Source :- THE AGE NEWS
The big off-field signings have continued at Essendon, with Daniel Pratt leaving the Western Bulldogs to become the Bombers’ senior assistant under new coach Mark McVeigh.
Just two weeks after appointing Sydney premiership coach John Longmire as the general manager of performance, Essendon announced they had poached Pratt from the Bulldogs.
Pratt had been an assistant at the Bulldogs since late 2023, and he was named the AFL Coaches Association assistant coach of the year in 2024.
Prior to that Pratt spent almost a decade at West Coast, first as a development coach and then as the backline coach, playing a key role in the club’s 2018 flag.
Carlton and GWS are at an impasse over running defender Lachie Whitfield, with the Blues having offered up a future first-round pick tied to Sydney among the trade options.
The Blues have also offered their picks 25 and 26 in this year’s draft for Whitfield and the Giants’ pick 28, but the Giants are holding out for a late first round draft pick for the 32-year-old who has one more year to run on his contract.
Carlton and Whitfield are frustrated because they feel he has been encouraged to look around, and so been pushed out by the Giants, but a first-round draft pick is too much for a player who is 32 and will be a free agent at the end of next year.
The Giants hold that he is contracted player, and they were only open to move him if they could get the sort of draft return they wanted. The Giants are chasing an extra first round pick in this year’s draft to cover a bid likely to come for their academy player Ethan Matthews early in the draft.
The Giants have said they would accept the Blues’ future first (tied to Sydney) and this year’s pick 25 in exchange for Whitfield and a future second round pick from the Blues. The Blues rejected that proposal, meaning there is a stand-off in place between the two clubs.
The Western Bulldogs’ star recruit Zak Butters rejected any suggestion he gave Geelong an indication he would join the Cats, but admitted his preference publicly swayed over a year when he was also pursued by Richmond and Collingwood.
“Nah, nah, nah,” Butters replied on Monday when asked if he had indicated at any stage the Cats were his preferred club to join.
Butters grew up following the Bulldogs, and his family resided in Darley, on Melbourne’s western metropolitan fringe. He played for the Western Jets in Victoria’s under-18 competition before being taken by the Power with the 12th pick of the 2018 national draft.
“Yeah, like I said, I think at different points I had different preferences, and yeah, I think Pete [manager Peter Lenton] relayed their messages for me, and, obviously, I don’t really talk to the clubs directly too much,” Butters said of Geelong.
Already a three-time All Australian and three-time Port Adelaide best and fairest, Zak Butters said he can still get better playing alongside the likes of skipper Marcus Bontempelli and dynamic midfielder Ed Richards with the Western Bulldogs.
“Yeah, it’s going to be a different feeling for me. Obviously, probably one I have to get used to at the start, but yeah, I feel like once I’m settled in, I’m pretty happy, and yeah, I’m 26 as well,” Butters said.
“I still feel like I’ve got a lot of improvement left in my football, and I feel like, yeah, coming to this club and working with some pretty special players, that they’ll make me better a better player as well.
“And yeah, I definitely think being back home, and maybe a bit more settled off field and around a few more people that make me feel at home, probably helps my game a little bit.”
Boom Western Bulldogs recruit Zak Butters revealed on Monday he had considered informing the football world a year ago that he intended to leave Port Adelaide after the 2026 season.
Butters said he made his mind last year that his eighth campaign would be his last at the Power, and that the restricted free agent wanted to move home to Victoria.
However, it wasn’t until September that Butters publicly confirmed he was leaving Port, and that his intention was to join the Bulldogs and eschew heavy interest from Geelong, Richmond and Collingwood.
An immature football world still frowns upon players publicly admitting they intend to leave a club, a stance Butters said meant he decided to keep his plans private, despite many in the industry knowing he was returning home.
St Kilda assistant and head of development Matt Brewer will step into an interim coach role for the remaining three weeks of the AFLW season, after Nick Dal Santo stepped down last week.
After eight consecutive losses, the Saints galvanised on Saturday to defeat Collingwood by two points and snatch their first win of the season, in Dal Santo’s last game as coach.
During a press conference, the departing coach accepted responsibility for his side’s poor season, but denied there were issues around the club’s treatment of the women’s team as an independent review into the program looms.
Despite the circumstances, Brewer said he was grateful to lead the team over the next three games.
“Despite the challenges we’ve faced this season, there’s still a lot of belief within the group and a real commitment from our players, coaches and staff to keep improving,” Brewer said.
“The next few weeks are really important. Our focus is on getting better, competing strongly and finishing the season as well as we can.”
Well, it’s been a relatively quiet morning trade wise, with the Hawks and Suns confirming their deals, but most clubs still in the backroom brokering potential moves.
We’re hoping things heat up this afternoon. However, we all know there is a thirst for the trade period to have a flurry of deals done on Wednesday, leading into the 7.30pm deadline.
In the meantime, have your say on what’s transpired, and what should transpire, by directing questions to The Age’s trade whisperers Michael Gleeson and Peter Ryan ahead of their evening podcast. Send your questions about the trade period, or anything footy wise, to realfootypod@theage.com.au.
And you can also catch up on Friday’s podcast.
The Gold Coast Suns say they are delighted to have acquired forwards Sam Butler and Aidan Schubert from Hawthorn.
As part of the deals, the Suns will receive the Hawks’ 2028 first-round selection and re-acquire their own 2027 third-round pick that was used in the trade which brought Christian Petracca to the club in 2025.
The Hawks receive a 2027 second-round pick, and 2028 first- and second-round selections.
“We’re thrilled to welcome both Aidan and Sam to the Gold Coast,” Suns list boss Kall Burns said.
There are still several storylines to play out this week, including the futures of Jordan De Goey, Lachie Whitfield, Jack Viney and Trent Rivers.
Carlton have discussed sending either of their picks 25 and 26 to GWS for Whitfield, but the Giants maintain they want a first-round pick for the veteran half-back, who has completed a medical with the Blues.
The Magpies are open to trading De Goey, who is off contract next season, but only if the right deal comes along. De Goey is ideally seeking a three-year contract. The Magpies have been busy, securing Lachie Neale and Jesse Hogan, and are still chasing premiership Tiger Jayden Short. Blues’ back-up ruckman Flynn Riley also wants to join the Magpies on a multi-year deal. The Blues had offered him a two-year contract.
As for Viney, the one-time Melbourne co-captain appears to have two options – remain a Demon with two years on his contract and fight for a spot in the best 23, or head to West Coast, who want the hard nut midfielder. He and fellow Demon Trent Rivers could form part of the same deal, the latter with a year remaining on his contract before becoming a free agent and weighing up a move home. Viney and Rivers have the same management group.
The Western Bulldogs are open to speedster Laitham Vandermeer seeking a new home, should he want it.
However, Bulldogs list boss Michael Regan said there had not been any “firm inquiries” from other clubs. Vandermeer has two years left on his contract and managed just two senior games this year.
“He’s a player who has given great service to the Western Bulldogs and, hopefully, we see him in the red, white and blue,” Regan told AFL Trade Radio on Monday.
“But, if a fresh start is something Laith wants to seek and someone comes to us with something we see as fair value, we would assess that.”
Vandermeer has been linked to the Bombers and Melbourne.
