today.

There hasn’t really even been much discussion about progress being made on a number of key trades.

Nick Blakey, Nick Murray, Lachie Whitfield, Jayden Short, Josh Goater ... A lot of these deals might just be stuck in limbo until the deadline itself.

Nothing gets these teams into gear like the deadline itself, but you’d have to wonder how Flynn Riley isn’t a Magpie yet or Will McLachlan a Demon. Those deals should not be particularly complicated.

AFL reporter Mark Stevens believes the Western Bulldogs would be "crazy" not to give coach Luke Beveridge a contract extension, following his efforts in luring Zak Butters to the club.

Beveridge was reportedly instrumental in landing Butters’ signature, with the gun midfielder close to joining Geelong. His arrival also indicates a trust in the direction of the club under the coach.

The 2016 premiership coach will enter 2027 without a contract beyond that season, and Stevens says the Dogs need to move early to lock him in, given the star midfielder's vote of confidence.

"I think it's an absolute certainty that he'll get an extension now. A two-year extension through to 2029," Stevens told 3AW's Footy Fix podcast.

"He's been such a big part of getting Butters in. It would be crazy to go into round one with a cloud over his head.

"It would be crazy if not. I think the wheels are in motion. It makes complete sense to me.

"It's different to Ross Lyon and Matthew Nicks. If Butters is happy with where everything is at."

Beveridge’s Bulldogs were knocked out in the first week of finals this season.

The Western Bulldogs attempted to convince Brisbane to offer up defender Keidean Coleman for future draft picks, but were “priced out” of the conversation about the Lions, according to AFL Media’s Riley Beveridge.

He reports Brisbane wants a top 20 pick in this year’s draft for the contracted defender.

Coleman has barely played since tearing his ACL in 2024.