Trade talk, rumours & innuendo 2026

[ajGreen]

Right but you've named 4 elite prospects in the senior 23 as mids. 20 years old or younger and excluded Samuel Grlj.

 + McAuliffe 21.
 + Ross 25.

The reserves would be NTR and tanner Armstrong.

Not ideal but you keep insisting you want prestia and hopper there.

Lol. Grlj the last time i looked is our most promising h/b and when you look at the quality of whats left it would border on madness to move him to a wing.

Are you saying you don't want our elite prospects playing because they are too young. Sheesh thats as dumb as i have heard.

Elite prospects Taranto he is an elite inside mid and he can play fwd. Criticism is pace.Thats fine hes inside.
What you don't want to see Cumming, Hotton, Drever ? Lalor, Smillie in the 23 and get games who the eff are you going to play in their place. Can i have some of those drugs you have to be on.

Oh deary me Yep i forgot about poor old Hopper  and Prestia has retired. So in the magoos we would have just Hopper.
So you don't want some leadership and experience in the magoos i see better the magoos get belted all year eh.

We cannot play all of the gumboot brigade in the one team why is that so hard for you to comprehend fmd 8 year olds get it.
We are not paying Hopper out you do remember that outrageous 7 year deal he sucked them into. Again comprehension is not your strong suit.

So given we cant play all of the slowies  at one time and given we are not a charity  cannot pay Hopper out, Playing him in the reserves as a bit of depth cover and a teacher to what ever mids we get in is plain old common sense. Seems it is in short supply with you.
Please try to keep up from here on in its getting tedious having to spell everything out for you.
 
Im pretty sure i mentioned Ross, McA, Hotton and either Drever or Butters ( i dont believe Butters will come to us) to play alongside Taranto Cumming Smillie and Lalor. The cupboard is pretty bare for mids after fitting them all into our BEST 23.
You obviously disagree. Thats it though who plays when injuries inevitably hit who plays when form inevitably drops away Not Prestia or Hopper iyo. Who then? its not as if we are brimming over with backups who can play at the level.Nope we don't need more mids Butters will get us there.

Im pretty sure when all are available we will play 7 or 8 of the above which is what was said. I suppose you disagree with that as well.
In your deluded little world Zach Butters is going to take us to a g/f next year.

No, I was getting at you've named 5 good-mid prospects.  20 years old and under . In your senior 23. Plus prob pick two or butters. You have said we are the youngest list. By the random metrics you choose.

That's not bad for fairly fresh off 3 flags. It's be nice to have 5 more in the vfl team but it's not going to be perfect straight away.

Grlj is a natural hbf now. If he gets near his potential he will be in the middle.

I appreciate you like saying 8 mids. But if you look at round 1 and last game it's closer to 5.

[one-eyed]

"There are three clubs alive in this race (for Zak Butters) but two have become the clear frontrunners."

@CalTwomey and @JoshGabelich discuss the star midfielder's future on AFL Daily.

https://x.com/AFL/status/2094332292114330006

[one-eyed]

Two clear frontrunners in the Zak Butters chase - Geelong, who he has favoured, and the Western Bulldogs, who have remained determined to stay in the fight after sensing they were falling behind in recent weeks.

https://x.com/CalTwomey/status/2094347363519525334

[Andyy]

Word on today is that we're out of the race.

Sounds like he wants Geelong. The new Swines with their neverending capacity to find a way to pay premium players.

[ajGreen]

If true not a bad thing with another wave of young talent coming in.

Makes one wonder however how they intend to reach the salary cap Minimum Floor requirements

[Tiger Khosh]

I’m not sure why we didn’t pull our offer long ago. Your offering an almost decade long contract worth more than 2mil a year, once it becomes clear that he prefers going to another club, that offer should be gone.

[Buddysucks]

Spot on, if he doesn’t want to come to us, pull the offer and find a few other good options. I hope Port play hardball and he can’t get a deal done with Geelong.

[Andyy]

I would have been OK either way - him coming (given our TPP situation) or hitting the draft.

But I do think it presents us an opportunity to target other good players. The Butters offer is enough for two 'best-in-any-23' sorts on 7-figure salaries.

[one-eyed]

Bulldogs bite back in trade war for Zak Butters

By Sam Edmund
SEN
1 Sept 2026

The Western Bulldogs’ improved offer for Zak Butters has thrust them right back into the thick of the chase for the superstar free agent.

It comes as Richmond now sits a distant third in the pursuit of the Port Adelaide midfielder.

Butters has not yet told the Tigers they are out like he did Collingwood, but he will not pick them unless negotiations completely break down with the Dogs and Cats. And even that is considered all but impossible.

As reported by SEN last week, the Bulldogs last month presented a new and more lucrative contract for Butters having become aware Geelong was poised to secure the most prized signature of the exchange period.

Sources say the Dogs’ revised deal is so good it is almost on a par with Richmond’s huge and heavily front-ended proposal, albeit the Dogs can obviously structure their contract differently.

Further, the Bulldogs have workshopped trade packages internally and separately, made it clear that they will deal in good faith with the Power, who are hell-bent on maximising their return for Butters.

The ball is almost in Geelong’s court now to see what – if anything – they can come back with.

The Cats were the clear frontrunner a few weeks ago, but things have tightened again a month out from the opening of the AFL’s free agency window.

https://www.sen.com.au/news/2026/09/01/afl-trade-zak-butters-western-bulldogs-or-geelong

[Wazza]

Don't think we should take him if it's a last resort.....need players who want to be at the club, not there just for the $$$.
Let's do what he is doing.....string him along till the last minute and then bail for a better option elsewhere 

[Hard Roar Tiger]

I am now comfortable to hit the draft knowing we have done to the Bulldogs what the Pies did to us with Tom Lynch. They will have no money and we should be hot footing it after Archie Jones who fills an immediate list need

[ajGreen]

I am now comfortable to hit the draft knowing we have done to the Bulldogs what the Pies did to us with Tom Lynch. They will have no money and we should be hot footing it after Archie Jones who fills an immediate list need

Yeah. Richmond forcing the price up is a good thing. Not sure why people are so stressed.

More so if we are a good team in 3 years.

You never know we might still get him

[Andyy]

What are Geelong and WB going to offer Port?

3 first rounders, probably around 15-20 each year, in compromised drafts?

Port should tell them to gagf tbh.

[Go Richo 12]

What are Geelong and WB going to offer Port?

3 first rounders, probably around 15-20 each year, in compromised drafts?

Port should tell them to gagf tbh.

They will be forced to trade out players for high draft picks, which ups the cost significantly.

[Hard Roar Tiger]

What are Geelong and WB going to offer Port?

3 first rounders, probably around 15-20 each year, in compromised drafts?

Port should tell them to gagf tbh.

They will be forced to trade out players for high draft picks, which ups the cost significantly.

Which is where we come in