Get all the latest news in the trade, free agency and draft landscape in Inside Trading, AFL.com.au's dedicated column for player movement. Find out the latest on contracts, deals, trades, draftees, rules, agents and who is going where from the AFL.com.au team.
NEW OFFERS FOR GIANTS PAIR
GREATER Western Sydney has tabled two-year contract extensions to captain Toby Greene and Coleman medallist Jesse Hogan.
Greene entered 2026 as an unrestricted free agent and at 32 would appeal to a range of clubs, especially those in Melbourne trying to lure him home.
But the Giants have now put a two-year deal in front of the three-time All-Australian, who has played the second-most games for GWS, two behind Callan Ward's record of 265.
Greene won the second of his Kevin Sheedy Medals in 2023 and finished fifth in last year's best and fairest.
Hogan is also out of contract in 2026 but has also been offered a contract through until the end of 2028.
The 31-year-old has been one of the Giants' best ever trades since being signed from Fremantle at the end of 2020.
After getting his body right in 2022, Hogan has kicked 232 goals across 95 games in orange.
With Tom Green and Lachie Ash free agents in 2027, GWS has some big contract decisions looming, but is making progress on two veterans. – Josh Gabelich
ROO EYES CONTRACT TRIGGER
NORTH Melbourne veteran Jack Darling is on track to reach a trigger for a third season at Arden Street after his important role in the Roos' come-from-behind win over Carlton last week.
Darling signed a two year-deal when he joined the Roos from West Coast at the end of 2024 which includes a games-based trigger for him to play on for a third year in 2027.
He has played three out of the Kangaroos' four games so far this season and is on the way to reaching the clause, which would take him to within striking distance of the 350-game milestone.
Darling was excellent late in North's stirring win over Carlton on Good Friday, helping cover the loss of suspended ruckman Tristan Xerri with some key plays as the Roos overran the Blues.
Darling turns 34 in June but has always maintained a strong fitness regime throughout his career, with his work ethic and standards also part of his appeal to the young Roos squad when he left the Eagles to join North. He kicked 24 goals from 22 games last year. – Callum Twomey
CROW NOT THINKING CONTRACT
MARK Keane is eyeing a return within the next six weeks after a graphic leg break in February and says he is happy at Adelaide, despite interest from rival clubs across the past two seasons.
The 26-year-old was named in the 44-man All-Australian squad last year after emerging as one of the best key defenders in the AFL during a career-best campaign for Matthew Nicks' side.
The Western Bulldogs made a late play for the Irishman after failing to land Cal Wilkie from St Kilda and Jack Silvagni as a free agent.
That bold move came 12 months after Collingwood attempted to lure him back to the Magpies at the end of 2024, before Keane signed a three-year extension that ties him to the Crows until the end of 2028.
Keane moved across the world to join the Magpies at the end of 2018 then went home in 2021, before signing with the Crows at the start of 2023. But where will his long-term future be?
"I'm happy here at Adelaide at the moment. I can see where this young group is going, so at the moment I'm focused on my leg and getting back to play in the back half of the year," Keane said on The Round Ahead on Wednesday at Adelaide Oval.
"I just want to play footy for as long as I can.
"I know I'm not going to be in Australia for ever; as long as I can stay here and create a good career that will be perfect for me."
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Keane will start running for the first time since surgery on Thursday and is aiming to resume full training by the end of April.
While Adelaide teammate Jordon Butts is a free agent in 2026, along with Buku Khamis, Toby Pink and Nathan Broad, the key defender market is thin. Clubs might come calling for Keane again in October if he gets his body right and fires in the second half of the season. - Josh Gabelich
DONS IN TALKS WITH YOUNG FORWARD
ESSENDON is in talks to extend tall forward Archie May to a new deal.
May joined the Bombers as one of four mid-season recruits last year and made his debut a month later, finishing with seven games to his name for 2025.
He nominated in the mid-season draft on an 18-month deal, meaning he was signed through to the end of 2026, but discussions are underway on an extension to have him tied to the Bombers past this year.
May kicked two goals last week against the Western Bulldogs in what was a better performance from the Bombers, with the tall forward a regular focal point for his team.
The 21-year-old was drafted from Subiaco in the WAFL competition, having shifted there from Victoria after missing out on multiple drafts. – Callum Twomey
LION CUB TO SIGN ON
YOUNG Brisbane tall Zane Zakostelsky is set to sign a new two-year deal with the Lions.
The West Australian product made his AFL debut in Opening Round this year against the Western Bulldogs, playing as a ruck option for the Lions, before facing the Swans the following week.
His athletic profile saw him rise up draft boards in the latter stages of the 2023 season and after two years on Brisbane's list he broke through for his first senior appearance this season.
Zakostelsky's ability to jump saw the Lions turn to him as a ruck fill-in despite being 196cm, with the new ruck rules giving him an advantage.
The 20-year-old was due to come out of contract this year but the new deal will take him to the end of 2028 at the club. – Callum Twomey
WHO HAS MID-SEASON PICKS?
PORT Adelaide will have access to two picks at this year's mid-season rookie draft after the recent season-ending knee injury to Ollie Lord.
Lord went down with an ACL tear last week and has been ruled out for the rest of the season and the Power will be able to replace him at the mid-season intake in May.
The club had already held over a list spot for the mid-season draft, so will now head into the draft with at least two vacant spots.
The Power were one of several clubs to currently hold mid-season selections, with St Kilda, Adelaide, Greater Western Sydney and Hawthorn all keeping one list spot open after the pre-season to be ready to pick at the mid-season draft.
Currently the two teams at the bottom of the ladder – Richmond and Essendon – do not have mid-season picks, but clubs have generally waited until much closer to confirm their open spots with more injuries expected over the next six weeks.
The mid-season draft is expected to be held on Tuesday, May 26, between rounds 11 and 12. – Callum Twomey
KEY MEETING ON GATHER ROUND FUTURE
AS THE negotiations around the future of Gather Round continue, AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon met with AFLPA boss James Gallagher on Wednesday to work through the players' union's part in the discussions.
The current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), which runs through until 2027, explicitly states that the AFLPA must agree to any future Gather Round deal beyond this season, leading to Dillon and Gallagher's meeting in Adelaide this week.
It's understood those negotiations are progressing smoothly, as are the AFL's with the South Australian government, with premier Peter Malinauskas reiterating on Wednesday that the state is angling for a long-term renewal of its Gather Round deal.
The CBA says that the AFL and the AFLPA must meet "as soon as reasonably practicable to discuss the proposed 2027 Gather Round including how any associated additional revenue will be dealt with".
It continues: "The Parties must act reasonably and in good faith in agreeing any associated additional revenue through these discussions and such agreement must be reached prior to AFL confirming that Gather Round will take place in 2027."
The fourth instalment of Gather Round will take place this weekend, with this season's edition to be the last included in the most recent three-year deal with the South Australian government that was signed in 2023. – Riley Beveridge
ADDITIONS TO ACADEMY LINE-UP
DRAFT prospects Sonny Smiler and Kale Matthews-Hampton have been included in the Marsh AFL National Academy squad for Sunday's match against North Melbourne's VFL team.
With a number of Academy players to miss the game through injury – including Dougie Cochrane (knee), Aidan McCartney (hip) and Darcy Szeryn (shoulder) – Smiler and Matthews-Hampton have been added to feature against the Roos in the first of two games against VFL opposition across the week-long Academy camp.
Smiler is a small forward from the Northern Territory, while Matthews-Hampton is a 187cm defender from Sturt who will add to the Academy backline in the clash at Arden Street.
As with previous years where players have been included to cover injuries, Smiler and Matthews-Hampton are in just for the Academy's first game against the Roos and not the following weekend's match against Richmond's VFL side on April 18.
Likely early draft pick Harry Van Hattum has missed the past two weeks with a quad injury but is hoping to face the Roos with the Academy.
Both Academy games will be streamed live on AFL.com.au and the Official AFL Live App. – Callum Twomey
VFL STANDOFF CONTINUES
A STANDOFF continues in the VFL player movement landscape, with Carlton holding firm that it won't transfer defender Ethan Phillips to rivals St Kilda.
Phillips, who played one game for Hawthorn in 2024, trained with the Blues over summer in the hope of landing a rookie spot via the pre-season supplemental period.
But after being overlooked, he last month lodged a request to be transferred from Carlton's VFL side to St Kilda's VFL team to play out the rest of the season with the Saints.
But a stalemate remains, with the Blues not relenting on clearing a transfer with the VFL season underway. Phillips won the club's VFL best and fairest last year in his first season with the Blues.
The back-and-forth follows tension between the clubs last year during the Saints' recruiting raid of the Blues as Jack Silvagni and Tom De Koning departed Carlton. – Callum Twomey
TIGER TIME FOR DRAFTEE
GIPPSLAND Power forward Wil Malady is training at Richmond this week after missing his placement at a club during the pre-season.
Malady, a versatile tall forward who can also be used up the ground or in defence, has started this year well, booting six goals in his round one game in the Talent League for the Power.
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As a member of the Marsh AFL Academy, Malady was due to spend a week doing his club training – where prospects learn the ropes of an AFL environment – across the pre-season but injury made him delay that.
This week he has been at Punt Road and getting involved in training having played for the Power last week, where he kicked two goals in the win over the Eastern Ranges.
The rangy 190cm prospect got a taste of under-18s last year as a bottom-aged player and will be a key prospect in Vic Country's side this season. – Callum Twomey
