IF the Cats have historically been the trade masters … THEN
THE 2025 Continental Tyres AFL Trade Period is over, but never fear, Damian Barrett’s Sliding Doors is still going full steam ahead.
So put your seatbelt on and enjoy the ride as Damo takes off the gloves and takes aim at your team.
So what is he saying about your club? What’s he saying about the AFL? You can’t say that, Damo, can you? Check it out below.
>> ALL THE LATEST NEWS AND OPINION FROM DAMIAN BARRETT
IF …
you see a Crows official today …
THEN …
please alert him or her to the fact the 2025 trade period has come and gone. For a club which was badly exposed in the only matches that mattered in 2025 – those played in September – the Crows needed to be aggressive.
IF ..
being brutal in negotiation can be an admirable trait …
THEN …
it also can come across as heartless. Blocking the in-trade-period transfer of two-time premiership player Callum Ah Chee – who kicked the match-securing goal in a 2024 prelim final before four goals in the GF, and who excellently filled several different roles in 2025 – to the Crows was unnecessary. He’ll get there anyway. And you’ll get nothing for him.
IF …
the outgoings included Charlie, TDK and Silvagni …
THEN …
among the impressive incomings was a raft of national draft picks which will guarantee two selections in the first round of the next three drafts. And gun forward Will Hayward. Graham Wright, the Agent Of Change, immediately got to work as CEO.
IF …
the Pies had always planned to do very little in the 2025 trade period …
THEN …
they certainly stuck to their plan. I would have changed course. Expecting the 2026 season to be a tough one for this club.
IF …
taking a stand on contracted captain Zach Merrett was one thing and allows for some “well, we told you we weren’t trading him” type of statements right now …
THEN …
dealing with the consequences in coming days, weeks and months is another. Remove the emotion from the Zach Merrett mess, and it was a good deal for a 30-year-old who has come to loathe being at this club, and one which could have been favourably massaged through meaningful negotiation.
IF …
some clubs were like rabbits in spotlights in the trade period …
THEN …
not the Dockers. In full control of what they wanted to bring in (Judd McVee) and out (Will Brodie, Liam Reidy). Clinical.
IF …
the Cats have historically been the trade masters – remember the recruiting of Danger, Gaz jnr, Jez and Baz, as well as the exit of Tim Kelly for beyond-top dollar …
THEN …
not so in 2025. Didn’t have the draft currency, and refused to throw up a good player, to properly broker for Curnow. And the Saints refused all approaches for Marshall.
IF …
the Suns’ midfield already boasted Brownlow vote accumulators in this year’s winner Matt Rowell (89 career votes, including 64 in the past two seasons), Noah Anderson (83) and Touk Miller (74) …
THEN …
here comes another 130 already on the Brownlow books via the recruitment of Brand ‘Trac. Good luck to all clubs preparing for a match against Gold Coast in 2026.
IF …
The Stugots was a famous vessel from The Sopranos and the SS Minnow central to the Gilligan’s Island storyline …
THEN …
the Giants will be hoping the Blue Goose one day demands a special place in their own history. That was the boat which CEO Dave Matthews, coach Adam Kingsley, gun player Finn Callaghan and others launched onto Sydney Harbour to ‘wine and dine’ Clarry Oliver, just 24 hours after he’d been told by the Demons to find a new home.
IF …
the Hawks under Sam Mitchell have succeeded in being aggressive – both in incomings and outgoings – in trade period for the previous three years …
THEN …
they were neither aggressive nor savvy enough in 2025 to acquire Zach Merrett. While it was a sizeable offer they sent to the Bombers, their strategy of leaving it to Tuesday was questionable, as was the failure to offer a player of established quality. As Mitchell himself said while still fuming after losing a 2025 preliminary final: “Even if we are the same as we are this year, that’s not going to make the eight next year”.
IF …
you take your mind back to this period just three years ago …
THEN …
you will recall that Clarry Oliver had just secured his fourth Demons best-and-fairest award after just seven seasons in the game, in a team which had won the previous year’s flag and included the great Max Gawn and Christian Petracca. Now bring your mind to Thursday this week. Clarry traded out for a future third round draft pick. Just ponder that. Third round. And also ponder this: Melbourne will pay about $3 million to the Giants to allow him to play football for them.
IF …
Zach Merrett hogged the headlines attached to a captain wanting to leave his club …
THEN …
Roos leader Jy Simpkin, like Merrett, also failed in his bid to exit. The offers simply did not come for Jy. And now he has to walk back into Arden St, sans the (c) beside his name.
IF …
2025 was an ordinary one for this club which proudly boasts that it lives to win premierships …
THEN …
there was nothing in the trade period to suggest the 2026 season will be any different, even under new coaching.
IF …
it seemed like the Tigers had actually forgotten the trade period was on …
THEN …
for them, that was OK. Have had a very sound, long-term plan to hit the draft, and will do so again with picks three and four.
IF …
there has been a lot of self-congratulating and pats on backs and group hugs at the Saints and their supporters in the acquisition of free agents Tom De Koning and Jack Silvagni, and Liam Ryan and Sam Flanders …
THEN …
there was also the fallout they don’t want you to focus on or talk about. The second consecutive increase in money for Cal Wilkie, despite him being contracted. The Rowan Marshall disillusionment. The reneging on an 18-month courtship of Leek Aleer. And particularly the shunting of five-season captain Jack Steele to clear salary cap space. And only broaching the possibility of that with him a week ago. Thanks for your time and effort and heart, Jack, and for leading us through the tough times. But off you go now that we want to move into the good times.
IF …
the Swans have given up one of the greatest ever trade week bounties …
THEN …
they simply had to do it. Lockett, Hall, Franklin and now Curnow. This club in this city needs a rockstar full-forward. The Wiz, Warwick Capper, proved that after arriving in the 1980s. Gulden, Warner, Blakey will be kicking to Curnow. Heeney playing alongside him. Papley waiting for the ground ball beneath him. This should be fun to watch. The Curnow statement from last July, though, makes for interesting reflection: “I’m playing at Carlton next year so there you go. Done. The thing that can be most frustrating as an AFL player, your close family and partners, it probably affects them more than us. It’s one good thing for you guys (media) to think about when you release stuff.” The educated media knew, Charlie.
IF …
Andrew McQualter’s Richmond connections were already obvious at the Eagles with Liam Baker and Jack Graham joining him in year one …
THEN …
they have been bolstered with the addition of Tylar Young for year two. I felt West Coast needed to do a lot more in this trade period, but the AFL’s secret herbs and spices allowed it to get pick two for the loss of free agent Oscar Allen, so they will go to the draft with a nice hand.
IF …
there was one addition the Bulldogs simply had to make in the trade period …
THEN …
it was a key back. They went very, very hard at Cal Wilkie, which only succeeded in him going back to the Saints and getting a second consecutive sizeable pay rise, and also had a crack at Mark Keane. Very surprised they didn’t recruit Steven May, even for one season, and even with their understandable reluctance to deal with another high-maintenance player.
AND THIS ONE’S FOR THE AFL
IF …
the AFL is currently in full-on debrief mode on the 2025 season …
THEN …
hopefully one of its topics for dissection will be the addition of a secondary trade period. I’d suggest a five-day window about a third of the way through the home-and-away season. But the AFL doesn’t trust its clubs to not make rash decisions, so it probably won’t be exploring this option.