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.
YOUNG HAWK'S CRUCIAL TRADE PIECE
AIDAN Schubert looms as the next prominent piece of Hawthorn's trade picture, with the young Hawk set to tour Gold Coast's facilities as soon as Tuesday.
After the Hawks went bang on the opening day of the trade period to land Zach Merrett, their next priority is free agent Ben King.
As AFL.com.au reported on Saturday, Gold Coast has been pushing to meet with Schubert as they eye him for a trade deal separate to King's free agency move to the Hawks.
The Hawks could lodge their free agency paperwork for King at the earliest on Tuesday, which would give the Suns three days to match a deal or take the pick No.7 compensation.
The Suns have been targeting Schubert since it was clear King was heading to the Hawks late in the season despite the 18-year-old's contract to the end of 2029.
The whirlwind of the trade period saw the Suns step up their interest when Calsher Dear re-signed last week with Hawthorn, with the Hawks not standing in Schubert's way to explore the Suns' interest.
Ultimately it will come down to whether the South Australian sees himself too far down the pecking order in Hawthorn's forward line crunch with King's arrival and Dear's recommitment, or whether he fights to find a spot in the future.
The Hawks got moving on Monday by getting a deal done for Merrett in a bombshell opening day that saw the champion Essendon midfielder be traded for picks 15, 25 and a 2028 second-round selection.
Merrett will join on a four-year deal worth $4 million, with a trigger for a fifth season which if he hit it would take him through to the end of the 2031 season when he turns 36.
The deal has seen Hawthorn tick off one of its main two priorities, with the view now that the decision of Schubert will shape how the King negotiations play out. – Callum Twomey
DOGS DO MEDICAL ON MIDFIELDER
HAWTHORN midfielder Finn Maginness has met with the Western Bulldogs and undergone a medical.
The 25-year-old is contracted at the Hawks for 2027 and previously turned his back on rival interest, but is now open to exploring a move for greater opportunity.
Maginness played only six senior games in 2026 after recovering from the serious kidney injury he suffered in Tasmania last July.
The Western Bulldogs are understood to have offered Maginness a two-year contract to move across town and start a new chapter at the Whitten Oval.
With Jordon Butts moving from Adelaide as a free agent on Saturday, the club remains focused on landing Zak Butters.
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But beyond that, the Bulldogs are wanting to secure Maginness and Carlton ruckman Hudson O'Keeffe.
Fremantle wingman Nathan O'Driscoll had been firmly on the club's radar earlier in the year, but now a move to the Dogs looked increasingly unlikely for the West Australian. – Josh Gabelich
PIES' PRECEDENT FOR RUCK DEAL
COLLINGWOOD will use last year's trades for Max Heath and Liam Reidy as precedent in negotiations with Carlton over a move for ruck Flynn Riley.
The Magpies will look to use one of their later picks in this year's draft, which currently fall at No.65, 66, 68 and 86, to secure Riley after offering the young ruck a three-year deal to move from the Blues.
But Carlton is set to hold out for a far more significant price, having itself offered Riley a two-year extension to stay after only drafting the 209cm big man from its VFL program in May.
Melbourne gave St Kilda a future fourth-round pick to secure the uncontracted Heath last year, while Carlton slid back picks in the third and fourth round to land Reidy from Fremantle.
Collingwood will subsequently look to use those deals as a base in negotiations with Carlton, with list boss Justin Leppitsch positive on where things sit for the one-game ruck.
"It's going well. We're in good conversation with Carlton," Leppitsch told AFL.com.au's Gettable on Monday.
"They've got a few things going on within that, but we're very clear what Flynn's value is. There's been a lot of similar trades over the last few years in this space. It's just how Carlton manufacture it with a lot of the other things they've got going on.
"If you look at the Max Heath trade last year, or even Carlton with Liam Reidy, it's a very similar type of scenario. It's a late third, early fourth type of scenario. That's probably where it sits." – Riley Beveridge
LIONS WANT 2026 PICKS IN MARSHALL DEAL
BRISBANE has indicated a preference to deal with 2026 picks in trade talks with St Kilda for premiership winner Sam Marshall.
But the Saints have a gap in between their No.8 and No.49 selections this year, complicating matters in early Marshall discussions, and have instead thrown up the potential of future picks being part of the negotiations.
Brisbane matched a draft bid at pick No.25 for the Academy-tied Marshall two years ago, but he was limited to just two senior appearances this season after playing a part in the Lions' premiership win in 2025.
The club has since suggested it would be after a similar trade price for Marshall, who is coming towards the end of his first two-year draftee contract.
Brisbane is desperate to add to its suite of selections in this year's draft – which currently includes the No.18, 39 and 40 choices – as it seeks to match a bid on Academy-tied potential top 10 pick Caylen Murray.
Under the AFL's new draft rules the Lions will subsequently have to pay a 20 per cent loading fee on top of where Murray is bid on, having won the premiership last month.
Brisbane last year made Adelaide walk the uncontracted Callum Ah Chee through to the pre-season draft after failing to negotiate a trade, though that appears an unlikely outcome for Marshall.
Marshall is heading into the third year of his standardised draftee contract in 2027, making it far more difficult for the young midfielder to set a hefty price on his head at the pre-season draft if a trade is unable to be negotiated. – Riley Beveridge
POWER FORWARD ON RADAR
CLUBS are doing work on out-of-contract Port Adelaide key forward Ollie Lord, who is still recovering from a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament.
The 24-year-old underwent a knee reconstruction in April after suffering the injury in a SANFL game.
Lord has played 35 games for the Power since arriving at Alberton at the end of 2020.
The Victorian played 15 senior games last year and memorably kicked four goals in a final against Brisbane in 2023.
Port Adelaide hasn't offered him a contract for 2027 yet, but hasn't delisted either.
Lord is unlikely to move clubs during the trade period but is an option clubs are considering as a delisted free agent or even the pre-season supplemental selection period.
Essendon has two extra rookie spots and are monitoring Lord as an option after the trade period as they look for some experienced options to bolster the list.
Melbourne has had interest in the past and just missed out on Calsher Dear, but hasn't explored Lord since then.
St Kilda has also kept tabs on Lord, who played for the Sandringham Dragons out of RSEA Park, but have other priorities this trade period. – Josh Gabelich
SAINTS OUT OF SHORT CHASE
ST KILDA won't pursue Richmond veteran Jayden Short as the Saints prioritise a deal for Sam Marshall.
The Saints had been among the clubs to show interest in the contracted Tiger, who has two years left on his deal, after he made clear to Richmond he would explore a move away from Punt Road.
But the Saints won't progress that any further as they narrow in on a move for Lions midfielder Marshall, who wants to join the club.
Short has interest in Collingwood and Collingwood has interest in Short, although the Pies' list boss Justin Leppitsch told AFL.com.au's Trade Radio on Monday that a deal there wouldn't be straightforward as things stand.
The two-time premiership Tiger has already met with the Magpies but is open to meeting more clubs in coming days. – Callum Twomey
THREE CLUBS ON FUTURE PICK WATCH
COLLINGWOOD, Port Adelaide and St Kilda can trade their first-round picks in two of the next three years under the AFL's future trading rules.
Under AFL rules, which were sent as a reminder to clubs on Friday, clubs must take a first-round pick in the national draft in at least two years over a rolling five-year period and not complete more than three consecutive drafts without using a first-round pick.
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However for the purposes of the League's determination on the rolling five-year window, all clubs were granted a 'presence' in the 2023 and 2024 drafts' first rounds regardless of their first-round selections used or not.
It means that the Pies, Power and Saints are this year able to trade out two of their next three first-round picks, with all of the three clubs having traded out their 2025 first-round selections.
The way the cards have fallen none of the three clubs trade plans at this stage look likely to involve trading their own first-round picks.
All other clubs are able to trade anything they hold with previous deals being done in recent years not impacting their first-round presences.
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Under the AFL's rules, declarations from club presidents, on behalf of their boards, approving trading future first-round selections must be submitted to the League for the AFL to tick off any deal involving a future first-round pick. – Callum Twomey