Week 1 Wrap: AFL Trade Period
We dissect the past week and wrap it up into a nice little parcel for you
It’s been a big first week of the Trade Period for the Hawks, with rumours and comments swirling around everywhere.
It has almost reached a point where each morning, Kane Cornes and the Early Trade have a dedicated Hawthorn hour, where Cornes picks the side of the fence that day he wants to sit on by flipping a coin.
On Monday the position was that the Hawks will be major players, their aggressive mindset is exciting and will breathe life into a dead trade period.
By Friday, the Hawthorn Football Club was a rabble and were looking to move on any player over the age of 26.
Hawks Insiders will try and sort out fact from fiction and give you a detailed wrap up of the week that has been, and look forward to next week, and the culmination of Trade Period.
What has actually happened?
Daniel Howe re-signed until the end of 2022, putting an end to rumours of interest from clubs including Richmond and Sydney.
Finn Maginness re-signed until the end of 2023, allowing him time concentrate on refining his game and trying to establish himself as a regular at AFL level.
Tim O’Brien signed a 2-year deal with the Western Bulldogs, bringing to the end an 8 year stay at the Hawks. Hawthorn received no compensation.
What will potentially happen?
Jonathon Ceglar looks destined to leave, most likely to Geelong to join good mate Isaac Smith. Ceglar’s deal hinges on Darcy Fort moving from the Cats to the Lions, and the deal will form part of the wider ruck merry-go-round.
Max Lynch appears to be the back up ruck option the Hawks have settled on to replace Ceglar. At 23, Lynch is seven years younger than Ceglar and fits the list profile that Hawks are establishing under Mitchell.
Jarrod Brander is a name to keep an eye on over the course of the trade period. Mark McKenzie didn’t rule out a move for Brander, admitting there was preliminary interest in the tall Eagle. If it does come to fruition, it looms as a late pick or delisted free agent selection.
Trading for draft picks to strengthen the Hawks draft hand was the message that rang true through comments from Mark McKenzie, Richie Vandenberg, and Jeff Kennett throughout the week, it seems the messaging is aligned. The Hawks are hitting the draft.
What isn’t going to happen?
Peter Ladhams won’t be coming to the Hawks. As much as this will pain my fellow Hawks Insiders colleague, Darren Levin, Hawthorn have been priced out of the Ladhams bidding by Port Adelaide’s unrealistic trade demands. The only way this deal could be back on is if the Power lower their asking price for Ladhams.
Adam Cerra was discussed internally prior to his trade to Carlton, but as much as they rated Cerra as a player, the Hawks wanted to bring in and develop their own young midfielders, which meant they were not serious players in the Cerra stakes.
Where does this leave us?
With plenty of questions and, to this point, not a lot of answers. It’s clear that the Hawks will be major players in this trade period and with their openness and financial flexibility, all sorts of potential opportunities may arise. We know that Jack Gunston, Tom Mitchell, Chad Wingard and Jaeger O’Meara are all on the table and if the asking price is met, one or more of them could be moved on to usher in a new era under first time coach, Sam Mitchell.
It was mentioned by McKenzie yesterday that Mitchell has been active in the internal discussions around list management and potential deals in this trade period, and it was reported by Sam Edmund today that Mitchell has been hitting the phones, calling clubs to gauge interest in Hawthorn’s star players.
Strap yourselves in Hawks fans, we are only five days into this year’s trade period and we have been exposed to a huge amount of news about what Hawthorn is up to, but it feels like we have only just scratched the surface of the clubs involvement between now and when the trade door slams shut in the middle of next week.
Keep up to date with all things Hawthorn and AFL Trade Period by following Hawks Insiders on social media and tuning in to our nightly Trade Period Spaces on Twitter at 8:30pm each weeknight.