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.

MIERS' MEDICAL WITH EAGLES

GRYAN Miers has undergone a medical with West Coast ahead of jetting out of the country for an overseas holiday amid the Eagles' interest in the Geelong playmaker. 

Miers is understood to have had the medical late on Friday as a safeguard for if any talks on a move to West Coast progress given he was about to head overseas on a trip for his off-season break.

He remains keen to stay at the Cats, where he has two years to run on his deal, and that position hasn't changed but he is aware of the Eagles' interest. 

AFL.com.au revealed on Thursday West Coast had flagged its interest in the 2022 premiership forward.

The medical assessment carries more significance if anything pushes forward for Miers given his unique ACL injury that saw him put off surgery earlier this year and finish the season playing with the partially torn ligament. 

The Eagles are looking at Miers, along with Melbourne pair Jack Viney and Trent Rivers, for this year's Trade Period. – Callum Twomey  

SUNS KEEN TO MEET HAWK

GOLD Coast is pushing to fly up young Hawk Aidan Schubert to the Suns' facilities in coming days as the club continues to push for a trade for the first-year Hawk.

Hawthorn's re-signing of Calsher Dear to a two-year deal on Friday has reignited the Suns' interest in Schubert, who has been on their radar for some time as a target if they could strike a deal with the Hawks separate to Ben King's free agency move to the club.

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Schubert is weighing up the Suns' strong interest and will in coming days make a call on whether he flies to the Gold Coast to meet the club and entertain a move, or whether he shuts it down and sticks at the Hawks.

He signed a two-year contract extension in June that tied him to the Hawks until the end of 2029, but that hasn't stopped the Suns from pressing their interest and that ramped up again in recent days after Dear's re-signing. 

The 18-year-old made his AFL debut in round 21 this season and impressed at VFL level this season.

Gold Coast would receive pick No.7 for King as compensation if he departed as a free agent but have made clear to the Hawks they are also chasing a player in a separate transaction. 

The Hawks are considering their options as they do not want to have their free agency bid matched for King and forced into a trade, given they have offered pick 15, 25 and a future third-round pick already for Essendon midfielder Zach Merrett. – Callum Twomey 

BOMBERS' VINEY MEDICAL

MELBOURNE premiership midfielder Jack Viney will have a medical with Essendon this weekend as he gets closer to a call on his future.

Viney returned from Perth late in the week after spending several days in the city assessing West Coast as a possible new home, with the Eagles keen to lure him west to bolster their midfield and add leadership to the group.

But the 32-year-old is yet to decide on his preferred destination, having been told several weeks ago by the Demons that he would not be in their best 23 next year and he was free to explore his trade options.

AFL.com.au understands Viney will have a medical with Essendon over this weekend as the Bombers step up their interest in him.

The 238-gamer has already met with the Bombers ahead of the Grand Final, and the two suitors are aware it would not take much draft capital to secure him as a trade given Melbourne's willingness for him to explore a move.

Viney played only one game this year – the Demons' wildcard final loss to Carlton – after missing most of the season with injury. – Callum Twomey  

PIE'S DEAL EXTENDED

DAN MCSTAY won’t enter 2027 in the final year of the five-year contract he signed when he joined Collingwood as a free agent.

McStay moved back to Victoria from Brisbane at the end of 2022 and chose the Magpies over a few other suitors.

The 31-year-old is understood to have hit a trigger for another year after the best season of his career, which will take his deal at the Pies through to the end of 2028. 

McStay booted 47 goals in 2026, thriving in the second half of the season as the main man in the Magpies’ forward line. 

The key forward finished sixth in the Copeland Trophy on Friday night.

McStay won the Gordon Coventry goalkicking award and the Bob Rose Award for Collingwood's best player in the finals. – Josh Gabelich

LIONS CONFIDENT ON MURRAY BID

BRISBANE'S disappointment with its free agency compensation for losing Lachie Neale extends to the tough task of matching an early bid for Academy talent Caylen Murray.

And it brings into play whether a rival could tempt the Lions with a first-round pick to part with Keidean Coleman, who AFL.com.au revealed on Friday was open to exploring a trade move if any presented. 

The Lions were hoping for a band two selection for losing Neale to the Magpies, which would have meant an end-of-first round pick to go alongside their first pick (currently No.18).

But the second-round compensation selection for Neale comes in at No.40 and doesn't help the Lions match a bid for Murray unless they use it to combine with another pick and shuffle up the board.

Under the Lions' current draft hand, if a bid comes before or around the pick No.12 mark, the Lions would have to match using picks 18, 39 and almost their full points deficit for next year, pushing back their first-round pick in 2027.

This is noting that their picks could also shuffle back multiple spots and lose value with more compensation picks to come into the order before then, while also taking into account the 20 per cent points loading applied to Grand Final sides when matching a bid under the new system.

It brings into the conversation the interest from Coleman in his future, but the view from rivals is the Lions would be unlikely to open the door for a move for the contracted half-back unless an attractive draft pick came in return, which would help them match a Murray bid.

Lions recruiting boss Steve Conole told AFL.com.au's Gettable Draft Combine special on Saturday the club was confident it would be able to match a bid on Murray, who has climbed into some clubs' top 10 prospects after an exciting season.

"He's had a fantastic year, Caylen. He's been able to play across the AFL Academy into our Academy, the Allies and into our reserves, so you couldn't have asked for me. He's played predominantly across half-back but there is a little bit of scope for him to play forward as well and through those wings and mids, so he's been super consistent," Conole said.

"It's a long year for the sunny coast lads coming up and down the M1 all the time. Now we have to wait and see where the bid is and where that unfolds.

"Hopefully (we can get it done). As I've always said past years, (Brisbane list manager) Dom (Ambrogio) is a bit of a whisperer with the points so it will be over to him to throw those things around again. That's our plan. Trade Period's about to kick off so we'll see where our list ends up in terms of players coming and going and certainly that's our goal (to match for Murray)." – Callum Twomey

INJURY HITS AS COMBINE RECORD FALLS

A HAMSTRING injury for Essendon Next Generation Academy prospect Blake Justice soured the day of testing at the Telstra AFL Draft Combine as a new record was set.

Justice tested as part of the Victorian state screening and suffered a hamstring injury while stretching in the final stages of his second 20-metre sprint attempt.

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The Bombers' Academy prospect, who has had an injury-hit season, went down in pain and was later on crutches with his hamstring iced. It had followed him running a time of 2.81 seconds moments earlier. 

It followed a big day of testing at the Victorian State Netball and Hockey Centre, where Northern Knights forward Sam Gayfer set a record for the running vertical jump with a leap of 114cm. 

He had earlier tested at 118cm before a re-test saw him land on his official height of 114cm, smashing the previous record of 107cm set by Leek Aleer. Gayfer beat out Mason McGroder (107cm), Sam Devers (97cm), Gus Kennedy (97cm) and Ethan Drever (96cm) in the top five of the vertical jumps test for the national Combine.

McGroder, who told AFL.com.au this week he was leaning towards an AFL career over his athletics pursuits, claimed top billing in the 20-metre sprint with a run of 2.827 seconds, ahead of Cameron Maynard (2.898), Wil Malady (2.9), Andrio Sousa (2.902) and Drever (2.905), while Western Jets midfielder Lachie Hicks won the agility test with a time of 7.8 seconds.

That narrowly beat out Malady (7.833), George Dimer (7.893), Archie Spencer (7.905) and Harvie Cooke (7.962) in the top five of that test, with Sandringham Dragons key defender Tyson Bradley showing his speed by finishing sixth in the agility. 

A number of top-end players, such as Arki Butler, Dougie Cochrane and Gus Teixeira didn't test at all while Cody Walker didn't complete the Saturday testing due to soreness. However, Walker did finish in the top three for the 2km time trial on Thursday. – Callum Twomey

AFL COACHES GRILL DRAFT PROSPECTS

A SERIES of AFL coaches have spent recent days grilling draft prospects at the Combine.

Carlton's recently appointed full-time senior coach Josh Fraser and new Essendon boss Mark McVeigh were among those to sit in on their clubs' interviews with draft prospects at the MCG on Thursday and Friday.

Melbourne's Steven King, Sydney's Dean Cox, Richmond's Adem Yze, Greater Western Sydney's Adam Kingsley and Port Adelaide's Josh Carr were also part of the process, which this year featured 63 of the country's best prospects.

As part of the Combine, players go through a series of 'speed dating' interviews with key club recruiters and personnel at the MCG in between athletic testing events.

This year's edition saw the 2km time trial held on Thursday morning, before club and media interviews were spread across Thursday and Friday, with the majority of the athletic testing events held on Saturday.

Currently listed players were also part of the interview process, with the Giants also bringing respected defender Connor Idun alongside Kingsley as they quizzed the nation's best young talent. – Riley Beveridge

HAWKS' LATE PICK FOR FATHER-SON

HAWTHORN father-son prospect Cooper Hodge looms as a late selection for the Hawks in the 2026 Telstra AFL Draft next month.

The son of four-time premiership legend Luke nominated Hawthorn as his preferred destination last month over Brisbane, where he has been a member of the Lions’ Academy for the past six years. 

Hodge tested at the state Combine in Melbourne on Saturday, where he won the vertical jump and ran the fourth fastest 20m sprint at 2.93 seconds. 

The Hawks haven't guaranteed him a spot but are expected to use one of their late picks on Hodge next month. 

Hawthorn currently holds picks 15, 25, 27, 35, 69 and 92 ahead of the Trade Period opening on Monday morning. 

Hodge grew up in Melbourne before moving to Brisbane when his father came out of retirement and finished his career at the Lions across 2018 and 2019. 

The 18-year-old impressed while playing for the Allies at this year’s under-18 national championships and across eight VFL games for Brisbane's reserves, before making his decision in September. 

"It was an extremely hard decision because the Lions have done so much for me. They've put in a lot of time for me and I don't think I'd be in the position I am today without all their help. That is what made the decision incredibly hard," Hodge told AFL.com.au at the Combine.

"But I just had to come back to my gut feeling really. And that was, Hawthorn's in my blood. The first 10 years of my life was around the club. I had a connection with the Hawks pretty much since I was born. That hasn't left me." – Josh Gabelich

DRAFT HOPEFULS TRIAL VR INITIATIVE

THE COUNTRY'S best draft prospects have been using virtual reality to test themselves in high-pressure situations at the Combine, as part of a new AFL initiative.

Players have had the ability to trial VR headsets that provide an immersive and realistic simulation of a high-pressure matchday goalkicking scenario, designed to help the League's next generation build successful routines for the future.

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The initiative, developed by the AFL's mental health and wellbeing team alongside Orygen Digital XR Innovation Lab, is designed to assist players with attention and focus, as well as build lasting goalkicking techniques.

It comes after performance pressure was identified by experts as one of the biggest risk factors for young players' mental health issues when first transitioning from junior football into the elite game.

Draft prospects could voluntarily trial the VR experience in between club and media interviews, as well as athletic testing events, at the Combine at the MCG on both Thursday and Friday this week. – Riley Beveridge