{"id":240065,"date":"2025-10-25T14:49:19","date_gmt":"2025-10-25T14:49:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/240065\/"},"modified":"2025-10-25T14:49:19","modified_gmt":"2025-10-25T14:49:19","slug":"melbourne-recruit-reveals-the-pitch-that-sold-demons-dream-afl-trade-news-afl-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/240065\/","title":{"rendered":"Melbourne recruit reveals the pitch that sold Demons dream: AFL trade news – AFL News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Changkuoth Jiath’s departure from Hawthorn and arrival at Melbourne wasn’t necessarily a blockbuster deal fans had in mind on deadline day, traded early last Wednesday for Pick 42.<\/p>\n

However, his decision to leave the Hawks was still an unlikely development considering he remained contracted to Hawthorn through the 2027 season.<\/p>\n

Jiath has played 76 games since he was drafted as a category B rookie ahead of the 2018 season, with a career-high 20 matches coming in 2025. However, the 26-year-old spent six of those as the starting substitute, including all three of Hawthorn’s September fixtures, while playing out of position throughout the year under senior coach Sam Mitchell<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A change of scenery was needed, and as Jiath told\u00a0Melbourne Media<\/a>, the opportunity to return to his signature dashing half-back role sold the idea of a move to the Demons.<\/p>\n

\u201cMelbourne chatted with me three or four days before it all happened, and what they pitched was really exciting,” Jiath said.<\/p>\n

\"LetMELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – SEPTEMBER 11: Changkuoth Jiath of the Hawks trains during a Hawthorn Hawks AFL training session at Waverley Park on September 11, 2024 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Morgan Hancock\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

“Once I heard what the opportunity could be, I was just keen to get involved.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think [half-back] is where I play my best footy. The last couple of years I’ve had a few injuries, so I haven’t really been able to showcase what I can do. I feel like here at Melbourne is where I’ll get back to playing my best footy, alongside a really strong backline group.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the 14 games where Jiath did not feature as substitute, the speedster averaged 16.7 disposals per game at 79% efficiency, numbers close to his career-best figures from his breakout 2022 campaign.<\/p>\n

Jiath highlighted the talent he’s surrounded by at the Demons and how the club’s new era under recently appointed senior coach Stephen King played a major factor in his decision to join the Dees.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere’s some really good talent here, especially with Kingy jumping on board,\u201d Jiath said.<\/p>\n

\"HawksChangkuoth Jiath during the AFL match between Hawthorn and St Kilda in Round 4, 2022 (Photo by Cameron Grimes \/ Zero Digital Media)<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like it’s going to be a build that I’m really excited for, and I’m looking forward to helping this team get to where it wants to be.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve met Kozzy a few times, and I’ve watched him develop over the years. I’m really excited to pick his brain and see how we can make each other better.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m also a big fan of Jake Bowey<\/a>… and of course, Max Gawn<\/a> is a special player. I can’t wait to get to know the group.”<\/p>\n

Jiath arrives at Melbourne alongside three other strong recruits following a rollercoaster trade period for the Demons, which saw them lose three heroes from the 2021 premiership side, including Norm Smith medallist Christian Petracca<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Former Saints Max Heath<\/a> and Jack Steele<\/a> enter the facilities after being pushed out of Moorabbin while Brody Mihocek<\/a> looks set to conclude an impressive career at the Demons, with the 32-year-old departing Collingwood via a trade, similarly to Jiath.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Changkuoth Jiath’s departure from Hawthorn and arrival at Melbourne wasn’t necessarily a blockbuster deal fans had in mind…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":214216,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-240065","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-afl","8":"tag-afl","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-australian-football-league","12":"tag-australianfootballleague","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240065","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=240065"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240065\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/214216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=240065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=240065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=240065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}