Trade talk, rumours & innuendo 2026

[Andyy]

If they match, does the contract need to be exactly the same, or just the same value over the period?

If exact, then yeah I agree, even with their poo list they couldn't match 4.5 in a year.

[WilliamPowell]

I thought they just had to match the total $$ and length

And I still think they will want players and picks

[Andyy]

My interpretation is that it needs to be identical. Base payments you think would include the base yearly wages.


https://www.afl.com.au/about-afl/free-agency


Matching Offers
A contract offer is matched if the football payments and ASAs are equivalent under the offer and the contract proposed by the player’s current club. To qualify as a matching offer, the player’s current club must make an offer on the same terms as the new offer tabled by the player including:

Contract length;
Base payments;
Total match payments;
Total ASA payments;
Total performance incentives based on AFL awards or honours, club best and fairest finish or games played (not including finals). Any incentives for team performance do not have to be matched. A player cannot table an offer to be matched for less than a two-year contract length.

[Hard Roar Tiger]

Interesting Andy, so the $4.5m in year 1 that Hutchy proposed might gazump anything Port are able to do.

[Andyy]

Yeah but if that's the case it's an interesting strategy isn't it?

Any club could back-end contracts for existing players who need extensions, then massively front-end a contract for a FA target, preventing the other club from matching.

[Hard Roar Tiger]

I thought we did a bit of that ourselves back when resigned Dusty and then brought Lynch across? The super interesting thing is how much leverage we have if, in the highly unlikely scenario that Butters chooses us , we have over Port.
Particularly if Port end up mid table as the free agency pick simply won’t cut it for them to get Dougie Cochrane

[Andyy]

Lynch and Dusty were both back-ended mate.

Dusty finishing around 2023-24 on the big dollars, Lynch the same in 2024-25.

At one point I believe Lynch was making about 500k/year because he was light at the front end.

[Hard Roar Tiger]

Lynch and Dusty were both back-ended mate.

Dusty finishing around 2023-24 on the big dollars, Lynch the same in 2024-25.

At one point I believe Lynch was making about 500k/year because he was light at the front end.

Right you are. Other way around.

It took it the other way.
My understanding is that we have a heap of cap room and already recut contracts for Taranto and Hopper to front end load their contracts so the strategy was to hit free agency and trade hard as we have excess space to use now that helps us in 4-5 years when current kids are starting to command bigger $.

They were planning the trade/free agency to be more of a play at end of next year when redevelopment is completed and we were showing improvement on field but neither look on track…

[one-eyed]

Tiger71 on the Tigercast youtube channel reckons we've been showing "whiteboard" interest in Swan Joel Amartey. Someone to fill in the age gap as a tall forward between Lynch who is nearing retirement and Armstrong/Faull.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3UUpNmffGA

Joel Amartey and the Sydney Swans remain “a fair way off” when it comes to a new contract for the key forward.

SEN’s Sam Edmund is reporting that the 26-year-old, who is out of contract at the end of this season, is not necessarily close to agreeing with the Swans right now.

https://www.sen.com.au/news/2026/04/16/afl-news-joel-amartey-contract-sydney-swans

[Tiger Khosh]

Not for me. Defs need a mature key forward to cover for lynch but I’m sure Amartey would be after some big $$$ since this is the biggest contract he’s gonna get. And other than the 2024 season where the swans made the GF, his highest goal tally is 20 in a year.

[Hard Roar Tiger]

And it’s a no from me.

[ajGreen]

King. Walter. Lewis.
.out of contract apparently.

[ajGreen]

Richmond linked to GWS ruckman Nick Madden

[TigerLand]

We'd be a basket case if we weren't looking at the following in this order:

1. William Green (Syd)
2. Nic Madden (GWS)
3. Ned Moyle (GC)
4. Max Heath (Melb)
5. Zane Zakostelsky
6. Dante Visentini (PA)

Id go hard at Will Green. Was at Sydney against McAndrew who ended up being delisted and went to Crows who is doing well. No chance he plays ahead of Grundy for some time. Would be main ruck next year for us at 21, perfect age profile for rebuild.

[one-eyed]

EMERGING GIANT ATTRACTS MAJOR INTEREST FROM VIC CLUB

Richmond has emerged as a major player in acquiring the services of young GWS ruckman Nick Madden ahead of this year’s trade period.

Foxfooty.com.au understands the Tigers are very interested in recruiting the 21-year-old and view him as a potential answer to their well-documented lack of ruck depth.

With club captain Toby Nankervis, who turns 32 in August, sidelined since Round 2, Adem Yze has trialled Samson Ryan, Campbell Gray and Category B rookie Oliver Hayes-Brown in the specialist position, as well as utility Noah Balta, with mixed success.

The latter has shown promising signs in the role, but would benefit from further development at VFL level — enhancing the appeal of Madden’s skill set.

The Giant, a former Category B rookie, is out of contract at year’s end, having last signed a two-year deal in April 2024.

Scans confirmed a PCL strain in Madden’s right knee only last week, after he broke into Adam Kingsley’s senior side in Gather Round and usurped first-choice ruck Kieren Briggs. Subsequently, the 204cm tall is expected to be sidelined for an extended period.

Since being taken by the Giants in the 2022 Rookie Draft, the Osborne product has played six AFL matches, making his debut in Round 13 last year against Port Adelaide.

At 204cm, with an athletic profile and strong vertical jump, Madden shapes as one of the players to benefit from the league’s new rule preventing competing rucks from crossing the centre line before engaging each other.


Madden (right) rucks against Richmond's Oliver Hayes-Brown during their 2026 Gather Round match at Barossa Park on April 12, 2026 in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by James Wiltshire via Getty Images)

https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-trade-latest-2026-adelaide-crows-interested-in-darcy-wilson-out-of-contract-at-st-kilda-saints-richmond-tigers-keen-on-nick-madden-at-gws-giants-exclusive-latest-news/news-story/dd5780b882b0feca8fa859abae24d812