Yes, it’s only March. But that hasn’t stopped the AFL’s trade chatter from already shifting into gear.
While trades and free agency feel — and are — a long way off, another huge free agency class looms later this year, meaning speculation around the competition’s biggest names is already underway.
In the maiden 2026 episode of the Midweek Tackle digital-only show ‘Tackle The Headline’, panellists Lauren Wood, Corbin Middlemas and Jon Ralph provide their ultra-early verdict on 10 of the league’s most high-profile free agents.
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LACHIE NEALE
Jon Ralph says: “I think he’d like to stay. Obviously, it might be really hard for him as it turns out if he can’t get enough time with his young children … both the parents are trying to make the best of it for his two young kids. I think he wants to win flags. Now, it may well be he’s going for a ‘four-peat’; that’d almost be impossible to pass up. I think he’ll start the season saying: ‘That’s what I want to do’. He was the one that spoke to Fremantle in 2021 a few years ago, and said: ‘Hey, I’d be keen to come back’. That didn’t happen in the end, so I think that line of communication is open.”
Corbin Middlemas says: “If they’re (Fremantle or West Coast) trying to drive a bargain and force a trade to get something back, you’d also think the Eagles would also have the best possible hand if Brisbane wants something in return for him. I think the other thing with it, this is going to run the distance, isn’t it? We can sit here and try to pre-empt it and everything else, but really until he knows what the year looks like, this is new for him. He doesn’t know how much time he’s going to spend back there. It’s one of the longest flights in the country, Brisbane to Perth, so how’s he going to make it all work. Is he going to see enough of his family? So, I think until he actually understands what the year looks like and how that’s going to pan out, I think the decision on the footy will be made at the end of it.”
ZAC BAILEY
Corbin Middlemas says: “We’ve seen this happen already, with Brandon Starcevich moving on (to West Coast) and Callum Ah Chee went to Adelaide. The ‘Curse of More’, where players that play in premierships want more, and you’ve got to try and fit them all in. So, I could absolutely see a world where that eventuates at the end of the year. As much as he’d love to stay and Brisbane would love to keep him, you can’t fit them all in.”
Jon Ralph says: “I’m very strong that he still wants to stay, so of course this is going to drag out. His manager Andrew McConville will do very well to see what those offers are. Probably like Hugh McCluggage, (he) waits until the mid-part of the season. He’s got all the offers there, it might get him an extra couple hundred thousand dollars. On the open market, is he a $1.6-1.8m player? But, you know what? Him playing midfield is a little bit like Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera — you get tagged every week. I think he wants to stay, and I think Brisbane will find the shekels to allow him to do that.”
BUKU KHAMIS
Corbin Middlemas says: “He’s going to have great options, isn’t he? ‘Past is prologue’ as you said; he wanted to go last year but ultimately it wasn’t able to happen. But, if he keeps playing the footy that he has been, and throughout the pre-season he had that electric game (vs Hawthorn), I’d imagine he’d be a very attractive prospect for many clubs. You could play him back, you can move him forward. He’s such a flexible guy, and now it’s really on his terms should he want to go. And likewise, if the Bulldogs want to keep him, they’re going to have to try and squeeze him in — and they’ve got a lot of good players they’re paying.
ZAK BUTTERS
Jon Ralph says: “Even listening to him again, he talked about: ‘It was very clear to me that the club wouldn’t trade me at the end of last year’; so that’s probably what he wanted to do. When Chad Cornes says he’s 99 per cent sure that a player he’s spent the last however many years with wants to move on, that says everything doesn’t it. One experienced player manager said to me today that he’d be staggered if he didn’t get to the Bulldogs — but can the Bulldogs give him that money of $1.8 million a year? Would other clubs offer four first-round picks, because it will be a trade instead of free agency (Port will match a bid). Every single Victorian club, apart from Carlton who have Cody Walker picks tied up, will have a crack at him.”
BEN KING:
Foxfooty.com.au says: The 25-year-old full-forward last signed a two-year extension in February of 2024, and has remained unfazed by trade speculation as attention on his future has ramped up. Seven West’s Ryan Daniels reported in May last year that Collingwood were very, very confident in landing King this upcoming off-season. A Melburnian and State of Origin representative, King is coming off a career-best 71 goals in 2025, and is a five-time leading goalkicker at Suns. He’s been a valued asset at the club for a long time now, but with Ethan Read and Jed Walter slowly emerging in his shadows — in addition to the recruitment of Jamarra Ugle-Hagan — will Damien Hardwick be forced to say goodbye to one of the four key forwards? It’s still far too early into the season to give a genuine verdict, but early indications suggest a short-term extension is a possibility.
BAYLEY FRITSCH
Jon Ralph says: “Melbourne and Bayley are at a beautiful spot. If it is that they really are a long way from contention, potentially he might leave for a significant offer elsewhere. They’d get, I’d imagine, a late first-round pick for him. If they’re flying and he’s playing great football, he can stay as well. They’re just in that feeling out period, but a great situation for him there.”
MITCH LEWIS
Jon Ralph says: “Very keen to stay. He wants to play great football early on; the same as Joel Amartey. I think he’ll be a one-club player and at Hawthorn for life.”
JORDAN BUTTS
Jon Ralph says: “Lots of suitors including the Western Bulldogs last year.”
JOEL AMARTEY
Jon Ralph says: “He would like to stay.”
KIERAN BRIGGS
Jon Ralph says: “I think Briggs stays.”