Player movement explosion? Why trade shackles are off for AFL clubs

Key points

• All clubs have met the AFL’s requirement to make two first-round picks in a four-year period.
• The league introduced the rule to protect clubs once future trading was given the green light.
• Thirteen AFL clubs traded a total of 31 future picks last year, with 2023 results to determine them.

No AFL club will be shackled with trade restrictions this year – at least when it comes to first-round draft picks – in a development that could unlock an explosion of player movement.

The league enabled clubs to begin trading future selections in 2015, but that introduction came with a stipulation: teams must use at least two first-round picks in the previous four years to be eligible to trade a first-round choice that year or next.

Melbourne forward Kysaiah Pickett is a player in demand as he weighs up his future.Credit:AFL Photos

The AFL brought in the rule to protect clubs against themselves, but there is room for exceptions if a club wants to trade for a player not much older than draft age.

Carlton, Richmond, St Kilda and West Coast made the fewest first-round selections with three in the rolling four-year period. However, the Blues’ two first-round picks in 2019 will drop off their rolling tally after this year.

The Tigers already parted with their top 2023 pick as part of the package to secure ex-GWS Giants midfielder Jacob Hopper but can trade next year’s as well if they choose.

Richmond are one of four clubs – Brisbane Lions (Josh Dunkley), Fremantle (Luke Jackson) and Port Adelaide (Jason Horne-Francis) are the others – without a first-round pick this year due to already trading it, with the Giants, Melbourne, North Melbourne and Western Bulldogs all boasting two.

The 2023 draft is considered one of the strongest in years, headlined by potential No.1 pick Harley Reid, small forward Nick Watson, Zane Duursma – brother of Power utility Xavier – and intercept defender Daniel Curtin.

But list managers may need to be willing to give up a first-round selection to bring in elite talent, given this year’s free agency class is fairly shallow, with Darcy Parish, Ben McKay, Harry Himmelberg and Jade Gresham among the best names.

Carlton’s Tom De Koning, Docker Liam Henry, Geelong’s Esava Ratugolea, Sun Sam Flanders, Melbourne’s Kysaiah Pickett, Giant Tom Green, Port Adelaide’s Mitch Georgiades, Tiger Jack Graham and St Kilda’s Hunter Clark are intriguing out-of-contract players to track.

North Melbourne defender Ben McKay is a free agent this year.Credit:Getty Images

AFL rules also preclude clubs trading the rest of their future selections if they already gave away their first-round pick from the next year, and vice versa. This can impact clubs giving up first-rounders, but it is easier to trade in replacement later picks to offset this restriction.

Port Adelaide tried to get around this rule to complete a four-club mega deal during last year’s trade period – wanting to trade future first- and second-round selections – but the league rejected their application, forcing the parties to rejig the arrangement. The only way the Power would have been able to do that in this scenario was to trade in an extra first- or second-round pick beforehand.

Despite the complications, 13 clubs last year traded a combined total of 31 picks in the 2023 draft, with Melbourne in particular hoping Fremantle go into freefall after the much-discussed Jackson deal. The Demons are the only club at this stage with four picks in the first two rounds of the latest “super draft”.

There is an inherent risk in trading into the future, which is why the league so far limits it to only one year ahead, given clubs can significantly rise or fall the next year.

GWS were big winners at Collingwood’s expense when the Magpies unexpectedly tumbled to 17th place in 2021 – the worst result in their VFL/AFL history – after they gave up their first-round pick to the Giants the previous year for the modest return of selections 24, 30 and a future fourth-rounder.

Collingwood did so knowing they were going to match a bid on father-son gun Nick Daicos. But both North Melbourne and GWS, with the Pies’ former pick, bypassed Daicos before Gold Coast finally placed a bid at No.4.

There were 34 deals across free agency and trade period last year, with a further seven pick swaps during the two-night draft.

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