{"id":169188,"date":"2025-09-26T00:00:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-26T00:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/169188\/"},"modified":"2025-09-26T00:00:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T00:00:10","slug":"jamie-elliott-gold-coast-suns-contract-offer-western-bulldogs-lead-connor-budarick-race-tom-berry-west-coast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/169188\/","title":{"rendered":"Jamie Elliott Gold Coast Suns contract offer, Western Bulldogs lead Connor Budarick race, Tom Berry West Coast"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Suns are central to Friday\u2019s trade whispers.<\/p>\n

Their interest in Jamie Elliott is real, but their own off-contract forward is in demand \u2014 and a player they\u2019ve delisted has Eagles interest.<\/p>\n

Get the latest player movement news and updates in AFL Trade Whispers!<\/p>\n

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WHAT’S GAMBLING REALLY COSTING YOU? Set a deposit limit. For Free and confidential support call 1800 858 858 or visit gamblinghelponline.org.au.<\/p>\n

\u2018FINALLY\u2019: SUNS\u2019 BID FOR PIE RAMPS UP<\/p>\n

Gold Coast\u2019s bid for Jamie Elliott has ramped up, with the club finally offering the free agent a contract, according to Nine chief football reporter Tom Morris.<\/p>\n

Premiership Magpie Elliott, who\u2019s played 219 games for Collingwood and had a career-best 60-goal season in 2025, is now eligible for free agency after his club fell one step short of making the Grand Final.<\/p>\n

The 33-year-old has had a two-year offer from Collingwood on the table for some time, but that contract remains unsigned.<\/p>\n

Herald Sun reporter Jon Ralph on Monday night told Fox Footy\u2019s <\/a>On The Couch<\/a> the Suns were \u201cvery keen\u201d on Elliott but \u201chad not offered him a deal in any way\u201d at that stage.<\/p>\n

Morris reported on X on Thursday night<\/a> the Suns had \u201cfinally lodged a contract offer\u201d for Elliott, with the club prepared to offer him a three-year deal.<\/p>\n

Ralph said Elliott had \u201chuge loyalty\u201d to Collingwood and would ideally \u201clove to finish his career as a one-club player\u201d, but was strongly considering a move to Gold Coast, with family connections at Airlie Beach.<\/p>\n

Hardwick keeps quiet on Suns trades | 01:39<\/p>\n

Elliott was one of the Magpies\u2019 best in their two recent finals, booting four goals against both Adelaide and Brisbane.<\/p>\n

He played 25 games for the Magpies in 2025 \u2014 the first time he\u2019s ever managed to play all possible matches in a season.<\/p>\n

Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick remained cagey on Monday night<\/a> when asked about his club\u2019s potential interest in Elliott and Carlton\u2019s Charlie Curnow, telling Fox Footy\u2019s AFL 360: \u201cWe are trying to improve our list, like every other club at this time of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also since emerged the Suns have preliminary interest in Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, who\u2019s almost certain to not be at Western Bulldogs next year,<\/p>\n

\u2018FRONTRUNNER\u2019 IN FOUR-CLUB SUN RACE<\/p>\n

The Western Bulldogs are the \u201cfrontrunners\u201d for Gold Coast utility Connor Budarick, according to AFL Media reporter Riley Beveridge.<\/p>\n

Budarick just completed his sixth season on Gold Coast\u2019s list, playing 19 of a possible 25 games in a new role forward of centre. He kicked two goals against Fremantle in the Suns\u2019 famous one-point elimination final win.<\/p>\n

But the 24-year-old has yet to accept a two-year contract offer from Gold Coast amid interest from a host of rival clubs.<\/p>\n

Speaking on AFL Trade Radio on Thursday, Beveridge said the Suns had \u201csold him (Budarick) the vision of being a forward\u201d, but he saw his future \u201cmore as a defender\u201d instead.<\/p>\n

Clubs toughest trade & contract calls! | 06:21<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Western Bulldogs though have been hunting that sort of small defender for quite some time, Taylor Duryea has come to the end of his career now,\u201d Beveridge told AFL Trade Radio.<\/p>\n

\u201cI still think the Western Bulldogs are the frontrunners here, and I think that that\u2019s been the view of a lot of the clubs in the chase for Connor Budarick right the way through.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s got the offer to the two-year offer to stay at Gold Coast, it\u2019ll take him through to free agency. North Melbourne, Essendon and Brisbane are the other clubs that have had some interest, but I think they\u2019ve been aware for some time that the Western Bulldogs would be the frontrunner if he wants to leave.\u201d<\/p>\n

Budarick has played 55 games for the Suns ever since being taken in the 2019 rookie draft.<\/p>\n

CUT SUN IN EAGLES\u2019 SIGHTS<\/p>\n

Delisted Sun Tom Berry has interest from West Coast, according to AFL Media reporter Josh Gabelich<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Initially drafted by Brisbane before being traded to Gold Coast, Berry has played 43 games in seven seasons, but has no AFL contract for 2026 at this stage.<\/p>\n

But Gabelich reported on AFL Media the Eagles were \u201cunderstood to be one of a few clubs\u201d to inquire about Berry.<\/p>\n

Berry, 25, didn\u2019t play an AFL game for Gold Coast in 2025, primarily due to a knee injury.<\/p>\n

Dimma reflects: “We failed tonight” | 07:52<\/p>\n

West Coast is also in the race for Berry\u2019s ex-Lions teammate Brandon Starcevich, who\u2019s weighing up whether to stay in Brisbane or take up an Eagles offer.<\/p>\n

The Eagles are waiting on an answer from the AFL on their submission for an draft assistance package could look like, with league chief executive Andrew Dillon telling Fox Footy\u2019s AFL 360 a verdict would likely be handed down next week.<\/p>\n

West Coast will lose co-captain Oscar Allen to Brisbane, but that could hand the club a first-round free agency compensation pick, which would land at Pick 2.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Suns are central to Friday\u2019s trade whispers. Their interest in Jamie Elliott is real, but their own…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":169189,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[15840,12259,64,63,689,3423,20781,651,3237,1129,100140,110707,10133,16686,91124,12015,14385,106613,110705,71968,33201,110709,77493,2105,2485,9130,36878,681,110708,647,7198,677,110706,15836,12922,701,1141,85,110710,77651,110704,1144,11236,28457,110703,660,698],"class_list":["post-169188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-agency-compensation-pick","tag-andrew-dillon","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-ben-waterworth","tag-brandon-starcevich","tag-brisbane","tag-brisbane-lions","tag-charlie-curnow","tag-chief-football-reporter","tag-coast-suns-contract","tag-collingwood-magpies","tag-contract-calls","tag-contract-decisions","tag-contract-offer","tag-damien-hardwick","tag-day-coverage","tag-delisted-sun-tom","tag-draft-assistance-package","tag-elimination-final-win","tag-ex-lions-teammate","tag-family-connections","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-gold-coast","tag-gold-coast-suns","tag-jamie-elliott","tag-jon-ralph","tag-media-reporter","tag-melbourne","tag-michael-willson","tag-oceania","tag-one-point-elimination-final","tag-oscar-allen","tag-player-movement-news","tag-queensland","tag-riley-beveridge","tag-sports","tag-sun-tom-berry","tag-taylor-duryea","tag-tom-berry-west","tag-tom-morris","tag-trade-news","tag-trade-update","tag-two-year-offer","tag-victoria","tag-western-bulldogs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=169188"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169188\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/169189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=169188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=169188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=169188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}