THE 7.30PM trade deadline wasn't the only cutoff time Finnbar Maley had to worry about when his alarm sounded on October 15. Before the cult figure could revel in the relief of keeping his AFL dream alive at Adelaide, he had to spend another six hours finishing off a psychology assignment before it was due. 

Maley was yet to receive a contract offer from North Melbourne for 2026 when he was traded, seemingly out of nowhere, just after 4pm on the final day of the Continental Tyres AFL Trade Period. By the time the 197cm ruck/forward finally started responding to text messages and missed calls, it was almost 10.30pm. 

That was when he submitted a paper worth 40 per cent of his grade on self-determination theory, just before it was due. Maley now has one subject left to complete his degree at RMIT University and a deadline day for the ages. 

"I was literally halfway through my assignment when I found out the news. I had to finish it after the trade went through, which was crazy because I had a million text messages and a million calls, it was just ridiculous," Maley recalled to AFL.com.au. 

Twenty-seven players were traded in October, including 12 on deadline day – plus seven others moved as free agents – but not many, if any, emerged out of left-field like the Maley trade. Despite breaking through for a debut this year and playing seven senior games off the rookie list, the Kangaroos couldn't guarantee him a deal in 2026 until after the trade period. Raw key forward Cooper Trembath had starred late in the season after being picked in the Mid-Season Rookie Draft and list spots were tight. 

Adelaide kicked the tyres in September. Crows list manager Justin Reid and national recruiting boss Hamish Ogilvie had tracked him across the winter. They met with him for a coffee before Maley flew across the Tasman for a month travelling around New Zealand. 

Maley was in Milford Sound on the South Island a fortnight later when he spoke with Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks and coaching director Murray Davis via Zoom. From there, James Pitcher from Odyssey Sports Management kept working the angles. Maley arrived back in Melbourne four days before the deadline not expecting anything to happen in the trade period, but the Crows weren't prepared to wait for him to be delisted.

"I just wasn't sure if the Crows were going to wait for me to get delisted and then pick me up as an SSP.  It was unclear what North were doing with my contract, whether they were going to delist me or keep me on," Maley said. 

"I just let James Pitcher go to work and he did an absolute ripping job. We needed a clear answer from North and we weren't getting one. Hamish and Reidy didn't want to take the chance, so they decided to put in a trade request. 

"I had to call Brady Rawlings and I said 'I know this is a bit sudden, but you've left me hanging for the second year in a row and I've definitely shown that I've developed and I'm only just getting started, so I want to go somewhere where I feel more valued'. That was pretty much it. He was really good about it."

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THE JOURNEY from obscurity to the AFL, the nickname and the luscious moustache ensured 'Moose' appealed to many beyond Arden Street. After shifting his focus from basketball to football later than most, Maley earned a shot with the Northern Bullants after starring for Eltham in 2022. 

The Kangaroos saw enough in his raw athleticism and upside in the VFL to select him in the Rookie Draft at the end of 2023, weeks after he slotted six goals in a Northern Football League Grand Final win over Diamond Creek.

By that stage, Maley had completed two full years of his psychology degree. When he started the course, the plan was to become a psychologist when he was qualified. That plan has changed slightly. Now he wants to work in the mindfulness and mental health space in schools. But having the degree as an outlet – and another career if things don't work out in the AFL – provided respite amid a season of uncertainty.

"Not knowing (about a contract for 2026) sucked, hey," Maley quipped. "Having uni was something else to focus on and because I'm towards the end of a degree it's a lot less daunting. I've also been in the quote unquote real world. We are all in the real world, but I have been in the workforce previously when I used to work as a scaffolder and do a lot of NDIS support work as well.

"For me, footy is something that I am so determined to make work and have a long career, but there are also so many other aspects of life to enjoy. Having something I find interesting outside of footy with psychology has been pretty nice because I was in and out of the side at North, playing some good footy at stage-league level but some pretty inconsistent footy at AFL level. At least I'm aware if it was all to come crashing to a halt I have a future that I take a bit of pride in."

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THIS is not the first time a Maley has played for North Melbourne and Adelaide. Finnbar's father Paul 'The Mailman' Maley won a National Basketball League championship with the North Melbourne Giants in 1994 during his eight-year stint with the now defunct franchise, before joining the Adelaide 36ers for a couple of seasons. 

Finnbar's brother and sister – who has played for the Australian Opals and currently for the Perth Lynx in the WNBL – were born in South Australia during that stage of Paul's basketball career.

Professional sporting careers can lead anywhere and everywhere. Paul was born in America, played at Yale, moved to Australia to play in the NBL and never left. South Australia has always been a home away from home. And now, it is again, just for another Maley.

"It's strange, at the pub on Arden Street that we would sometimes go to called the Limerick Castle, the first time I went and had a beer there, I saw my dad's North Melbourne Giants jersey on the wall signed from their premiership. Now coming here, he didn't play in the premierships but he absolutely adored his time in Adelaide," he said.

"It is strange how many people I know here through my old man. I've got really good family friends here that I grew up with and strangely enough, my best mate Alex Foster, is the biggest diehard Crows fan. He ran out with Tex in Tex's debut and there are photos signing the song after that game. There are some crazy weird connections to this place, so it doesn’t feel very foreign."

Almost a month into his first pre-season at West Lakes, Maley is determined to extend this once unlikely professional career beyond the one-year deal he signed when he joined Adelaide. He wants to see more than just SANFL venues on weekends in winter. 

Former Crows star Tom Lynch fuelled his belief in the VFL as Kangaroos reserves coach and helped fast-track his development in 2025. Moving out of his comfort zone has only increased his desire to make a long-term career as a footballer.

"There is so much for me to work on, but I absolutely believe in myself in that regard," he said. "The development I've made in two years – I could barely kick a footy when I got drafted, how I got drafted I don't know and I was skinny and not very fit and had only one weapon – to where I got to last season where I am able to play consistent and dominant state league footy, which I'd never done before. Then play some AFL games that I was really happy with. 

"For me, it's about time and work and I feel like making a move away from my comfort zone and away from my friends and family back in Eltham helps me do even more to be a professional. The Crows have been amazing showing me their standard of professional. With all that in mind, I think I can make it."

Maley will start down the pecking order behind Crows great Taylor Walker, reigning All-Australian Riley Thilthorpe and Darcy Fogarty at a club that returned to September this year. Then there is Tyler Welsh, who secured another contract for 2026, while Mitch Marsh and Archie Ludowyke have just been drafted. Games will be hard to come by at Adelaide. But don't discount the psychology student with the best mo in footy adding another chapter to his fascinating life in 2026.