{"id":199855,"date":"2025-10-09T07:56:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T07:56:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/199855\/"},"modified":"2025-10-09T07:56:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T07:56:09","slug":"st-kilda-tall-joins-vic-rival-as-west-coast-forwards-deal-is-done-afl-trade-and-free-agency-day-5-afl-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/199855\/","title":{"rendered":"St Kilda tall joins Vic rival as West Coast forward’s deal is done: AFL Trade and Free Agency Day 5 – AFL News"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/p>\n

Welcome to the Day 5 AFL<\/a> Trade and Free Agency rolling blog, where you can find every move and all the big news as it happens.<\/p>\n

Stay tuned throughout the day for updates.<\/p>\n

St Kilda big man joins Melbourne<\/p>\n

Melbourne have secured the services of St Kilda ruck-forward Max Heath<\/a>, per\u00a0AFL.com.au.<\/p>\n

Heath, who has been on the radar of the Demons as they look to sure up their long-term ruck options, is set to swap Moorabbin for Casey in exchange for Melbourne’s 2027 fourth-round pick.<\/p>\n

The Beaumaris product made his AFL<\/a> debut this year against Sydney in Round 18 and would play a further three matches, booting three goals.<\/p>\n

He was drafted to the Saints via the 2021 Mid-Season Draft and was required to bide his time before making his maiden top-flight showing.<\/p>\n

\"MELBOURNE,MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – JULY 13: First gamer Max Heath of the Saints wins a hit out during the round 18 AFL match between St Kilda Saints and Sydney Swans at Marvel Stadium on July 13, 2025 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Morgan Hancock\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The acquisition of Heath sees the Demons add a youthful option to their ruck stocks, which currently are only home to Max Gawn<\/a> and Tom Campbell<\/a>, who will both be 34 next year.<\/p>\n

“We’re really excited to welcome a tall and physical player in Max, to the club,” Melbourne AFL<\/a> List Manager Tim Lamb said.<\/p>\n

“We’ve been impressed by Max’s aerial presence and ruck craft, and we look forward to his continued development as a Demon, working alongside our existing rucks in Max Gawn<\/a> and Tom Campbell<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

Ryan to Saints set as trade makes history<\/p>\n

West Coast premiership player Liam Ryan<\/a> has been traded to St Kilda, who will receive a pair of future picks, including a third-round selection for the 2027 draft.<\/p>\n

That sees the deal become the first to ever include a future selection two years in advance, with this off-season being the first to allow clubs to do so.<\/p>\n

According to\u00a0AFL.com.au’s\u00a0Cal Twomey, Ryan has been traded in exchange for St Kilda’s 2026 second-round selection, while the Eagles have also sent their 2027 third-round pick.<\/p>\n

Ryan leaves the Eagles after eight seasons with the club. The 29-year-old played 125 games in the royal blue and gold, booting 158 goals.<\/p>\n

He was a member of the club’s 2018 premiership side, and would win All-Australian honours in 2020 after booting 26 goals in 18 games.<\/p>\n

Saints backflip on Aleer move<\/p>\n

St Kilda have reportedly decided against pursuing GWS defender Leek Aleer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Aleer is off-contract and has requested a trade away from the Giants, with the Saints positioned as his desired landing spot.<\/p>\n

After securing deals for Tom De Koning<\/a>, Jack Silvagni<\/a> and Sam Flanders<\/a>, as well as having West Coast’s Liam Ryan<\/a> in their sights, a move for Aleer is no longer expected, per AFL.com.au.<\/p>\n

Aleer could return to GWS for the 2026 season or explore further options on the open market.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome to the Day 5 AFL Trade and Free Agency rolling blog, where you can find every move…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":199856,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-199855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199855","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=199855"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199855\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/199856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=199855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=199855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=199855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}