The 2024 AFL Trade Period is done and dusted – and boy, was it a mixed bag.
After just two trades in the first week – both on the first day – and continued slow going to start the second, things exploded spectacularly in the final half an hour, with no less than eight deals completed with the deadline in sight.
We saw clubs galore fold to the demands of players wanting out, from Port Adelaide with Dan Houston to the Western Bulldogs with basically everyone – while Richmond stockpiled draft picks like Thanos collecting Infinity Stones.
Picks were worth just as much as players as the lead-in to a strong 2024 draft crop saw eyebrow-raising choices made everywhere, from the Suns treating their picks like spare change to West Coast making enemies of their own fans by splitting pick 3.
The free agency period, too, was one of controversy, with Tigers fans left filthy about the poor compensation for Jack Graham’s departure, while St Kilda and GWS couldn’t have been happier with the picks they received for Josh Battle, Harry Perrymand and Isaac Cumming respectively.
Still, after all those moves and plenty of twists and turns, we finish up the 2024 silly season with plenty of winners… and some notable losers.
Here’s your official trade period wrap, where I rank every team’s performance from 1 to 18.
>> Check out the full list of 2024 trades
1. Hawthorn
IN: Tom Barrass (WCE), Josh Battle (STK)
OUT: Nil
2024 Draft Picks: 33, 71, 77
No team addressed its weaknesses more perfectly this trade period than the Hawks, and in Barrass and Battle, the most glaring hole on their list – key defenders – is now nicely filled.
Barrass should slot in nicely as the number one tall back with support from Sam Frost, while Battle’s intercepting will either make him a valuable foil for James Sicily, or allow the captain to be used forward more often, where he can be an effective weapon.
Aside from brief interest in Frost, the Hawks also never looked remotely likely to need or want to offload anyone, retaining a list good enough to make a shock September surge in 2024 and improving upon it quite dramatically.
Thanks to some shrewd pick trading work with Carlton, the Hawks have been able to retain a full draft haul in 2025 despite the need to trade multiple picks for Barrass; though the absence of a first-rounder in a purportedly strong 2024 draft is the slightest of letdowns.
All up, that’s the only blemish on an excellent start to the off-season for Sam Mitchell’s men – anyone who thinks 2024’s big improvers should be premiership favourites going into the new year has no reason to doubt that now.
Grade: A
2. Adelaide
IN: Isaac Cumming (GWS), Alex Neal-Bullen (MELB), James Peatling (GWS)
OUT: Elliott Himmelberg (GCS)
2024 Draft Picks: 4, 64
The quiet achievers of the trade period, the Crows didn’t address their needs quite as well as the Hawks, but no one can match them for volume of best 22 players added to the squad.
All fill different voids: Cumming looms as the long-kicking half-back heir apparent to the flagging Brodie Smith, Peatling is a tackling machine on-baller who is perfectly suited to a defensive midfield role, and Neal-Bullen should be a critical link man across half-forward to allow the Crows to transition the ball more fluently into their dangerous attack.
Doing that all without sacrificing, or even splitting, their prized pick 4 in this year’s draft, and even adding a few extra later picks in 2025 as part of the Peatling deal, Adelaide did very nicely indeed.
Grade: A
2. Collingwood
IN: Dan Houston (PA), Harry Perryman (GWS)
OUT: John Noble (GCS), Joe Richards (PA)
2024 Draft Picks: 52, 55, 58
The Pies’ trade period is sure to divide opinion. Some have them the biggest winners, courtesy of landing arguabbly the best player on the board in Houston plus another valuable addition in Perryman via free agency; others, though, point to their lack of a pick in the top 50s in a strong draft as a missed opportunity to add youth to a drastically ageing list.
I’m more glass half-full than empty; the Pies should, and are, contending for a quick bounce-back in 2025 and a return to premiership contention, and Perryman and especially Houston will help immeasurably in that regard in a way no top pick possibly could.
Still, it’s a significant gamble the Pies are taking, one that hasn’t ended well for West Coast and post-era Richmond, though their most crucial sacrifice is probably a handover from last year’s off-season – trading a future first-rounder for Lachie Schultz at the end of 2023 is now looking like significant overs.
Grade: A
4. North Melbourne
IN: Caleb Daniel (WB), Jack Darling (WCE), Jakob Konstanty (SYD), Luke Parker (SYD)
OUT: Nil
2024 Draft Picks: 2, 62
Considering the Roos are often hamstrung when it comes to acquiring the big names – Dan Houston’s reluctance to accept a trade despite North being able to offer Port the most in a trade as a case in point – this was a strong trade period from the long-term cellar dwellers that netted them everything they wanted.
Darling comes for effectively peanuts, making him a low-risk experience add even if he is indeed as washed as the kitchen of an obsessive compulsive neat freak; while Parker could easily be just as valuable an addition to a young, promising North outfit as Luke Hodge was at Brisbane. The yet-to-debut Konstanty as an extra add-on might also prove a shrewd move, even if he’s unlikely to be as good a set of steak knives as Jack Crisp has proved.
Daniel might be the best recruit of all, even if the cost of pick 25 was rather steep: a brilliant ball-user, he’s an upgrade in defence on Zac Fisher, while he should allow Colby McKercher and Harry Sheezel to consistently play further upfield, enhancing their progress while retaining an elite kick to set things up from defence.
It will be fascinating to see if the Roos do, as has been mooted, split their prized pick 2 to have two shies at the stumps in the first round of this strong, deep, draft.
Grade: B+
5. St Kilda
IN: Jack Macrae (WB)
OUT: Josh Battle (HAW), Tom Campbell (MELB)
2024 Draft Picks: 7, 8, 32, 47
The Saints were given a gift from the footy gods when Battle’s departure netted them a second top-ten draft pick – though I’d argue they’d still have been happier for the defender to remain.
Adding Macrae at the eleventh hour was a nice bit of business at minimal cost, too, and the premiership Bulldog should walk into the Saints’ best midfield and provide both valuable leadership and experience as well as a second strong body at stoppages to complement Jack Steele.
But I’d argue no team, not even Richmond, has more pressure on them heading into the draft than the Saints. With picks 7 and 8 – or wherever they end up after Academy and father-son bids – they have the chance to do what they haven’t been able to for probably 20 years, and draft a bona fide superstar to lead the way to their next deep finals push.
The ghosts of Paddy McCartin, Jack Billings, David Armitage and co. are watching on intently – the Saints simply can’t afford to blow another great draft hand.
Grade: B+
6. Geelong
IN: Bailey Smith (WB)
OUT: Nil
2024 Draft Picks: 45, 57, 75
Kudos to Geelong – they stuck to their guns on Smith, refused to budge on their initial offer until the eleventh hour, and when a four-club mega-trade was agreed to, their one extra sacrifice beyond the pick 17 that was always out the door was a draft slide from pick 38 to 45.
That Smith was their one target is an interesting development – aside from the briefest of dalliances with Clayton Oliver, the Cats never even flirted with another move, not even for Ivan Soldo as a stop-gap ruck option – but all up, it’s clear the Cats think their list requires little tinkering, and with no one departing the Bulldogs midfielder’s arrival leaves them stronger than ever.
There isn’t the volume of quality new arrivals to merit an A mark – but if I had to bet on one player involved in this year’s trade period being All-Australian in 2025, I’d be backing Smith.
Grade: B+
7. Carlton
IN: Nick Haynes (GWS)
OUT: Matthew Kennedy (WB), Matthew Owies (WCE)
2024 Draft Picks: 3, 38, 63, 68, 69, 72
A mixed bag – the Blues’ initial stance on Owies was baffling, especially after reports of his monster pay request were refuted, but if you were going to give up a 30-goals-a-year small forward, doing it as part of a deal that lands you pick 3 is probably the way to do it.
Haynes fills a need in defence, even if I’m not convinced he’s the perfect fit for a side needing stoppers nor that he’s not well past his best; and while their 2025 draft haul has been obliterated in their quest for pick 3, by all accounts this draft is good enough for them to land a proper superstar in whatever position they deem they need most.
Bonus points for not panicking late on deadline day and giving up Brodie Kemp for the Saints’ offer of a second-rounder; but marks off for not doing likewise with Matt Kennedy, who, as a contracted regular player and handy source of midfield depth in the event of more injuries, I’d say was worth enough more than the pick 38 they received to keep him in navy blue.
Grade: B+
Matthew Owies celebrates a goal. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
8. Brisbane
IN: Nil
OUT: Harry Sharp (MELB)
2024 Draft Picks: 27, 34, 42, 43, 49, 60, 66
Busy operators in recent trade periods, the reigning premiers had one mission this time around – to stockpile draft points in order to match looming bids for Levi Ashcroft and Sam Marshall.
As it stands, their picks are worth a combined 2531 draft points – factor in the father-son discount, and it’s nearly enough to secure Ashcroft even if a bid arrives at pick 1 without going into deficit, though you’d suspect the Lions will be an active pick-swapper right up until draft day.
Sharp was named emergency enough times to suggest his loss is a slight blow to the Lions’ depth; but if Ashcroft and Marshall are as good as has been touted, the former especially, there will be little to worry about.
The likely arrival of Sam Day as a delisted free agent to fill the Joe Daniher void is a downgrade, but considering Daniher’s departure, he’s about as handy an option as there was to deal with – and what’s more, they’ll be getting the former Sun for free.
Grade: B+
9. Fremantle
IN: Shai Bolton (RICH)
OUT: Nil
2024 Draft Picks: 14, 30, 67
I can’t buy the take that the Dockers paid way too much for Bolton; yes, two first-rounders is a high price, but Bolton, a genuine match-winner in his prime who offers speed, skill and menace no one on Freo’s list can match, is exactly the sort of player that can take this team from good to great.
The Dockers don’t usually attract players of this calibre; their recruits are typically raw talent in the Luke Jackson mould or handy role-players like James Aish or Jeremy Sharp. In fact, I can’t think of another trade Freo have made that moves the needle as much.
Thanks to Lachie Schultz’s departure 12 months ago, the Dockers have retained a first-round pick inspite of the Bolton trade, too.
Grade: B
Shai Bolton is tackled by Sam Berry. (Photo by Mark Brake/Getty Images)
10. Melbourne
IN: Tom Campbell (STK), Harry Sharp (BL)
OUT: Alex Neal-Bullen (MELB)
2024 Draft Picks: 5, 9
Two picks in the top 10 should be handy long-term – unless the Dees stuff it up like they did just about every top draftee between 2006 and 2013 – and in Campbell and Sharp, useful depth has been added, and in Sharp’s case perhaps even more than that if he can get the opportunities he couldn’t at Brisbane.
Still, Neal-Bullen’s loss is a bitter blow that instantly weakens a team teetering precariously on a cliff; and while it would have instantly been a fail had they followed through on trading either Christan Petracca or Clayton Oliver for literally anything, the events of the last month have left a sour taste, and will leave all eyes on the star pair to start next year to check if they’re truly still happy at the Dees.
Like the Saints, Melbourne simply don’t attract high-value trade targets often enough to be able to afford not nailing both of their top-10 picks. Their recent record in this regard has been excellent… but with so many options to choose from this year, can the recruiters nail it once again?
Grade: B
11. West Coast
IN: Liam Baker (RICH), Jack Graham (RICH), Matthew Owies (CARL)
OUT: Tom Barrass (HAW), Jack Darling (NM)
2024 Draft Picks: 12, 26, 73
No, West Coast trading pick 3 was not the utter calamity some supporters have decried it as.
For one thing: this is a team, courtesy of three straight years of being utterly rubbish, already have a swathe of young talent, Reid chief among them.
It was more important, therefore, to bring in quality, best-22 players, especially if they can set a standard to which the youngsters must follow. Baker and Graham fit that bill perfectly – two beloved figures at Richmond, their toughness, elite fitness and high personal standards are just what the doctor ordered for a team that has often been criticised in recent seasons for a lax attitude.
Barrass leaving is more of a blow, especially with the Eagles caving on their request for two first-rounders in exchange; the result is they head into a strong 2024 draft with just one pick inside the top 25, though with a far stronger hand for 2025. Is it enough for a team that will still need to do plenty of developing around its newly renovated senior core?
Grade: B
12. Gold Coast
IN: Elliott Himmelberg (ADEL), John Noble (COLL), Daniel Rioli (RICH)
OUT: Rory Atkins (PA), Jack Lukosius (PA)
2024 Draft Picks: 39, 41, 51, 61, 70, 76, 78
2024 was never about high draft picks for the Suns, given Leo Lombard’s availability as an Academy pick. So really, in acquiring both Noble and Rioli plus a free agent in Himmelberg, acquiring plenty of draft points and clearing Rory Atkins off the books, pretty much every objective was met.
But still, the price they paid for Rioli was a significant one – and there was little pushback from the Suns in refusing the Tigers’ demand of picks 6 and 23 for him. Yes, those picks mattered little, but still, it would have shown some backbone to push back even a little, even if they knuckled under in the end.
Lukosius’ departure means yet another former first-round pick walks out the door, following in the footsteps of Izak Rankine, Harley Bennell, Jaeger O’Meara, Jack Scrimshaw, Dion Prestia, Tom Lynch, Josh Caddy and countless others.
At least Rioli and Noble should slot straight into the backline to give it some spark and run. On paper at least, Gold Coast do look a better team than what they were come season’s end.
Grade: B
13. Richmond
IN: Nil
OUT: Liam Baker (WCE), Shai Bolton (FREM), Jack Graham (WCE), Daniel Rioli (GCS)
2024 Draft Picks: 1, 6, 10, 11, 18, 20, 23, 24
The most controversial take of this power rankings, I have no doubt!
First, a caveat – yes, the Tigers did splendidly, given the circumstances, to secure themselves definite overs for Rioli, and at least break even for both Baker and Bolton. The result is that they have eight picks in the top 24 of this year’s draft – they probably only need four or five to prove worthy of the billing for their next 15 years to be set up.
And still… it’s an almighty gamble they’re running, isn’t it? Put it this way: while pick 6 for Rioli is a strong deal, what are the odds of that player proving superior in the long run? 50 per cent? As high as 75?
The same goes for Bolton, and indeed any star or even above average player traded out – as an example, the picks 6 and 19 Brisbane gave up to secure Lachie Neale six years ago now look substantial unders.
Either way, draft picks, no matter how high, are a mystery box, and in nearly every case, this author would personally prefer the lower quantity – and especially for a team that won just two games in 2024, trading out three of your top five players is likely to make things even worse before they get a chance to be better.
Even holding just one of Bolton or Rioli to their contracts would have been preferable to utterly gutting the list in the hope that both this year’s draft proves fruitful, and that a team with hardly any senior heads left can develop those players into guns of the future.
And fair warning, Tigers fans – as we’ve learned from Melbourne and North Melbourne in recent memory, once you hit rock bottom, no matter how many top picks you accrue, it’s very, very hard to climb back up.
Grade: B
14. Western Bulldogs
IN: Matthew Kennedy (CARL)
OUT: Caleb Daniel (NM), Jack Macrae (STK), Bailey Smith (GEEL)
2024 Draft Picks: 17, 25, 35, 48
The Dogs would have been at the bottom of this list – with a nice shiny F next to their name – had they not finally knuckled under and handed Bailey Smith over for the slightest bit of extras over the pick 17 initially offered.
It’s hard to argue with those that have the Bulldogs as one of the trade period’s biggest losers – to remain steadfast in refusing trades for all of Smith, Daniel and Macrae right to the last half hour before the deadline only to end up offloading them all is Adrian Dodoro-esque areas.
Still, there are positives – getting Daniel for pick 25 alone is a reasonable deal for a player on the fringes of the best 22, while ensuring the trade for Smith and Macrae brought in Kennedy at least mitigates the depth loss the trio of departees causes. And Kennedy looms as being capable of having more impact up forward, and indeed away from a central midfield role, than Macrae managed in his final season.
I can’t help feeling sad, though, that Daniel and Macrae’s departure means that of the 22 premiership players from 2016, the most important team in the club’s history, nine will end their careers at other clubs. It feels wrong.
Grade: C+
15. Essendon
IN: Nil
OUT: Jake Stringer (GWS)
2024 Draft Picks: 28, 31, 40, 46, 53, 54, 65
Remember when Essendon were the big players in just about every trade period? Those days seem to be gone, especially now Matt Rosa is running the show.
Aside from a pick swap to strengthen their 2025 draft hand – while netting points to match an early bid on Isaac Kako that would have swallowed up their first pick anyway – the Bombers sat more idly through this trade period than seems ideal for a side that could use a few extra pieces.
As an example, it was a surprise to not see any pursuit whatsoever of Dan Houston – the Bombers of yesteryear would not have been able to resist throwing the kitchen sink at a prize so tantalising, and one that would give them some badly needed extra class coming out of defence and through the midfield.
Plus, for all the credit given to the Bombers for refusing to extend Jake Stringer’s contract beyond 2025, I can’t help feeling that pick 53 for a player that kicked 42 goals in 2024 is an unwise move for a team at which only one other player in 2024 managed more than 20. They might as well have kept him even if he did end up sooking it up and going for nothing in 12 months’ time.
Grade: C
16. GWS
IN: Jake Stringer (ESS)
OUT: Isaac Cumming (ADEL), Nick Haynes (CARL), James Peatling (ADEL), Harry Perryman (COLL)
2024 Draft Picks: 15, 16, 21, 37, 56, 74
Considering the talent they haemorrhaged, the Giants didn’t do too badly: picks 16 and 21 for Perryman and Cumming via free agency was a nice boon, for one.
Still, Peatling’s trade depends heavily on the Crows not improving and the Giants remaining a flag threat in 2025, given the future picks that were swapped around; while losing him in addition to Perryman and Cumming, and perhaps Haynes as well, heavily impacts the Giants’ 16-22 players – not a great situation for a team that should be competing for the premiership.
Stringer is a wildcard – on one hand, he’s an added dose of X-factor to a forward line already brimming with options, and the Giants’ fast ball movement should suit him perfectly, just as it did at the Bulldogs in 2015.
But he comes with obvious baggage, not to mention being on the wrong side of 30: it’s hard to see him being another Jesse Hogan-style bargain, even if a move to a non-footy heartland state can only be good for him.
Grade: C
17. Port Adelaide
IN: Rory Atkins (GCS), Jack Lukosius (GCS), Joe Richards (COLL)
OUT: Dan Houston (COLL)
2024 Draft Picks: 13, 29, 36, 50
For all the posturing clubs do when contracted players request trades, the Power’s eventual trade for Houston pretty much epitomises how little they actually want to retain anyone that wants out.
As a result, the Power have, to quote Kane Cornes, significantly boosted their SANFL team – though Lukosius and Richards at least should slot comfortably into the best 22 – while giving up a dual All-Australian who proved when suspended in the finals series to be fiendishly difficult to replace.
To give up an asset like Houston and not even get a top-10 draft pick is a blow, especially when compared to how well Richmond fared in trades for Shai Bolton and Daniel Rioli – so it’s little surprise the Power find themselves right down the bottom of this list.
Grade: D+
18. Sydney
IN: Nil
OUT: Jakob Konstanty (NM), Luke Parker (NM)
2024 Draft Picks: 19, 22, 44, 59
No club in 2024 was fleeced to a degree worthy of an F, but if there was a ‘most disappointing club’ for this trade period, it was definitely Sydney.
Coming off another grand final humiliation, there was a concerning lethargy about the Swans over the last fortnight, especially considering how well they addressed their weaknesses last year by bringing in Brodie Grundy and Taylor Adams.
An aborted pursuit of Jake Stringer was fascinating – he’s exactly the circuit-breaker forward that could have done very nicely in a strong, attacking team like the Swans – while the defence remains shaky enough that another shy at the stumps for Tom Barrass or even a play for Josh Battle throughout the year would have been worth their while.
Parker’s loss is a sad blow – he was the last player on the Swans’ list to have played in a premiership for the club – but at least he is unlikely to be overly difficult to replace, notwithstanding his three goals in the last quarter to mitigate the grand final carnage.
That the Swans are down in 18th is really more a sign of the evenness of this year’s trade period than anything overly damning – but still, for a team which has long been among the shrewdest operators in the player movement space, they finished very much like that tiny mobster in the Simpsons episode where everyone expects him to do something… but he never does.
Grade: D