A pair Collingwood veterans may well have played their last game in black and white, as the future of another two Pies hangs in the balance.
Meanwhile, a troubled Dog is on the lookout for a new AFL home, after missing the entire 2025 season with personal issues, while an Essendon star has backflipped on his trade plans.
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BOMBERS STAR BACKFLIPS ON EXIT PLANS
Essendon’s Jordan Ridley has told the club he won’t be seeking a trade to Brisbane this off-season, citing “immense faith” in the club’s plans.
Ridley was weighing up a trade request after years of injury issues but confirmed on Tuesday evening he would be seeing out his contract until the end of 2029.
“This off-season gave me a crucial opportunity to reflect on a challenging few years with injury. During that time, it became incredibly clear that my future is with Essendon,” Ridley said.
“I’m fully committed to playing my best football here. I have immense faith in Brad Scott and the direction he’s taking this developing group.
“After meeting with our new High Performance team, led by Mat Inness, I’ve been really impressed and confident we have the right strategy in place to overcome my recent injury challenges and get me back to my best.
“My decision was also driven by my great belief in this playing group and the exciting young talent coming through.
“I love this club, I want success for this club, and I’ll be doing everything I can to return success to Essendon for everyone.”
Bombers captain Zach Merrett is still seeking a trade, hoping to join Hawthorn.
‘BIG DECISIONS’: MAGPIES PREPARE FOR POSSIBLE MINI-EXODUS
Just days after Collingwood’s 29-point preliminary final loss to Brisbane, the club’s list management has been sent into overdrive in their best attempt to keep three veterans and a Norm Smith Medallist.
Headlining their senior players still out of contract at the back end of September is 219-gamer Jamie Elliott, who had a career-best 60-goal season. The small forward has attracted strong interest from Gold Coast, leaving the 33-year-old with plenty to think about in the coming weeks as an unrestricted free agent.
“Big decisions ahead for a lot of senior Pies. The Collingwood footy club can’t guarantee it’ll keep any, or all of Jamie Elliott, Brody Mihocek and Bobby Hill — there are suitors for all of them,” Ralph told On The Couch on Monday night.
“Elliott has a two-year offer at the Pies right now, he has not signed that. It’s around $1 million (collectively) if he can hit some incentives. Gold Coast is very keen. It has not offered him a deal in any way yet.
“They’re saying to him: ‘You come to us, tell us you want to be a Gold Coast player, and we will offer you a deal’. That is likely to be three years, and again, likely to be $500,000 a year.
“He would love to finish his career as a one-club player, he has huge loyalty there (at Collingwood), but he certainly has family connections up in Airlie Beach … I think he is absolutely considering it at the moment.”
Also out of contract are key forward Brody Mihocek and 211cm giant Mason Cox, with the former being heavily pursued by Melbourne.
Murmurs have also suggested Bobby Hill could be on the lookout for a new home after a finish to his season on-field that lacked continuity.
“Mason Cox is likely to get himself a one-year deal (on reduced terms), after getting himself into this team in the finals,” Ralph added.
“Mihocek has a three-year offer at the Demons, two years at Collingwood. He was in tears post-match after that loss, and some of his teammates interpret that as potentially a signal that is his last game at Collingwood, but he has not yet made that decision.
“Bobby Hill wants to stay, he’s contracted. Gold Coast are interested but he’s not keen to move north. He has (though) told confidants that if his partner and children did move back to Perth, he’d have to consider following them at some stage.”
Collingwood’s contract decisions | 02:03
TROUBLED DOG SET TO SEEK TRADE
Western Bulldogs key forward Jamarra Ugle-Hagan is set to try and find a second AFL club this off-season.
After going the entire 2025 without playing an official game at any level, the Herald Sun’s Jon Ralph reported on Monday that the 23-year-old and his club of five years are likely to part ways.
Ugle-Hagan is contracted until the end of next year at Whitten Oval, meaning any deal done would need to be completed via a trade. He is believed to be on upwards of $800,000 a season.
The former No.1 draft pick has previously been linked to Sydney, however any suggestion he could move to play under Dean Cox in 2026 has cooled considerably in recent months.
Ralph added that should Ugle-Hagan be unable to find a suitor in the next month or so before the trade deadline, it is understood the Dogs could seek a negotiated settlement on the remainder of his deal.