The trade period and drafts may have come and gone, but AFL clubs with vacant list spots are still going about adding talent before the start of next season.
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Clubs with spare list spots can make supplemental selection period (SSP) signings via two windows this pre-season:
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– Monday, November 25, 2024 – Thursday, December 19, 2024
– Monday, January 13, 2025 – Friday, February 21, 2025
Having passed on making selections in November’s rookie draft, clubs with the ability to make further additions to their lists include West Coast, the Western Bulldogs, Essendon, Fremantle, Carlton (two), Port Adelaide and Gold Coast.
These are the players that have either officially signed or been linked to new homes ahead of the 2025 campaign.
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Former Port Adelaide and Geelong small forward Quinton Narkle officially put pen to paper on a contract with Fremantle, joining close friend Shai Bolton and draftee Murphy Reid as new Dockers this off-season.
The Western Australian spent the past two years at Port Adelaide, appearing in 16 AFL games and kicking eight goals; frequently used as the starting substitute.
Prior to that, the forward-half talent played 41 games with Geelong between 2017 and 2022 before being delisted.
“(Narkle’s) flexibility; that’s one thing we’re looking at, guys who can play multiple roles,” Fremantle list boss David Walls told The West Australian.
The Dockers, who had only one list spot open prior to their signing of Narkle, opened another after placing youngster Odin Jones on the long-term injury list following a freak spinal injury this off-season.
Subsequently, the club has brought in a pair of small-forward South Australian prospects to trial for that vacancy: Isaiah Dudley and Baynen Lowe.
The 21-year-old Dudley, previously a member of the Adelaide Crows’ Next Generation Academy, booted 21 goals from 20 games with Central District this season.
Lowe, also 21 years of age and dangerous around goals, starred with Norwood in 2024, earning a spot in the SANFL team of the year.
Essendon, which had a pair of open list spots after selecting Archer Day-Wicks in the rookie draft and passing with its next two selections, officially signed ex-Brisbane utility Jaxon Prior on the opening day of the SSP in late November.
The former Lions hybrid had been linked to Tullamarine during the trade period and made his move official after 39 senior games across five seasons at Springfield.
The 23-year-old, whose development up north turned the heads of the Dons, is expected to add defensive half depth in 2025 after being delisted by the premiers at the end of this season.
Essendon VFL product Will Hoare is also trialling in the AFL program alongside axed forward Kaine Baldwin, who nominated for November’s national draft in search of another opportunity.
Hoare averaged 13.3 disposals and 6.6 marks across 16 matches for the Bombers’ reserves this year, having impressed with his intercepting ability.
Port Adelaide has invited impressive North Melbourne VFL product Jack Watkins to train with the club for a list spot, while “explosive” Cheltenham product Josh Lai will also throw his hat in the ring.
Watkins, who this year won a second consecutive club best and fairest for the Roos’ reserves, averaged 24.9 disposals and 5.6 inside-50s in 18 VFL games this year.
“I’m really pleased that Port Adelaide have given me a chance to train with the AFL group,” the midfielder said in a club statement.
“I’ve absolutely loved the last few years at North Melbourne and couldn’t be more grateful for my time there.
“The opportunity to train at a new club and put my hand up for a possible list spot was something I couldn’t pass up, and I’m really excited to get stuck in.”
Roos VFL coach Tom Lynch called Watkins “another Kane Lambert”.
“Adam Marcon (Roos assistant coach) is Kane’s best mate — they both went to Richmond, and they played together for a long time — and our best comparison for ‘Watto’ is Kane Lambert,” Lynch told Code Sports.
“He can run and he runs AFL patterns. He reminds me so much of him, just coming up from half forward into stoppage and then spitting forward.”
Meanwhile, Lai mightn’t have played a VFL nor Talent League match in his short career, but his pace has been described by his club coach as “explosive”, with the Power giving the 19-year-old a look during the pre-season block.
At Carlton, VFL standout Liam McMahon and former Hawthorn defender Denver Grainger-Barras are training for an opportunity.
McMahon bagged 45.15 across 16 games for the Magpies’ reserves this season, earning a centre-half-forward spot in the VFL team of the year.
Grainger-Barras, meanwhile, managed just 28 senior games in four seasons with the Hawks after being picked No. 6 overall in 2020. But despite an unassuming start to his AFL career, the swingman’s ability to play at either end appeals.
Delisted duo Sam Durdin and Matt Carroll will also train with the Blues this pre-season in hopes of earning the other vacant opportunity.
Durdin, 28, played two games in two years at Princes Park, while Carroll was a rookie draftee in 2023 but couldn’t manage an AFL debut with Carlton this year.
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The Bulldogs, meanwhile, afforded a train-on chance to JJ Liston Trophy winner Dominic Brew — but the 27-year-old’s long-winded journey to an AFL opportunity hit a snag after he suffered a strained quad muscle injury at training.
The Werribee star, who wrote letters to all 18 clubs in search of an opportunity next season, is expected to be able to put his best foot forward when the Bulldogs return to training in early January.
Brew averaged 28.5 disposals across 21 VFL games this season.
The West Coast Eagles, meanwhile, will assess former Gold Coast-listed defender Sandy Brock and delisted backman Coby Burgiel.
Brock joined the Suns as a pre-listed rookie in late 2021 but didn’t manage a senior appearance across three years, while Burgiel was the No. 29 draft pick in 2022 but was cut by West Coast in October.
And speaking of the Suns, Gold Coast announced the train-on additions of Southport rebounder Ben Jepson and delisted 23-year-old Hewago Oea for its vacant list spot.
Jepson averaged 24.7 disposals at 82.9 per cent efficiency across 22 appearances this year as a solid asset behind the ball.
As for the Roos, ex-Suns utility Darcy MacPherson was sighted at training at Arden Street prior to the drafts, and while North doesn’t currently have a list spot open, there remains the potential for vacancies later in the pre-season due to injuries and/or retirements.
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