Bombers boss’ parting gift; big slider’s recurring problem: AFL trade winners and losers

The 2023 trade period is over, with clubs to now turn their attention to next month’s national draft.

But before that comes, we try and make sense of the key moves that transpired over the past fortnight.

Foxfooty.com.au reviews the immediate winners and losers from the trade and free agency period.

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WINNERS

Sydney

The Swans went hard early – and loaded up.

Filling all the holes they needed to fill, Sydney ticked off all the key items on its wish list, most importantly bolstering its midfield. After welcoming James Jordon on the opening day of free agency, one of the shocks of the trade period emerged as they poached Magpies vice-captain Taylor Adams to beef up their engine room.

The Swans also replaced the retiring Tom Hickey with Brodie Grundy, giving up only pick 46 and a future second rounder, plus added to their key defensive stocks, with Joel Hamling signing as a free agent to his fourth club.

Tick, tick, tick, tick — even if Hamling isn’t exactly a superstar.

After bowing out in the first week of finals this year coming off a grand final appearance in 2022, the aggressive approach should see the Swans catapult themselves back into premiership contention in 2024.

They’re certainly the club that, on paper, at least, improved the most and closed the already small gap on premier Collingwood, whereas several other contenders stood still.

Essendon

Well, fair to say Essendon lived up to talk it was going to be aggressive this off-season in long-time list boss Adrian Dodoro’s last at the helm.

Whether or not you’re completely on board with the Bombers’ additions, you’ve got to respect their urgency to get better. After all, that’s what the trade and free agency and period is for.

Crucially, the Bombers landed the majority of their targets as free agents – Ben McKay, Jade Gresham and Todd Goldstein – meaning they didn’t need to give up anything from a trade perspective.

And with the AFL CBA set to increase over the coming seasons, the cashed-up club got reasonable market value and should still have leftover funds to allow it to continue to be aggressive moving forward.

McKay in particular provides a much-needed boost to Essendon’s back six and gives Brad Scott the key stopper he desperately needs, while Gresham’s best footy could yet be ahead of him at 26 years of age.

Brandon Zerk-Thatcher leaves a void after a strong season, but decent business from the Bombers to effectively flip him for Xavier Duursma.

Collingwood

Not often do clubs win the premiership and then get better instantly. You can safely argue that’s what Collingwood did.

In securing Fremantle small forward Lachie Schultz, who the Magpies say they believe was the best player available in this year’s trade market, the premiers add another offensive weapon to their already potent forward line.

He’s a clear upgrade on Taylor Adams, who spent much of the year somewhat awkwardly at half-forward (which is why he sought a trade) as well as on Jack Ginnivan, who was told to explore his options and found his way to Hawthorn.

It did however cost the club a hefty fee, handing over a future first-round pick plus Pick 34. But Graham Wright is a deal maker and would make no apologies for bolstering the Collingwood list while its premiership window is wide open and while the likes of Scott Pendlebury and Steele Sidebottom are still around.

They did of course lose vice-captain Adams, who’d been marginalised in 2023 after the addition of Tom Mitchell, so he only really costs them midfield depth. Plus the club would already be wanting to give more opportunities to the likes of Finlay Macrae, Ed Allan and Reef McInnes.

Ginnivan, while precociously talented and only 20 years old, did put the club off-side with some of his off-field antics in 2023.

Then there’s the uncertain future of Nathan Murphy, which could leave a considerable void down back they failed to address including missing out on Tom Doedee.

Ultimately, though, the Pies got better by adding Schultz, who could well now be their best forward, and would be feeling content they perhaps narrowly widened an already narrow gap on the rest of the competition.

North Melbourne

Props to the Roos, they go into 2024 with a stronger side after boosting themselves around the edges — of course, helped by the AFL’s assistance package.

North Melbourne added Zac Fisher and Dylan Stephens at little cost, two players who fit the club’s age demographic and should only help the club improve after limited opportunities at Carlton and Sydney respectively. At worst they’re a cheap throw at the stumps.

The departure of Ben McKay is significant and perhaps being undersold given the key defender netted the Roos Pick 3 as compensation; the Roos are already light on defensively, particularly after Griffin Logue’s ACL injury, so that’s an area of concern for Alastair Clarkson. And you can’t get paid $800,000 a year without some talent.

Plus the additions of Toby Pink and Bigoa Nyuon and low-risk throws at the stumps.

Broadly speaking it’s all about the long game at Arden Street and building towards the future. That’s exactly what they’re doing, while armed with a suite of draft picks to add more fresh hope for a supporter base starved of success.

They haven’t yet made a move for the No. 1 pick but the key move there is yet — they’ve got a few weeks, plus draft night itself, to convince West Coast to hand them access to top prospect Harley Reid.

Port Adelaide

Though the quality of Port’s recruits can be disputed, the Power importantly did what it most urgently needed to – bolstered its defence.

It’s the area of the ground Ken Hinkley’s men most struggled in last season, and statistically speaking, was the only thing really separating them from the absolute top-tier contenders.

Therefore, should the Power’s defence improve next season, the club could close the gap in the premiership race, and that’s what all sides should be setting out to achieve during the trade period.

Even if Esava Ratugolea and Brandon Zerk-Thatcher aren’t necessarily stars, system defence is arguably more important these days anyway, so it’s how they buy in – and fit in – that’s just as crucial.

Jordon Sweet and Ivan Soldo also come in to bolster their ruck stocks, another part of the club’s list that needed to be addressed.

And though they wave goodbye to Xavier Duursma, his career had frankly tailed off after initially bursting onto the scene. So from an actual production perspective, they don’t lose much.

Hawthorn

The Hawks not only brought in a host of recruits, but also (and most importantly) maintained their strong draft hand.

The inclusions were headlined by Jack Ginnivan in one of the shocks of the trade period as well as Mabior Chol and Jack Gunston to add more firepower in the forward half as well as Massimo D’Ambrosio. They did of course lose Tyler Brockman and Jacob Koschitzke, but Ginnivan, and to a lesser degree, Gunston essentially offset that.

Those names were brought in at little cost — meaning Hawthorn still has its Pick 4 as well as the necessary draft points for father-son prospect Will McCabe — and all the aforementioned names figure to be in Sam Mitchell’s best 23 in 2024.

Had they won the free agency race for Ben McKay and Mark McKenzie and his team would’ve smashed the trade period out of the park.

No matter, they’ll still be really pleased with how they’ve come away to add to an already promising core.

Western Bulldogs

Not the obvious winner, but the Western Bulldogs have done very well.

They got aggressive and moved up to Pick 5 in the draft to give them access to elite young talent in potentially one of either Nick Watson, Colby McKercher and Ryley Sanders — plus they have ample more selections to help them get father-son player Jordan Croft.

Plus they brought in Nick Coffield and James Harmes for very little in terms of draft capital and both players figure to be best 23 next year and round out the club’s need for more depth.

The Dogs did lose back-up ruckman Jordon Sweet, but he was exactly that and not getting a game, so he returns to South Australia and will compete with Ivan Soldo for the No. 1 ruck role.

Ultimately though, the Dogs are better placed both long-term and short-term, so a tick for Sam Power and his team.

LOSERS

Fremantle

We’re not quite sure what it is, but there’s something not quite right at the Dockers.

It was another trade period that sees quality young players depart, this time Lachie Schultz and Liam Henry, adding to the exodus of players over recent seasons.

Compounding issues for the Dockers is their draft hand is not strong, despite both deals, having traded away their first-round pick in a deal for Luke Jackson last year. They will enter the draft with pick 34 with their next pick at 46, in what’s widely believed to be a shallow draft.

After winning a final in 2022, and then dropping off significantly in 2023 with two more prime-aged players walking out the door, it’s safe to say the alarm should be raised.

Dual premiership Kangaroo David King has expressed his “worry” for coach Justin Longmuir, with pressure set to mount on the coach heading into a contract year.

“It’s a worry going into a really important first phase of 2024, to lose some senior core players over the last two years,” King said Fox Footy’s Trading Day.

“They’ve lost four players in two years they can’t afford to lose at this stage.

“That puts them back a little bit in terms of their rebuild and regeneration of the list. As we keep saying, rebuild coaches don’t survive.

“This really puts the coach under the hammer in the first six to eight weeks next year.”

Adelaide

The Crows have been tipped as one of the big improvers as we project ahead to next season – but that’s based on their efforts in the season just gone and what’s already on their list.

The question is whether they added enough to fill the holes that still exist. And it’s hard to say yes, particularly at the defensive end of the ground.

The Crows lost Tom Doedee mid-season to an ACL injury before announcing he was exercising his free agency rights to join the Lions.

They then lost fellow key-defender Nick Murray to an ACL injury, leaving their key defensive stocks paper-thin as they continued their late finals charge.

While they added Chris Burgess, who provides versatility at both ends of the ground, the hole in the Crows list for a quality key defender is still gaping and one that needs to be filled. It leaves a big job for second-year rookie James Borlase and recently returned Irishman Mark Keane to do until Murray is fit again.

Add in the loss of Shane McAdam at the forward end of the ground and there is an overall quality loss for the Crows for 2024.

“They needed to get some experience in, and Chris Burgess is the 621st-ranked player in the league, so he’s not going to be a difference for them,” Kane Cornes said on Trade Radio.

Armed with two first-round picks and with spots to fill, the Crows are in a position to add quality in the draft, but will it be enough to see them bridge the gap and jump into a finals spot?

Their absolute best-case scenario would’ve been if Clayton Oliver really did end up on the trade table, but it wasn’t to be. They still feel an A-grade midfielder away from contending.

Richmond

They got a couple of minor things done on deadline day, sending Ivan Soldo across to Port Adelaide and adding Jacob Koschitzke from Hawthorn … but where exactly are they at?

If they’re rebuilding, they added an OK pick from the Soldo deal, but didn’t exactly bolster their draft stocks to make up for what they paid for Jacob Hopper and Tim Taranto.

If they’re contending, they added a forward who could hardly break into Hawthorn’s not-exactly-stacked front six.

Instead they mostly just sat there, inactive.

“Richmond have done nothing. Had nothing to do. Haven’t improved their list at all,” Kane Cornes said on Trade Radio.

“Losing Soldo, there’s a good back-up player gone … haven’t improved their playing stocks. Got some real injury concerns, long-term injuries, over Tom Lynch and Josh Gibcus. They don’t appear ready to go for day one of pre-season which is a concern for them.

“They’ve got bottom four written all over them next year.”