Every Thursday AFL.com.au presents Inside Trading, with breaking news and the best analysis of the AFL trade landscape covering contracts, re-signings, free agents, the AFL Draft and industry insights.
EAGLES START TALKS WITH PREMIERSHIP STAR
SMALL forward Jamie Cripps has launched contract talks with West Coast, with the Eagles keen to lock away the premiership star beyond this season.
One of four senior Eagles with free agent status in 2023, Cripps signed a three-year deal in 2020 and early talks to secure an extension have been straightforward.
The 30-year-old missed the first month of the season last year because of a torn pectoral but returned to play 17 games and kick 22 goals, finishing top 10 in the club's best and fairest.
He remains a key figure in a forward line that has undergone significant change with the departures of champion goalkicker Josh Kennedy and premiership small forward Junior Rioli.
Star defender Jeremy McGovern, premiership captain Shannon Hurn and Norm Smith medallist Luke Shuey are also free agents this season, alongside previously delisted pair Zane Trew and Isiah Winder.
McGovern's manager Colin Young told AFL.com.au's Gettable last week that he would look to start negotiations for the defender's next deal shortly, with the expectation that an agreement would be reached quickly.
Shuey and Hurn each signed one-year extensions for 2023. – Nathan Schmook
SWANS KEEN TO LOCK IN FREE AGENT
SYDNEY has opened discussions with co-captain Dane Rampe for a new deal.
The gun defender is out of contract this year and will be an unrestricted free agent after he had quietly added an extra season onto his deal for the 2023 campaign.
He looms as one of the key re-signings for the Swans this season and kicked off his year in brilliant touch against Gold Coast on Saturday night. Rampe was one of Sydney's best in the win with 25 disposals, 12 intercept possessions and seven score involvements.
He is one of four free agents at the club this year alongside Lance Franklin, Lewis Melican and Sam Reid after the Swans sewed up Tom Papley and Callum Mills last year to long-term deals ahead of their free agency seasons.
Rampe has been Sydney co-captain since the start of 2019, having also claimed the Swans' best and fairest that year. – Callum Twomey
TOP DRAFTEES UNSIGNED
ONLY three first-round picks from the 2021 draft remain unsigned for next year as clubs have locked down the talented youngsters.
St Kilda's Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera (pick 11 at that draft), Bomber Ben Hobbs (pick 13) and Brisbane's Kai Lohmann (pick 20) are the only players inside the first-round selections yet to extend at their respective clubs.
The Saints have been keen to sign Wanganeen-Milera to a new deal, with the classy ball-user already perhaps his club's best kick.
Hobbs hasn't been offered a new deal yet and played in the Bombers' VFL side at the weekend after a pre-season calf strain with clubs to track his progress this season, while Lohmann played two games last year in his debut season with the Lions.
As reported in Inside Trading last week, Swans midfielder Angus Sheldrick, another first-round pick from the 2021 draft crop, is bound for a two-year extension with the club.
The picks No.2 and 3 from that draft class – Western Bulldogs youngster Sam Darcy and Greater Western Sydney midfielder Finn Callaghan – recently locked in new two-year extensions through to the end of 2025. – Callum Twomey
KANGAS PAIR ON THE CUSP OF EXTENDING
NORTH Melbourne is close to locking away two more key cogs in its list rebuild, with emerging defenders Miller Bergman and Josh Goater both on the cusp of extending their stays at Arden Street.
It's understood Bergman has already agreed to terms on a fresh new deal, while the Kangaroos have also opened talks with Goater around an extension that will keep him at the club beyond this season.
Their imminent re-signings will follow a two-year deal handed to No.3 draft pick and the round one Rising Star nominee Harry Sheezel earlier this week, keeping the talented youngster at the club until at least 2026.
North Melbourne had prioritised locking away its recent throng of early draft picks as quickly as possible this year, with commitments from Sheezel – as well as Goater (pick No.22 in the 2021 draft) and Bergman (pick No.38 in 2021) – providing a solid start.
Bergman and Goater have both rocketed up new Kangaroos coach Alastair Clarkson's pecking order following strong off-seasons, with the pair both impressing in the side's round one victory over West Coast. – Riley Beveridge
YOUNG GUN TO PLAY VFL
HAWTHORN will get a close look at exciting draft prospect Nick Watson this season, with the small forward expected to play games with Box Hill in the VFL.
Watson trained with the Hawks last pre-season and over summer as part of his program with the AFL Academy.
After a standout bottom-age season in which he kicked 18 goals for the Eastern Ranges and also performed well for Vic Metro at the under-18 championships, Watson enters his draft campaign with high hopes this season.
The electric small forward played in the Ranges' practice match last week and on Saturday will line up for them in their Coates Talent League season-opener against the Sandringham Dragons.
As part of his program this season, in between his commitments with Eastern and Caulfield Grammar, the high-flying and elusive goalkicker is likely to play a handful of games with Box Hill Hawks to further prepare him for the top level at the end of the season. – Callum Twomey
AFL'S IRISH SEARCH TO RESUME
THE AFL will head back to Ireland to search for talent this year with an aim to bring a number of hopefuls to the Draft Combine later this season.
The League had in the past coordinated talent and testing days in Ireland and then invited a small group of Irish prospects to join local draftees at the post-season Combine.
COVID-19 put a pause on the League's Irish talent search, leaving clubs to navigate the Gaelic system themselves, but AFL recruiters were informed last week by the League that it would get back to its identification process with the hope of adding more Irish players to the pool.
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Former Magpie Martin Clarke and ex-Blue Ciaran Byrne will assist in Ireland with the scouting, with clubs remaining on the lookout for more Irish players to add as category B rookies.
There are currently 11 Irish players in the AFL and 27 in the AFLW system, with Conor McKenna returning to the AFL with Brisbane last weekend.
Geelong premiership player Zach Tuohy is this year expected to pass Melbourne champion Jimmy Stynes' record for the most games by an Irish player, with Tuohy having played his 251st match in round one. Stynes played 264 games for the Demons. – Callum Twomey
NEXT DUURSMA READY TO MAKE HIS MARK
GIPPSLAND product Zane Duursma has described a week training with Melbourne over the summer as his "greatest footy experience", as the talented youngster prepares for the beginning of the Coates Talent League season this weekend.
Duursma, the younger brother of Port Adelaide star Xavier and Power AFLW prospect Yasmin, has emerged as a potential top-five pick in this year's AFL Draft after an impressive bottom-age year with both the Power and Vic Country.
A versatile 188cm player who can play as both a marking forward and an explosive midfielder, Duursma kicked 31 goals from 14 games for Gippsland last season and broke through for two games with Vic Country in the national under-18 championships.
It led to an AFL Academy call-up over the off-season, where Duursma was given the opportunity to spend a week training with 2021 premiers Melbourne, saying it provided a valuable insight into life at the next level.
"It was probably my greatest footy experience to date," Duursma told AFL.com.au's new trade, draft and free agency podcast Gettable.
"It was a lot of fun. I enjoyed the whole atmosphere. I was very starstruck when I got there. I walked in and Christian Petracca and Max Gawn were there to shake my hand and I was a little fanboy.
"Jack Viney was a really good mentor when I got there. He took me and (fellow draft hopeful) Cooper Simpson, who was also there, under his wing. He showed us the ropes, pretty much." – Riley Beveridge
EX-LIONS RECRUITER JOINS FREO
FREMANTLE has added experienced scout Andrew Farrell to its recruiting team.
Farrell started at the Dockers as a part-time recruiter more than a decade ago, working with now list manager David Walls in Brad Lloyd’s team.
He then spent nearly a decade working for Brisbane, most recently under Lions list boss Dom Ambrogio and previously Peter Schwab, before becoming a victim of the drastic soft cap cuts during the pandemic.
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In between gigs at Brisbane and Fremantle, Farrell launched a recruiting consulting business where he tracked prospects and supplied draft information to clubs who purchased the service.
Fremantle was one of those clubs and has now added Farrell to its team as the club's South Australian recruiting manager, based out of Melbourne.
Farrell has replaced Braeden Money, who has moved to the AFL Players’ Association after a decade with Fremantle, joining a team that also includes David and Ed McMullin, Nick Connors and Walls. – Josh Gabelich
