![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/poster-fallback.png\"\/)
<\/p>\nHawthorn has reportedly opened contract talks with a star, while the Lions have a warning for the competition amid rival interest in Zac Bailey.<\/p>\n
Plus Patrick Dangerfield predicts early \u201cfrustration\u201d with AFL rule changes.<\/p>\n
All your footy news and updates in AFL Latest!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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
Watch The 2026 AAMI AFL Origin match LIVE on Kayo Sports | WA vs VIC Saturday 14 FEB from 7PM AEDT | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n HAWKS TALKS BEGIN WITH EXCITING STAR<\/p>\n Hawthorn is hopeful it can lock away in-demand star Josh Weddle before the start of the 2026 AFL season, with contract talks between the two parties open, per <\/a>AFL Media<\/a>.<\/p>\n Weddle late last year was reportedly offered a lucrative seven-year deal by Essendon, with the rival club contract worth around $10 million.<\/p>\n But AFL Media on Thursday reported \u201ctalks are underway\u201d on a potential new Hawthorn deal for Weddle, whose contracted to the club until the end of this year.<\/p>\n Josh Weddle of the Hawks. Picture: Michael Willson\/AFL Photos via Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images<\/p>\n The versatile 191cm Hawk and has given no indication yet he would want a fresh start at a second AFL club.<\/p>\n Weddle missed a crucial chunk of football with a back injury during the back end of the Hawks\u2019 home-and-away season this year, but returned to have notable impact in their two finals victories.<\/p>\n The exciting utility has been a revelation in Hawthorn\u2019s defence across the first few years of his AFL career, but is set to spend more time on the ball in 2026.<\/p>\n \u2018BETTER SPECTACLE\u2019: WHY DANGER BACKS CHANGES<\/p>\n Geelong superstar Patrick Dangerfield is calling for patience around the AFL\u2019s rule changes despite expecting there to be \u201cplenty of frustration early\u201d.<\/p>\n The AFL has brought in a raft of rule adjustments but most notably a stricter adjudication of the stand rule.<\/p>\n Dangerfield is in favour of the tweaks but says players need more consistent games to adjust properly.<\/p>\n \u201cI think there will be plenty of frustration early, there always is when there\u2019s a rule change or a rule adjustment and how it\u2019s interpreted,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Dillon keen on expanding AFL to India | 01:41<\/p>\n \u201cThere will be 50s, people will get frustrated, but I actually think it will be a better spectacle, it\u2019ll open the game up more, there will be less congestion on those short, 15-20m kicks.<\/p>\n \u201cHopefully, as a forward, it\u2019ll mean teams will have less time to flood back. I think we just need to give it time. Don\u2019t judge it in the first couple of weeks because teams will still be adjusting.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve had a couple of months to work through it in the pre-season, but really you need the games to truly pick up on it as a player.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 NCA NewsWire<\/p>\n Get all the latest AFL news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. Sign up now!!!<\/a><\/p>\n \u2018DANGER TO THE GAME\u2019: FAGAN\u2019S WARNING AFTER SAINTS DEALS<\/p>\n As Chris Fagan declared his confidence star free agent Zac Bailey would remain at Brisbane, the Lions coach flagged St Kilda\u2019s aggressive list management approach in 2025 could be \u201ca danger to the game\u201d.<\/p>\n Anticipating huge rival offers, Brisbane has tabled an offer to Bailey \u2014 reportedly a mega six-year deal \u2014 but is aware he might take his time weighing up his contract call amid the Lions\u2019 desperation to lock him away.<\/p>\n Fagan said he was confident the Lions would retain dual premiership player Bailey, but added the recent increase in large contract offers could make things difficult.<\/p>\n The dual premiership coach pointed to two mega Saints contract offers from last year, which saw St Kilda retain Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera and lure free agent Tom De Koning away from Carlton.<\/p>\n \u201cI think he will stay. I suppose everyone\u2019s got a moving price, haven\u2019t they?\u201d Fagan told <\/a>AFL Media<\/a>.<\/p>\n Zac Bailey of the Brisbane Lions.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m hoping those numbers we saw last year, via St Kilda, don\u2019t become a reality. I saw that as a bit of a danger for the game.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the best players in the competition deserve to be paid the most money and that\u2019s not the case at the moment.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s not an insult to Nasiah. I think he\u2019s going to be a really good player and how far he goes I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd \u2018TDK\u2019 has shown a lot of promise for a long time but hasn\u2019t probably played up to expectations, and they\u2019re getting paid extremely well.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d rather see the better players get all the big money.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018HUGE ROLE\u2019: LION BACKS ANDREWS AMID NEALE DRAMA<\/p>\n Brisbane Lions star Charlie Cameron has backed Harris Andrews to fill the void of outgoing co-captain Lachie Neale, who stood down amid the sensational fallout of his marriage breakdown.<\/p>\n The Lions, defending back-to-back premierships, are yet to announce their leadership group for 2026.<\/p>\n But Andrews is the favourite to steer the side, with potential assistance from Josh Dunkley and Hugh McCluggage.<\/p>\n Cameron is backing Andrews to be the sole captain, saying the superstar defender lives the Lions\u2019 \u201ctrademark\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, Lachie has stepped down, it\u2019s a huge role there to fill with the captaincy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Blues to unveil new forward line in 2026 | 01:09<\/p>\n Cameron, in Melbourne for an AFL announcement on Thursday, said the team would be led well whatever the outcome.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll find out next few weeks about our captaincy, (we\u2019re) going through the process of that now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI think Harris is an unbelievable captain and I think he\u2019d be fine doing it by himself. He\u2019s a very good role model for our younger players and lives our trademark.<\/p>\n \u201cIf Harris is by himself, I\u2019ll be pretty happy with that, but Josh and Hughy have been unbelievable vice-captains.<\/p>\n \u201cI think they might put their hand up, who knows, I guess we\u2019ll find out in the next few weeks.\u201d <\/p>\n \u2014 NCA NewsWire<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hawthorn has reportedly opened contract talks with a star, while the Lions have a warning for the competition…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":460547,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[236658,12259,1724,64,63,689,55,120952,3423,3237,49774,1129,3244,62280,2362,3496,139690,170319,236652,73839,13659,2105,40742,236655,236660,7492,12138,236651,1209,236661,25875,136125,647,7198,236654,677,236656,222600,236653,39209,62859,236657,236659,38794,236650,12540,85,1122,28264,236662,1117,64414,660],"class_list":["post-460546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-aggressive-list-management","tag-andrew-dillon","tag-asia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-football-league","tag-back-to-back-premierships","tag-ben-waterworth","tag-brisbane-lions","tag-charlie-cameron","tag-charlie-curnow","tag-chris-fagan","tag-contract-offers","tag-contract-talks","tag-dual-premiership","tag-dual-premiership-coach","tag-dual-premiership-player","tag-finals-victories","tag-footy-news","tag-geelong-cats","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-harris-andrews","tag-hawk-talks","tag-hawks-talks","tag-hawthorn-hawks","tag-hugh-mccluggage","tag-in-demand-star","tag-india","tag-josh-weddle-hawthorn","tag-lachie-neale","tag-marriage-breakdown","tag-melbourne","tag-michael-willson","tag-notable-impact","tag-oceania","tag-opened-contract","tag-origin-match","tag-parties-open","tag-patrick-dangerfield","tag-rival-interest","tag-rival-offers","tag-rule-adjustments","tag-rule-change","tag-saints-deals","tag-southern-asia","tag-sports","tag-st-kilda","tag-stand-rule","tag-superstar-defender","tag-tom-de-koning","tag-tyler-lewis","tag-victoria"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460546","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=460546"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460546\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/460547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=460546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=460546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=460546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}