Opposition clubs believe Melbourne can create a market for star on-ballers Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver if they decide to trade them at the end of the season despite their lengthy multimillion-dollar contracts.
Petracca is contracted until 2029 on a deal well over $1 million per season while Oliver signed a contract in 2022 that ties him to the club until 2030. Oliver’s deal was reportedly worth $7 million for the life of the contract.
The future of premiership stars Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver remains the subject of discussion. Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images
Petracca was unable to secure a trade at the end of last season despite his dissatisfaction with the Demon hierarchy as other clubs were unable to develop a package attractive enough for Melbourne to consider. His form has been patchy to start the season as the Demons have struggled to get their game going. However, competition sources believe his currency remains high.
Oliver met with Geelong in October after realising he was being floated as a potential trade for the second season in a row. Geelong was prepared to bear the cost of Oliver’s contract as long as the cost in terms of draft picks at the trade table was minimal.
However, the Melbourne board intervened to kibosh any potential deal, a decision several commentators have questioned during Melbourne’s disappointing start to the season as his trade value is likely to have dipped even further by season’s end.
Although Petracca’s new management team have indicated he is not contemplating a trade, opposition clubs still consider Melbourne’s star players will be gettable at the right price.
Kysaiah Pickett – who is contracted until the end of 2027 – is also a chance to be traded to Western Australia at season’s end. Club president Brad Green talked tough pre-season about needing two or three first round draft picks to even contemplate trading Pickett, but few sources believe that will be a realistic demand.
Four list management sources at opposition clubs – who did not want to speak on the record about opposition players – said the Demons would need to be sensible about what they could get in return for either Oliver or Petracca to encourage opposition clubs to compete for their services.
They said Melbourne would be unlikely to get both a high draft pick and salary removed from their books, but if they made a compromise, each player would attract more than one suitor.
The compromise would mean Melbourne either offering to forgo a high pick in return for the player to wipe their salary off the club’s books or paying part of the player’s salary in exchange for a reasonable draft selection. It’s also possible the players could agree to new terms with a new club under a new contract if that club agreed to hand over a high draft pick and the player took a reduced wage to minimise the impact on the salary cap of their new employer.
Such a compromise could create a market, and the ensuing competition between opposition clubs would drive the potential return to Melbourne up.
Petracca, who turns 30 early next year, would be more in demand than Oliver according to two competition sources who said clubs would consider whether the Norm Smith’s medallist’s most recent form was related to the environment and his role.
Petracca may be considered the missing piece for a range of Victorian clubs pushing to win a premiership. Hawthorn, Collingwood, the Western Bulldogs and Geelong are the most appealing clubs on that front.
Carlton would not have cap space to get Petracca unless Tom DeKoning left while Essendon, St Kilda, Richmond and North Melbourne remain in a building phase.
Happier times at Melbourne.Credit: getty
Sydney could also contemplate Petracca, particularly if Chad Warner departs, with the Swans able to offer many commercial opportunities for the ambitious midfielder.
Geelong has a first round draft pick, but is one of four clubs who also met with Gold Coast’s Matt Rowell. The Cats are also likely – along with nine other Victorian clubs – to consider the prospect of obtaining Harley Reid when he comes out of contract. They also have an understanding of Oliver’s position.
However, like Hawthorn and the Bulldogs, the Cats could trade future picks to make a bid. Essendon is likely to take their two first round picks (one of which is attached to Melbourne) to the draft, while St Kilda have their sights on Blues’ ruckman De Koning and Port Adelaide’s Miles Bergman.
Collingwood only have future draft picks at their disposal after trading out their past two future picks to secure Dan Houston and Lachie Schultz.
Smart decision-making could put the Demons back on track quickly, however the club’s hierarchy have not shown the stomach required to jettison their premiership heroes.
They have a good stock of emerging young talent after adding two players inside the top 15 picks at each of the past two drafts, with Caleb Windsor, Koltyn Tholstrup, Harvey Langford and Xavier Lindsay all showing early promise.
Collingwood NGA and father-son bounty to force decisions
The Magpies will be on the hunt for higher picks if the form of their father-son prospect Tom McGuane, son of premiership midfielder Mick, and Next Generation Academy participant Zac McCarthy continues.
Tom McGuane, son of former Collingwood star Mick.
Rival recruiters have talked up the potential Magpie pair – on early-season form – as first round picks in this year’s national draft. If opposition clubs did bid on the pair in the first round, it would force the Magpies to find enough draft capital to match any bids under the new AFLD draft points bidding system.
Based on current ladder positions, Collingwood are poised to enter this year’s draft at pick 33. Although it’s early days, it is becoming clear the Magpies have motivation to secure a pick in the first round.
Old bunch of free agents fail to inspire
There were only five players marked as restricted free agents on the 2025 list released by the AFL on Monday. The Brisbane Lions’ Brandon Starcevich, Carlton’s Tom DeKoning, Hawthorn’s James Worpel, the Bulldogs’ Ed Richards and West Coast’s Oscar Allen are those yet to re-sign with their respective clubs.
Unless he signs a new contract at Essendon, Sam Draper will be an unrestricted free agent at season’s end.Credit: AFL Photos
With all due respect to them, the list is underwhelming. It’s an indication of the effect long-term contracts are having on the trading pool, with North Melbourne’s Luke Davies-Uniacke recently joining fellow 2017 draft graduates Andrew Brayshaw, Sam Taylor, Brent Daniels and Noah Balta in signing a long-term deal to spurn free agency.
Richards is expected to stay at the Bulldogs, but the respective futures of the other four players – who all turn 27 in 2026 – remain uncertain.
Essendon’s Sam Draper is an unrestricted free agent, which means the Bombers have no rights to match an offer from an opposition club if he chooses to jump ship.
It makes him an attractive prospect for Adelaide, who need a ruckman. However, the Bombers, having lost second ruckman Nick Bryan to a knee reconstruction and with Todd Goldstein playing what is almost certain to be his final season, will be keen to retain him.
Draper will turn 28 in 2026, but most of the 98 unrestricted free agents are older than him. In fact, just 17 of the unsigned unrestricted free agents will be aged below 28 in 2026.
Melbourne premiership forward Charlie Spargo and St Kilda’s Liam Stocker are the best performed prospects of the youngest band of unsigned unrestricted free agents.
