A gun key forward has been tipped for an exit next year, as a club from his home state reportedly prepares to pounce.
Meanwhile, there’s a free agent key forward to keep an eye on as this season progresses. Read on in TRADE WHISPERS.
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GUN TIPPED FOR 2027 EXIT AS EAGLES HIT LIST REVEALED
Former Port Adelaide assistant coach Chad Cornes is confident Mitch Georgiades will leave the Power at the cessation of his contract next year.
The West Australian Georgiades, 24, is set for restricted free agency in 2027, and shapes as a hot name for rivals — particularly the Eagles — to target.
Cornes, who was at Port Adelaide as recently as last year and worked closely with Georgiades, is “very confident” the emerging spearhead won’t be in the black and teal come the 2028 season.
“I hope he stays … but I would be very surprised if he doesn’t go back to Perth — I’m thinking West Coast — at the end of next year,” Cornes told SEN SA radio.
“Then, if you think deeper about it … if and when Butters leaves, is it best for Port to work out a deal for Mitch this year? You lose your two best players … but is it the time to get five or six first-round draft picks before Tassie comes in?
“I’d be very confident that he wouldn’t be there in two years’ time.”
And AFL Media’s Cal Twomey reports on Wednesday that the Eagles are in fact eyeing next year’s offseason to target three native Sandgropers, including Georgiades.
“I think their strategy is looking at 2027 as being their huge hit at the trade and free agency space,” Twomey said on AFL Media’s Gettable.
“Do another year of drafting this year, potentially try and keep a pick for next year, and then you’ve got Chad Warner, Mitch Georgiades and Trent Rivers, all West Australians that I think they’ll be targeting in a very big and significant way.
“They’ll have underspent on their salary cap in recent years and this year as well … and they are going to be the Eagles’ big three targets heading into next year.”
It comes as West Coast has made a head-turning winning start to the season, already eclipsing its one-win 2025 total as the club’s young core of premium talent surges early.
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SWAN SET TO ATTRACT ‘BIG OFFERS’
All eyes are on Ben King as far as big-name key forward free agency targets are concerned, but a fledgling Swan is set to be another.
Restricted free agent Joel Amartey is set to be a hot name for rivals to pursue — particularly in Victoria — and set to attract “big offers”, according to AFL Media’s Riley Beveridge.
Amartey has been a mercurial prospect across 64 AFL games, kicking 43 goals from 25 games in 2024 before managing just eight appearances last year amid injury.
But in a crowded key forward line led by Charlie Curnow and Logan McDonald, with Hayden McLean pushing for a spot, rivals will hope Amartey could thrive on a fresh start.
“As an unrestricted free agent, that’s the one I’d be going after. I think there are going to be a lot of clubs, particularly in Victoria, who are assessing that tall forward pool,” Beveridge said on Gettable.
“The likes of Collingwood and North Melbourne I expect to be in that mix.
“I think he’s going to get big offers, and whether or not the offers are going to be big enough for Sydney to potentially convince him to stay are going to be another question altogether.
“The key-position stocks in this free agency pool are starting to grow, with Jordon Butts and Buku Khamis and how they’ve started the season — I think Joel Amartey fronts that pack.”
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