GOLD Coast's hectic NAB AFL Trade Period is over, but the phone of Suns list manager Craig Cameron won't stop ringing the next few weeks.
For the first time, this year clubs will be able to trade picks until a week before the draft. That window will close on November 16, and then reopen once the draft starts on November 22.
INDICATIVE DRAFT ORDER Your club's picks
It means the wheeling and dealing will continue for the next month, as clubs try their best to climb up the draft board and target the prospects they want to land.
So how do we make sense of what happened on trade deadline day, and what could happen up to November 16 and on draft day?
Adelaide and Port Adelaide will have Gold Coast on speed dial
The Suns hold the most appealing draft hand to bite at. They closed the trade period with picks 2, 3 and 6 in the first round, and 24 and 29 in the second round.
Port Adelaide and Adelaide, who both already have very strong draft positions with three first-round picks each, will consider packaging them together to move further up the order.
South Australian trio Jack Lukosius, Izak Rankine and Connor Rozee are all tipped to be drafted inside the first seven selections, so the jostling of picks could be crucial, particularly for the Crows and Power if they want to secure home-grown talent.
Two of Port's early picks (No.5, 10 and 15) could be grouped together to tempt the Suns to move back down the draft board, while the Crows will also make enquiries to shift up from their current positions (No.8, 13 and 16).
A two-for-one picks deal might appeal for the Suns should they be after midfielders such as Chayce Jones, Zak Butters or Jackson Hately, who are likely to be picked after the top 10.
Will the Suns shun the SA clubs and target Carlton's pick one?
Geelong Falcon Sam Walsh is the player the Suns want – they want to add to their midfield and he's the best in the draft through his consistency, running, ball-finding ability. He's a competitor and great character.
He's also the leading candidate to be the No.1 pick. But the Suns should use their hand to tempt Carlton into offloading that choice. Would they offer the Blues No.2 and 3 for No.1 and the Blues' future first-round pick?
PHANTOM FORM GUIDE Callum Twomey's top 30
They could do this knowing that pick No.6 the Suns would also get a quality player such as fellow Vic Country midfielder Jye Caldwell.
The move could also benefit the Blues if they're not sold on Walsh as their No.1 choice. With No.2 and No.3, the Blues could target the King twins – Max and Ben – or grab one of them alongside midfielder Bailey Smith.
St Kilda's pick No.4 is a massive bargaining chip
The Saints have been open about improving their draft hand so could look to turn No.4 into multiple early selections, while the Giants will be seeing what they could turn their suite of early selections – No.9, 11, 19 and 25 – into.
They have a history of moving up the draft board to target a specific player, having jumped up to No.2 in 2016 to try to land Andrew McGrath.
Why did North and Sydney trade out their earlier picks?
This year's draft is likely to feature more than 10 players who receive bids under the father-son/Academy bidding system.
Collingwood, North Melbourne and Sydney, for example, have father-son and/or Next Generation Academy prospects who are expected to attract rival bids in the first 30 selections of the daft.
So clubs will spend the time before the two-day draft extravaganza at Marvel Stadium calculating how many points they could need to require to match rival bids.
That was the thinking behind North Melbourne's pick swap on Wednesday, which saw the Roos receive three third-round selections from Fremantle (No.47, 49 and 55) for their second-round pick (No.31).
In North's case, the swap gave the Roos an extra 201 draft points to spend on Next Generation Academy prospect Tarryn Thomas and father-son pair Bailey Scott and Joel Crocker.
The Swans did similar in moving their pick No.13 to Carlton for what was essentially picks 26 and 28, which they will use on highly rated junior Nick Blakey.
What about Collingwood's father-son and Academy players?
Collingwood's late deal to finally land Dayne Beams leaves the Pies with 1222 draft points in total, which they'll need to spend on NGA prospect Isaac Quaynor (a bid is expected on him around pick 15) and father-son defender Will Kelly (a bid could come around the pick 25 mark).
Alone, the 1222 points will be enough to pay for Quaynor (given the discount they receive), and if the Pies need to go into a points deficit for Kelly, it will likely only impact their second-round pick next year.
The trade period is done, but the maneuvering of picks will continue. Expect a couple more surprises to come.
Rate your club's Trade Period
How did your club fare at the trade table?
You can use the form below to rate your club's NAB AFL Trade and Free Agency Period out of 10. If you like, you can also have your say on your side's deal-making.
We'll publish the results and best responses on AFL.com.au on Saturday, October 20.
Form not working on the app? Click here to open in a web view
