How star duo’s futures are linked; Dees ‘set the market early’: Verdict on 10 biggest AFL trade calls

All 18 AFL clubs will be in action across Round 1.

But while all the focus for players and coaches will be on the field across the season, player managers and list managers are working meticulously in the background on contracts.

In the latest episode of the Midweek Tackle digital-only show ‘Tackle The Headline’, Herald Sun reporters Lauren Wood, Glenn McFarlane and Jon Ralph nominated the 10 most intriguing AFL player contract calls of 2025 – and a verdict on whether they’ll stay or go.

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Luke Davies-Uniacke (North Melbourne)

Jon Ralph: It will not happen anytime soon, but I think we still stay at the football club for seven years on about $1.4 million-ish. That’s good money in anyone’s language.

Glenn McFarlane: He (Alastair Clarkson) said they (the Kangaroos) won’t pay overs, they’ll pay enough. He’s lost Buddy Franklin before (when at Hawthorn), but he doesn’t want to lose Luke Davies-Uniacke.

JR: If the contract offer was “$1.1 million and you can bugger off, or we’ll pay $1.3 million but you’ll stay”, do you reckon Clarko would say ‘pay the extra money?’

GF: Let’s just pay the extra money! But what he (Clarkson) did say is that they will be prepared to match the offer – which they (the Hawks) didn’t do on Buddy Franklin – if it’s in the right ballpark. It’s got to be in the right ballpark.

Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera (St Kilda)

GF: I think he’ll end up staying. He’s their best player, (but) they’ve got to find the money for him though … he’s probably worth $1.2 million, the way he’s playing. By the end of this year, he’ll be their best player. They cannot afford to lose him.

Lauren Wood: They’ve got to find the money. They’re splashing it around everywhere – over the years we’ve heard Dustin Martin, Jordan De Goey, we’ve heard Finn Callaghan more recently – but maybe just reward a few of your own?

JR: They were paying $900,000 times six for Josh Battle – that’s nearly $6 million of salary cap space. They would be absolutely negligent to lose him (Wanganeen-Milera) over a couple of hundred grand to Port Adelaide or an Adelaide.

Tom De Koning (Calton)

GF: He stays for mine. I know people will say: “How’s he going to knock this money back and how are Carlton going to pay the money there as well?” They’re up to their eyeballs in salary cap. But I think they’ve been working on this for about two years now. One thing about him is he’s a very, very loyal person and I think internally they’ve been pitching to him about the premiership window and “here we are, we’re going to win one”. Just think, if you’re a Carlton player who plays in the next premiership 30 years on or however many years on (from their most recent flag), think about how much money you’re going to make at the end of your career. I’m pretty certain TDK will end up staying at the Carlton footy club.

Chad Warner (Sydney Swans)

LW: I think he’ll be leaving and playing in Western Australia next year. Once we start talking real estate and entering that sort of sphere … I think it’ll be positioned beautifully for him to potentially get to the Eagles and get another five or six (years), good money, set himself up in Perth. Everything’s sitting pretty and the picks go back to Sydney.

Harley Reid (West Coast Eagles)

JR: I just think the Harley Reid deal is linked (to Chad Warner’s future). It’s much more likely that Harley stays and potentially signs an extra two years – $2 million for each of those two years. But I just think if Chad Warner comes, I think his (Reid’s) capacity to leave – not under the cover of darkness because he’s Harley Reid and everything he does is the backpage lead – it gives him much more of an opportunity to say “this might be my time (to go)”. Again, it’s not even Round 1. He might have a fantastic year, his partner might come across and live with him … but I think they (Warner and Reid’s future) are much more linked than people would believe.

GF: That’s going to be a fascinating watch all the way through … if he does come back, which club is leading the way? Is there one or two?

JR: Everyone’s going to say “Essendon” just because he’s got mates there. I’m not sure about that. They keep telling us they’re in a 2029 premiership window – it’s a long way away. How many picks would you have to give up for Harley Reid? You’d probably do it. You’d back the truck up and you’d give three first-rounders.

Oscar Allen (West Coast Eagles)

LW: He hasn’t strung together a number of consecutive strong seasons yet, but he’s really been talked about as one of these guys who could cash in on the market. Big men don’t grow on trees, do they?

JR: I think if he plays the next 15 games and kicks 30-odd goals – because he was averaging two goals a game when he came back from that knee issue – I think that the club will pay up. It’s not just about money, it’s about a long-term deal. I think the most they’d offer him is five years. Someone suggested six months back they (the Eagles) were saying: “We’ll offer you three (years) with clauses.” I haven’t been able to confirm that, but if that is the case … we know what they did with Elliot Yeo and dragged that contract on for a long time. Everyone says “Brisbane” – Brisbane doesn’t give six-year deals at $1 million-plus to blokes with banged-up bodies. They give deals like Linc McCarthy, Nakia Cockatoo – those sorts of guys who’ve had battered and bruised bodies, but they’ll give them a chance. I’d be less likely to think Brisbane will throw the kitchen sink at him, even though they have got room in that forward line without Joe Daniher.

Matt Rowell (Gold Coast Suns)

JR: He’s going to stay, isn’t he?

GF: I think he will. He’s a loyal guy. I can’t see him leaving.

JR: He’s best mates with all these blokes, he’s best mates with the captain Noah Anderson. They get some wins on the board that gets them to 8-3 – that’s a big ‘if’, but I just think he’d say to himself ‘I’m close enough to a premiership’. Sign a two-year deal, get to free agency and then make your choice as an eight-year player.

Kysaiah Pickett (Melbourne)

GF: We’ve already had the first thing drawn when you look at (Demons president) Brad Green saying: ‘We want three first-rounders, we want this, we want that.’ I reckon Kozzy will end up leaving – or certainly trying to leave – I think that’s what’s going to happen. He wants to get back there … but if you’re Melbourne, you’re going to fight as much as you can. But if he wants to go, I’d let him go.

JR: Did Brad Green make a mistake to just set the market early?

GF: He did, absolutely. I just think he’s thrown it out too early. You don’t need to speak then. Do you need to speak in that situation? Keep things very close to your chest.

JR: If you’re the player and you think: “They’re not letting me go – hang on, three first-rounders?!”

GF: Do you think that’s going to stop a player, though? I don’t think the player’s worried. They just say to their manager: “Get this done, I want to leave.”

JR: I just think the seed was already planted and all of a sudden it’s blossoming, rather than withering on the vine.

Jamarra Ugle-Hagan (Western Bulldogs)

LW: He’s been talked about all summer. I’m not having a bit each way here: I’d love to see him stay at the Bulldogs, but I think the next 10 weeks in particular is going to be really crucial on this one. I know Sydney’s been talked about – they’ve come for him before – there’s obviously going to be clubs circling, particularly with strong welfare programs … I reckon the Hawks would be right (in there). I think they (rival clubs) will be lurking, I’d love to see him stay, but if things keep playing out the way they are, it may become a situation where it’d be better for everybody if he does go.

JR: We are all truly guessing on him right now. All I would say is I hope he’s not thinking: “I can just jump ship, it’d be easier at another club.” The only thing that’s going to get him back to playing great football is hard work and listening to the experts – and we understand it’s a really complicated picture … If it does happen by the end of the year and it’s time for a change, that’s fine. But don’t just use it as a lever just to get out of this football club because you don’t want to roll your sleeves up.

Luke Jackson (Fremantle)

JR: No (he won’t leave). All of us have partners and it’s challenging at times: “Where do you want to live, east or west coast?” I think there’s a chance he has the little ‘Essendon’, a little expansion of your contract, the little ‘Zach Merrett’. There’s a little bit of interest from somewhere else, he’s still contracted for five more years, but instead of being at $850,000 guaranteed, it gets you to $1 million. I think that’ll be beneficial for both parties.