Source : the age
Sydney head of list strategy Chris Keane is confident Nick Blakey could walk back into the club when pre-season begins despite his attempts to seek a trade.
Blakey has reportedly met with Gold Coast and Geelong but Blakey has five years remaining on his contract with the Swans.
Keane said he wasn’t aware Blakey was meeting with clubs until it was in the media, but he still believed the star defender could stay.
“We feel confident he could walk back into our footy club,” Keane told AFL Trade Radio.
St Kilda ruckman Rowan Marshall has been traded to Geelong.
More to come
Melbourne remain in trade talks for North Melbourne’s Zane Duursma but have ruled out a move for Nick Blakey.
Demons list manager Tim Lamb confirmed the club would not be chasing Blakey, but he has also provided updates on Duursma along with Dees Jack Viney and Trent Rivers who are considering potential moves to West Coast.
The Duursma talks are ongoing with the Demons having had multiple deals rejected by the Roos.
“He’s committed to us,” Lamb told AFL Trade Radio on Thursday.
The Suns will send a future second round pick to Hawthorn for Aidan Schubert.
Schubert has agreed to join the Suns
AFL great Michael Voss thinks the prospect of Nick Blakey leaving the Swans is getting real now that he is meeting with clubs and coaches.
Voss said it seemed Blakey was taking steps to progress a move and that once players started meeting clubs, things could move fast.
This masthead reported on Wednesday that Blakey would meet with Geelong as early as Thursday, and we reported this morning that Suns coach Damien Hardwick had flown to Melbourne to meet with the Swans star.
Eleven months after being drafted to Hawthorn, Aidan Schubert has requested a trade to the Gold Coast Suns.
The 18-year-old did not intend to leave the Hawks – having signed a two-year extension midway through this season – however the Suns wanted him as part of their discussions with Hawthorn over whether to match an offer for wantaway free agent Ben King.
The Hawks upped their offer to Calsher Dear, who recently signed a two-year deal, which opened the door for Schubert to depart.
He visited the Suns early this week and will agree to a five-year deal.
It means the Suns won’t match the King offer and will accept pick seven.
They will then trade for Schubert, meaning they get a first-round pick and a replacement forward for losing King.
Do you have questions about your club and this AFL trade period?
If so, please email our Real Footy team and your question could be put to our reporters when we record our daily Real Footy trade podcast later this afternoon.
Send your questions to realfootypod@theage.com.au by 4.30pm (AEDT).
Meanwhile, here’s the latest episode.
Young Hawthorn forward Aidan Schubert has requested a trade to the Suns.
Schubert has toured Gold Coast’s facilities earlier this week when the opportunity of the move arose.
The Hawks drafted Schubert with pick 23 in last year’s AFL draft, and he played one senior game.
He has shown promise in the VFL but with Ben King joining the Hawks and Calsher Dear re-signing, there will be fewer opportunities for him to earn senior games.
King has reportedly been spotted at Melbourne Airport on Thursday morning as he prepares to join the Hawks.
Now that the AFL season is over, plenty of footy types have made their way to watch their favourite NBL sides.
Recently retired Lions three-time premiership coach Chris Fagan cheered on his home state Tasmania JackJumpers to a 109-99 win over Brisbane Bullets in Brisbane last round and did so with a Jackies jersey on.
Fagan is good mates with JackJumpers championship coach Scott Roth who praised Fagan post-game as the team’s good luck charm.
“A big shoutout to Fages in the building, he’s obviously a Tasmanian and a huge supporter of us,” Roth said.
Not trade news, but a big story brewing in the AFL world is the future of ex-Saints star Nick Dal Santo, who is coach of the club’s AFLW side.
St Kilda’s season thus far has been dismal – no wins, and only one behind scored in the entire game against the Bulldogs on Saturday. It was a record performance, and not in a good way.
Hannah Kennelly wrote about the Saints and Dal Santo on Sunday:
If St Kilda want to have a successful AFLW program, they need to make several bold decisions. The first one should be parting with long-time senior coach Nick Dal Santo, whose position, after a winless season so far, is now untenable.
Though Dal Santo defended himself and his team after the loss, and he hasn’t lost the support of his players, she writes, there is clear evidence that the time for change is now.
