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 DECISION CLOSE

AIDAN Schubert will make a call on his future in the next 24 hours amid Gold Coast's push to trade for the Hawthorn key forward.

Schubert travelled to the Suns facility on Tuesday with his family and returned home on Wednesday after a day at Gold Coast being shown the club, and meeting with coach Damien Hardwick and key staff.

It is understood he will spend the next day or so mulling his call before making a decision on where he wants to play in 2027 and beyond, with the whirlwind trade option coming to life in recent days.  

The one-gamer has become a key storyline in this year's trade period given the Suns' significant interest in luring him north in a trade that would sit separate to Hawthorn's free agency move for Ben King.

The Hawks are open to trading Schubert and doing a deal with the Suns if it means Gold Coast doesn't match their free agency offer for King, which was lodged on Tuesday.

The Hawks and Suns have been in constant dialogue in recent weeks about a player trade being a priority for the Suns, otherwise Gold Coast would match a deal and force a trade for King where they would look for a player to be involved in a deal.

That intensified last week when Hawthorn upped the ante and its offer to Calsher Dear and he re-signed for two years, with the Hawks open to trading Schubert if he decides to take up the Suns' five-year offer.

There is a looming deadline on the decision given the Suns have until Friday afternoon to match the King free agency bid or accept pick No.7.

It will be Schubert's decision given he is contracted to the end of 2029 and re-signed earlier this season. Schubert, who was one of the youngest players in last year's draft and doesn't turn 19 until December, was taken at pick No.23 in the draft and made his AFL debut in round 21.

The Suns started targeting Schubert in July when it became clear the Hawks were King's destination. – Callum Twomey

KANGAS ADAMANT TOP PICK IS OFF THE TABLE

NORTH Melbourne will refuse to move pick No.5 as part of talks with Adelaide over contracted defender Nick Murray, with the club currently considering around six draft hopefuls with its top-end selection.

The Kangas have had their initial offer for Murray – involving a 2027 first-round pick for the defender and a future second-round selection – knocked back by the Crows and are now considering their next steps in negotiations.

One option could be to offer the club's 2027 first-round pick in isolation for Murray, though North Melbourne list boss Brady Rawlings said the prospect of either including or splitting pick No.5 to complete the deal wouldn't be happening.

"That's off the table," Rawlings told AFL.com.au's Gettable on Wednesday.

"With the new rules … as soon as you split pick No.5, you're giving up a pick in the 20s as well and that's a valuable pick. We'll work with the Crows to get something done, but pick No.5 won't be in it."

North Melbourne will have to wait for the first group of teams to select at the top of the order and – outside of tied duo Dougie Cochrane and Cody Walker – will have to be patient to see which player falls through to its selection.

"There would be at least six that we need to work through," Rawlings said.

"It's a pretty even group, that group of six. It's very exciting. We've just got to get that order right. We know we're going to get a really good player there, it's just a matter of which one and which one falls through." – Riley Beveridge

LIONS VETERAN TO GO ON 

VETERAN Lion Linc McCarthy is set to play on again at Brisbane in 2027.

The 32-year-old missed all of 2025 after back-to-back ACL tears dating back to round eight 2024, costing him a chance to play in those premierships. 

McCarthy returned in round one this year and played eight games in the first half of the year, but then hamstring and calf strains kept him out of the side.

The former Cat was named in Chris Fagan's squad on Grand Final day and was included in the 26 for all four finals. 

Brisbane list manager Dom Ambrogio said McCarthy has an offer to play on for a ninth season, but has been working through living arrangements after relocating down to Byron Bay. 

"Look, Linc had a couple of things to work through just in regards to his situation. He has moved a little further away from the footy club and is living down in Joe Daniher territory," Ambrogio said on Continental Tyres AFL Trade Radio. 

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"We had to sort out what the pre-season could and would look like for him and whether he was comfortable with his role. 

"We are now close to landing on something there with Linc and that shouldn't be too far away. all things being equal I expect he'll go around again."

McCarthy has played 130 games for Brisbane after injuries cruelled the start of his career in Geelong. – Josh Gabelich

PIES EYE SWADLING TALKS

COLLINGWOOD will look to ramp up talks on an early extension for first-year sensation Sam Swadling once the trade period passes.

Swadling was a revelation for the Pies this year in his debut campaign, playing nine games but showing himself to be one of the club's promising young players, with his ball use and temperament on show. 

It came after the West Australian got through to pick No.37 in last year's draft, seeing him take on a standardised initial two-year deal that expires at the end of 2027.

However, the Pies are keen to step up talks following the trade period and look to lock in the 19-year-old to an extension.

Collingwood has already secured Lachie Neale as a free agent and Jesse Hogan as a late pick trade, with the Pies still considering their plans on a trade push for Tigers defender Jayden Short.

The Pies are the sole suitor for Short at this stage and the two-time flag winner is keen to get to Collingwood. He has two years left on his Richmond deal so a trade would need to be arranged. – Callum Twomey

CROWS HAVE TALKS WITH EX-BOMBERS ASSISTANT

ADELAIDE has spoken with former Essendon assistant Ben Jacobs about a role with the club on Matthew Nicks' coaching panel as the Crows survey the coaching market. 

Jacobs quit the Bombers after three-and-a-half seasons with the club in the days following Brad Scott's sacking mid-year.

The club's midfield coach, who shared a tight bond with Scott, stepped away from the club but has an eye on returning to the coaching landscape and has had discussions with the Crows about a role. 

Adelaide assistant Scott Burns departed the Crows at the end of this season, while former Crows ruckman Sam Jacobs has joined as an assistant coach after impressing with his work as a senior coach at Woodville-West Torrens. 

The Crows are among a number of clubs in the assistant coaching marketplace after significant change in the senior coaching ranks this year.

Fremantle is looking for assistant coaches after farewelling Jaymie Graham to North Melbourne as well as Adam Read and Todd Curley, with Read joining Greater Western Sydney.

The Giants are still looking at coaches as is Essendon, and if Brisbane hires Cam Bruce as its senior coach then the Lions will also be looking for a replacement to their assistant stocks. – Callum Twomey

BLUES COULD WAIT ON RUCK OPTION

CARLTON won't rush its search for ruck depth and could wait through until the draft or pre-season periods to add a tall to its list, if a replacement isn't found before next Wednesday night's trade deadline.

The Blues are still scouring the market for an extra ruck after uncontracted duo Flynn Riley and Hudson O'Keeffe both requested trades away from Ikon Park.

Collingwood is yet to make any meaningful progress in discussions for Riley, having indicated to Carlton earlier this week that it values the one-game tall as being around the third- or fourth-round pick mark.

But the Blues have placed a far higher value on the 209cm Riley, having only claimed him through the mid-season draft four months ago after a period on their VFL list.

Meanwhile, the Western Bulldogs aren't expected to move for O'Keeffe until after they complete trades elsewhere with Port Adelaide for Zak Butters and Hawthorn for Finn Maginness.

Carlton is targeting at least one ruck to support Marc Pittonet and Liam Reidy, but its search for tall depth could also stretch beyond the trade period.

The Blues are likely to leave spots available through pre-season and could trial a series of state league ruck options for a spot on their rookie list over the summer. – Riley Beveridge

PA TO ARGUE AGAINST RESTRICTED FREE AGENCY

AFLPA boss James Gallagher says removing the 'restricted' bandings from free agency could solve the League's ongoing issues with the mechanism, suggesting that Port Adelaide superstar Zak Butters is a free agent in name only.

The Power currently have the option of matching the Western Bulldogs' lucrative Butters bid as a restricted free agent and forcing a trade, with Gallagher suggesting that the current model doesn't benefit players in his position.

Discussions around Butters' future remain ongoing as Port Adelaide weighs up matching the bid, or taking pick No.5 as compensation and dealing separately with the Bulldogs on other layers of the deal, with the players' union boss saying the gun midfielder's move should have happened far more smoothly.

"He's an out-of-contract player, isn't he?" Gallagher said on AFL.com.au's Gettable.

"We're calling him a 'free agent', but the reality is there is a consideration about where can you get to and what that trade's going to look like. I have some confidence that it'll go in the right direction, but it does raise a question for us moving forward.

"When you hit restricted free agency, you want that to be about the player's choice of their career. He's committed to Port Adelaide in this case for eight years, been a great servant, done everything. We want him and players like him in the future to have genuine choice about where they go next.

"That should be a relatively smooth move. Part of it is looking at what role does restricted free agency have going forward? What role does compensation have? And those two things are interlinked."

The AFLPA will negotiate the future of free agency as part of the next collective bargaining agreement in 2027, with Gallagher saying shorter terms to qualify and the removal of the 'restricted' bandings are likely to be discussed.

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"We don't have a formed position on it," Gallagher said.

"My personal view is I think we should really consider whether we just have a clear and clean free agency model. It is an unusual middle ground.

"Whether it's eight years, whether it's shorter, what the right term is … I just think, sometimes the simpler the system the better it is. There's a lot of layers and complications.

"Through this CBA process, I expect we're going to have a fair bit of discussion about making sure all the models we've got in place now and the systems we've got in place now will work for the future. This is one we should have a look at. Is restricted free agency true free agency and therefore is it worth having?" – Riley Beveridge