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.
GOLD COAST YOUNGSTER IN DEMAND
NED MOYLE is yet to play an AFL game, but the Victorian looms as one of the most in-demand ruckmen in the game in 2023.
More than half a dozen clubs are pursuing the 21-year-old who joined Gold Coast via pick No.5 in the 2021 mid-season rookie draft.
After being named as the starting ruckman in the 2022 VFL team of the year, Moyle has made a fast start to the year, earning coaches votes in each of the first two rounds of the VFL season, including eight votes against Geelong on Sunday.
The Xavier College product signed a two-year extension last March which ties him to the Suns until the end of 2024, but it hasn't stopped clubs expressing interest.
Gold Coast is understood to be keen to lock Moyle in for even longer sooner rather than later and see him as Jarrod Witts' long-term replacement.
But with the Suns' co-captain only 30 and coming off a season where he finished fourth in the best and fairest, Moyle might have to bide his time in the reserves for some time to come.
The ruck merry-go-round will crank up in the second half of the year, but right now Adelaide, Geelong, Greater Western Sydney, Port Adelaide, Collingwood, St Kilda and Essendon are clubs that could be in the market for added ruck depth by the end of the year.
If Moyle's VFL form continues, expect the 206cm, 104kg ruckman to be a name that attracts increased attention the longer this year progresses. – Josh Gabelich
TIGERS LOOK TO LOCK IN DEFENDER
RICHMOND premiership defender Noah Balta is heading towards an extension to stay at Punt Road.
Balta, who is due to come out of contract this season, is edging to a likely two-year deal that would take him through to the end of his eighth season, when he will reach free agency.
The athletic key back made his debut in 2019 before featuring in Richmond's premiership team the following year, with his competitiveness and marking ability important to the Tigers' back half.
The 23-year-old shapes as an important plank in Richmond's hopes to remain premiership contenders and to form a long-term partnership with young tall defender Josh Gibcus, who was drafted at the end of 2021.
Veterans Trent Cotchin, Dylan Grimes, Jack Riewoldt and Robbie Tarrant are among the list of out-of-contract players at Richmond this season. – Callum Twomey
DEBUTANT DOG OFFERED DEAL
ARTHUR Jones has been offered a two-year contract extension at the Western Bulldogs, after bursting onto the scene in his debut last Thursday night.
The 19-year-old injected energy into the Dogs at Marvel Stadium after being named for his first game since being selected with pick No.43 in the 2021 AFL Draft.
TRADE HUB All the latest player movement news
The club has been working through the extension with his management in recent weeks and the deal is expected to be finalised in coming days. Jones was in the hunt for an early season debut last year but never broke through.
But after missing the first two rounds of the season with an adductor injury, Luke Beveridge opted to bring him straight into the senior side, rather than through the VFL, after a strong pre-season.
The West Australian proved to be a smash hit with the faithful and is set to become a fan favourite for some time to come. – Josh Gabelich
CROWS TALL HEADED FOR EXTENSION
ADELAIDE defender Jordon Butts is closing in on a new deal with the Crows.
Butts has been in negotiations over a three-year extension with the club that would see him tied to Adelaide until the end of the 2026 season, when he would reach free agency.
The 23-year-old tall backman has been a staple of Adelaide's defence the past two seasons, playing 22 games in 2021 and 19 games in 2022, but was surprisingly dropped after round one this season.
He returned to play in last week's Showdown win over Port Adelaide.
Butts was recruited as a rookie selection in 2018, having been eligible for that year's draft by only a day.
The Crows have fellow defender Tom Doedee who is a free agent this season. – Callum Twomey
FLAG TIGER TO TRIGGER ANOTHER YEAR
RICHMOND midfielder Jack Graham is set to trigger an extension in his contract this weekend that will tie the two-time premiership Tiger to Punt Road for a further season.
Graham signed a three-year deal with Richmond in 2020, though the contract had a clause for a fourth season that he will trigger if selected for Saturday's clash with the Western Bulldogs.
It will have Graham at the Tigers until at least 2024, when he is due to hit free agency, and will provide another intriguing dimension to the tough onballer's future after a series of rival raids in recent years.
TRADE HUB All the latest player movement news
Graham turned down significant interest from Carlton and Essendon to remain at Richmond in 2020, then toured Port Adelaide during last year's Trade Period but elected to stay at Punt Road.
Despite initial concerns over Graham's place in Richmond's midfield following the off-season arrival of both Tim Taranto and Jacob Hopper from Greater Western Sydney, the South Australian has featured in all three AFL games so far this year. – Riley Beveridge
BOMBERS KICKSTART HOBBS TALKS
ESSENDON has opened talks with first-round pick Ben Hobbs over a new deal.
Hobbs is one of just two first-round selections from the 2021 AFL Draft left unsigned, but has told the Bombers he is keen to stay at the club and has recently entered into talks around an extension.
The tough midfielder and former No.13 draft pick played 17 games in his maiden campaign at Essendon, but dealt with an injury-interrupted summer and was sidelined over the weekend with an ankle complaint.
With his future still unresolved beyond this season, Hobbs' manager Marty Pask told AFL.com.au's new trade and draft podcast Gettable that the teenager had recently started dialogue with the club over a likely two-year extension.
"We're talking at the moment, which is pleasing," Pask told AFL.com.au's Gettable.
"We're going to go down that path now of trying to work out how it looks. There's a preparedness from both parties to have him continue at Essendon, which is perfectly clear and on the table. It's just a question of how it all looks and how we get a deal done.
"He's keen to stay, 100 per cent. You've got a player that's drafted with a first-round pick and he's in Victoria. Something drastic would need to go wrong and there has certainly been nothing but good things at the moment for him there." – Riley Beveridge
MID-SEASON DRAFT LOCKED IN
THIS year's mid-season rookie draft is set to be staged between rounds 11 and 12.
Clubs have been told that the AFL is expected to stage the mid-season intake in the week leading up to round 12, with selections set to be made on Wednesday, May 31.
Because the mid-season draft order is decided in reverse ladder order, the draft needs to be held prior to the bye weeks start in round 12 and the ladder is changed with not all clubs on parity amount of games played.
Last year there were 17 players selected in the mid-season draft, which returned to be a part of the list building landscape in 2019, when Richmond selected Marlion Pickett and he went on to debut in that season's Grand Final and win a premiership.
There was no mid-season draft in 2020 due to the COVID-19 hit season but it came back in 2021, with a number of success stories for clubs adding to their rookie list. – Callum Twomey
ANOTHER FATHER-SON LOOMS FOR DOGS
THE WESTERN Bulldogs' tall stocks look set to be further bolstered this year, with father-son prospect Jordan Croft showing exciting signs at under-18 level.
Croft missed the opening round of the Coates Talent League with ankle soreness but returned for the Calder Cannons last weekend and had 11 disposals, four marks and kicked a goal.
The son of former Bulldogs defender Matthew Croft is eligible for this year's draft and played as a key forward, with the 200cm talent's athleticism and speed impressing.
"He showed some real snippets with his contested marking ability and didn't look like it was the first game he'd played in six or seven months," said Calder talent manager Matthew Burton.
The 17-year-old spent time training with the Dogs over summer and could add another long-term key position player to the ranks at the club that has brought in Jamarra Ugle-Hagan (2020), Sam Darcy (2021) and Jedd Busslinger (2022) with their top picks in the past three drafts.
The Bulldogs had six father-sons on their list last year – Mitch Wallis, Tom Liberatore, Lachie Hunter, Zaine Cordy, Rhylee West and Darcy – before Wallis retired and Hunter (Melbourne) and Cordy (St Kilda) departed during the exchange period.
Matthew Croft played 186 games for the Bulldogs between 1991-2004. – Callum Twomey
