Gold Coast are no longer just the AFL’s newest destination club. They’ve become this off-season’s biggest player in the chase for some of the trade market’s most prized assets.
With Christian Petracca requesting a move north and the Suns sitting high on Charlie Curnow’s list of preferred 2026 destinations, the Suns’ power this October is no joke.
Add in their openness to serving as a second home for Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, and it’s clear: all of a sudden, everything’s happening on the Glitter Strip.
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But on the other side of the coin, several best-22 Suns are looking for new homes. Sam Flanders wants in at St Kilda, Connor Budarick has requested a trade to the Western Bulldogs, and forgotten small forward Malcolm Rosas Jnr has informed the club of his wish to move to Sydney.
Brayden Fiorini is still weighing up offers from Port Adelaide and Essendon, while out of nowhere, noise around Bailey Humphrey has erupted after meetings with Melbourne and Collingwood in recent days.
It’s a fascinating contrast. The Suns will this trade period be both buyers and sellers, in a market where most clubs are often only one. For the first time in their 15-year history, players are leaving because opportunities are tight — not because the club’s in crisis.
There’s no doubt that Damien Hardwick’s arrival at the end of 2023 helped fast-track the club’s sharp rise. Three-time premiership Tiger Daniel Rioli jumped ship to play under his coach of seven and a half years, as did former Pie John Noble in search of greater opportunity.
John Noble and Daniel Rioli of the Suns lead the team into the rooms after winning the Round 1 AFL match between West Coast Eagles and Gold Coast Suns at Perth Stadium, on March 16, 2025 (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
Gold Coast’s ultra-strong draft pull via its Academy program is no secret, and has helped them integrate the likes of Ethan Read, Jed Walter and Jake Rogers in recent years alongside their building list of recruits.
Again this November, the Suns are all in on top-end prospects Zeke Uwland — the brother of Bodhi —and Dylan Patterson. They head into the off-season with one of the strongest hands of any club, holding picks 6, 14, 17, 35, 61, 72. However, it means they’ll be forced to be extra meticulous with the draft picks that come and go out of their hands with all the potential deals on offer.
It’s the combination of draft capital, newfound pulling power and players in-contract looking at departing that makes Gold Coast such a central figure in this year’s trade period. For the first time, they have the leverage to shape the market rather than react to it, and how they use it could set the tone for the entire eight days of organised chaos.
They’re no longer a side forced to sell hope. They hold assets other clubs need.
As things stand, their focus right now revolves around striking a deal with the Demons and Christian Petracca. With Adelaide’s interest in the Melbourne superstar coming and going, the Suns shouldn’t need to worry about a third-party interjecting with harmful intentions.
How Dons plan to keep Merrett | 01:17
What makes things a little more complex though, is they may need (or at least prefer) to hold an optimal number of draft picks before working out how they can best satisfy Melbourne. The trade value of Connor Budarick and Malcolm Rosas Jnr is unlikely to move the needle too much, but Flanders and Fiorini (if he opts to leave) are a different story.
The Suns will almost certainly demand pick No.7 from St Kilda to begin negotiations on Flanders, with perhaps a swapping of later picks helping even out the ledger. Any Fiorini trade is harder to get a read on being out of contract, but a second-round pick is within the realms of consideration.
But the situation surrounding Bailey Humphrey is by far the most intriguing of all. Gold Coast have insisted publicly he’s not for sale. On paper, that stance makes sense — the Moe product is one of the most dynamic young midfielders in the game, who perfectly embodies the player identity Hardwick is trying to build.
However, the reality of the modern trade market is that the word “untouchable” rarely means what it used to. Just hours after Humphrey’s manager said that the 21-year-old hadn’t met with any rival clubs, a photo emerged of Humphrey speaking with new Dees coach Steven King and club legend Nathan Jones. And less than an hour later, Seven’s Xander McGuire revealed that the 63-gamer had also met with Collingwood.
Both meetings have instantly allowed Melbourne to begin discussions around Humphrey, centring around a Christian Petracca swap. It leaves the Suns suddenly playing in the big leagues. You don’t trade away a future star lightly, but you also don’t dismiss the chance to land a player who’s won a Norm Smith Medal and brings instant premiership credibility.
Merrett questioned on future with Dons | 01:37
Flanders’ potential departure to St Kilda typifies the kind of problem every successful side eventually faces. The 24-year-old has proven himself a strong ball winner and distributor off half-back, but the recruiting of Noble and Rioli means that role is no longer his.
The Saints’ offer of consistent midfield minutes and a lucrative deal, however, is understandably tempting. Similarly, Connor Budarick’s want to join the Bulldogs makes sense for both parties.
Rosas Jnr’s request to head to Sydney is another that reflects opportunity rather than discontent. Smaller forwards have struggled to cement regular spots in Hardwick’s side, and the Suns won’t stand in Rosas’ way on a move after just 11 AFL games in two years under him — three of which were as the starting sub. Expect Sydney’s pick No.50 to be the common ground for his trade.
The net result is Gold Coast ending up with as many as five players out the door, and an even greater volume of draft capital coming their way. As alluded to earlier, their challenge will be deciding how much of that capital is kept for academy bids, and how much is directed towards acquiring an elite-ready talent like Petracca or, longer term, even preparing the ground for a 2026 tilt at Charlie Curnow.
That latter assumption is obviously dependent on Curnow not landing at one of Geelong or Sydney where he has also been linked to, but there is a genuine world where the dual Coleman Medallist is forced to play at least one more season at Ikon Park if a deal can’t be struck this trade period.
It seems the time for patience on the Gold Coast is over. After a maiden finals appearance and win, the next two weeks could define how quickly their first genuine premiership tilt comes.
If they can land Petracca without sacrificing Humphrey, retain their key academy picks, retain Fiorini, and still position themselves for a major 2026 pursuit of Curnow, it’ll go down as arguably the most successful trade period in the club’s short history.