{"id":607668,"date":"2026-04-15T03:57:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T03:57:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/607668\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T03:57:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T03:57:10","slug":"biggest-trade-regrets-analysed-by-midweek-tackle-in-tackle-the-headline-zach-merrett-hawthorn-brody-mihocek-leaves-collingwood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/607668\/","title":{"rendered":"Biggest trade regrets analysed by Midweek Tackle in Tackle The Headline, Zach Merrett Hawthorn, Brody Mihocek leaves Collingwood"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>From Clayton Oliver\u2019s delayed move and Zach Merrett\u2019s failed move, to a couple of trades that went through with mixed results.<\/p>\n<p>In the latest episode of the Midweek Tackle digital-only show \u2018Tackle The Headline\u2019, CODE Sports reporters Lauren Wood, Scott Gullan and Jon Ralph break down several recent trades and whether they should\u2019ve been done earlier \u2026 or even struck at all.<\/p>\n<p>Watch every match of every round of the AFL Premiership Season LIVE and ad-break free during play on FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports | <a href=\"https:\/\/kayosports.com.au\/en-AU\/welcome\/afl?pg=default&amp;extcamp=fsaeditoriallinkafl-edt-fsp-lnk-awr-grc-afl-kyo&amp;channel=fsa&amp;campaign=fsacontra&amp;voucher=\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img class=\"i-amphtml-fill-content i-amphtml-replaced-content\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/poster-fallback.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>TRADES THAT SHOULD\u2019VE HAPPENED EARLIER \u2013 OR HAPPENED ALREADY<\/p>\n<p>JAMARRA UGLE-HAGAN<\/p>\n<p>Traded from Western Bulldogs to Gold Coast Suns for Pick 74 in 2025<\/p>\n<p>Scott Gullan says: \u201cWe knew that he was troubled in the lead-up to the finals series of 2024 \u2026 all the evidence was there. They (the Bulldogs) had a month after what happened: \u2018Do we persevere\u2019 \u2013 which understandably you go to \u2013 \u2018or do we bite the bullet and get three first-round picks, he\u2019s a hot property, let\u2019s go now?\u2019 Hindsight, they got Pick 74. They had enough evidence to maybe go earlier \u2026 Understandably they said \u2018we\u2019ll give it time, we can pull him back\u2019. But some clubs, as history has shown \u2026 they knew there was three months of trouble, there\u2019d been a build-up of trouble: \u2018Maybe we just do it now?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Could Caddy be Tassie&#8217;s marquee signing? | 01:08<\/p>\n<p>CLAYTON OLIVER<\/p>\n<p>Traded from Melbourne to GWS Giants for the Giants\u2019 2026 third-round pick in 2025<\/p>\n<p>Jon Ralph says: \u201cThey (the Demons) could\u2019ve got two first-rounders at Geelong (the year before). I looked at the coaches\u2019 votes across the weekend \u2013 Jayden Laverde got votes, certainly Clayton Oliver got votes as well and there was another player in Jesse Hogan \u2026 This club, it\u2019s not a finishing school, it\u2019s a school for reprobates who find a way to turn their careers around. It\u2019s basically a business model for GWS \u2013 and good on them as well \u2026 Again, a challenge. They (the Demons) knew for so long beforehand that he had considerable issues, but because of the political environment of the time, they said no. So they got a packet of chips and a potato cake and that\u2019s all they got. They\u2019re paying his wage and he\u2019s getting six coaches\u2019 votes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>BOBBY HILL<\/p>\n<p>Remains at Collingwood<\/p>\n<p>Scott Gullan says: \u201cBobby signed a long-term deal, so Collingwood invested a lot in him. Should they have traded him at the end of last year after he hadn\u2019t played for (half) a year? Gone off the rails \u2013 let\u2019s not fudge it \u2026 they would\u2019ve got pretty good trade value, I would\u2019ve thought, at the end of last season.<\/p>\n<p>Jon Ralph says: \u201cI\u2019m going to completely disagree with you, because I think Bobby\u2019s best days are ahead. But if we do this in six weeks and Bobby\u2019s struggled, let\u2019s wipe this one from YouTube. It\u2019s a really good question \u2026 I don\u2019t know whether Fremantle or West Coast were very keen to absorb him into their system. (But) when you think of what they (the Magpies) might\u2019ve got and what they were able to let go, again probably $700,000 of salary cap room \u2026 it\u2019s a good question.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>ZACH MERRETT<\/p>\n<p>Remains at Essendon after failed bid to land at Hawthorn in 2025<\/p>\n<p>Lauren Wood says: \u201cI think we\u2019d all sit here and argue that should\u2019ve happened last year because the reward is just not going to be there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jon Ralph says: \u201cWhen you see the way they played on the weekend (against Melbourne), some people would say \u2018that\u2019s why he needed to say\u2019. But I also look at that team and think of the young kids like (Elijah) Tsatas coming in and I think: \u2018If they truly believed these young kids, they would\u2019ve got rid of Zach Merrett.\u2019 I think they had a bob each way, which we are having now, but I think they felt: \u2018OK, we\u2019ve got to protect ourselves a little bit here.\u2019 If they believed in this list, they would\u2019ve moved him on \u2013 and they weren\u2019t sure, so they kept him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>AFL world reacts to Butters umpire fine | 03:03<\/p>\n<p>LIVING WITH REGRETS: TRADES THAT SHOULDN\u2019T HAVE HAPPENED<\/p>\n<p>JACK LUKOSIUS<\/p>\n<p>Traded from Gold Coast to Port Adelaide as part of mega three-way trade between the Suns, Power and Collingwood in 2024<\/p>\n<p>Jon Ralph says: \u201cJack Lukosius was one where everyone knew he was a different player. He was not a competitive player, he was not a star full-forward \u2013 he once kicked 40 goals in a season playing as that third or fourth forward \u2026 (Traded for) a first-rounder, which got them one of the academy picks and $5 million over those six years \u2013 it\u2019s a lot to pay a player when they (the Power) didn\u2019t have a pick in that draft the next year because of Jack Lukosius.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Scott Gullan says: \u201cHe\u2019s a modern-day Jack Watts. Similar type. He\u2019s not big enough to be a key. Jack Watts was unfortunately not quite a key-position role.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>BRODY MIHOCEK<\/p>\n<p>Traded from Collingwood (along with Pick 71) to Melbourne for Pick 61 and the Demons\u2019 2026 third-round pick in 2025<\/p>\n<p>Scott Gullan says: \u201cThis is a regret for Collingwood. They got young Jack Buller \u2013 and he\u2019s only had a couple of goes at it and he might turn out to be OK \u2013 but Collingwood can\u2019t get 100 points \u2013 and I think it\u2019s up to 15 games in a row now \u2026 Mihocek, they (the Pies) would say: \u2018His body lets him down eventually over a long season and he\u2019s getting older and he deserved more money and we just couldn\u2019t give it to him\u2019. He was the key \u2013 and it\u2019s shown again. You\u2019ve gone with all these older guys (to re-sign), yet you turf out this one \u2026 I just think it\u2019s a silly decision.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jon Ralph says: \u201cI think the real issue for them was they were paying so little to (Scott) Pendlebury, (Steele) Sidebottom, (Jeremy) Howe \u2013 I\u2019d be stunned to find the real numbers on that, I think it\u2019s very little and you\u2019d be absolutely stunned. So having done that, they couldn\u2019t give him the first great contract of his career \u2026 They tried all these things (with different contract offers), but as soon as they gave him that initial one-year deal, he knew he might be on borrowed time and he found his way to Melbourne.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Brad totally baffled by Butters sanction | 01:45<\/p>\n<p>JAMES WORPEL<\/p>\n<p>Moved from Hawthorn to Geelong as a restricted free agent in 2025<\/p>\n<p>Scott Gullan says: \u201cI think Hawthorn are quite happy about it in a sense. Geelong, I think they knew what they were getting and, at the moment, he\u2019s just got back into the team. Their midfield is young, Tanner Bruhn is back. He (Worpel) hasn\u2019t exactly gone over for what they wanted straight away \u2013 and Hawthorn, even though we talk about them being down on midfielders, it has opened the door for others to flourish. Geelong might be going: \u2018Hmmm, what did we get here?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jon Ralph says: \u201cI\u2019m not sure there was a massive role for him at Hawthorn, which was reflected in the deal that they offered him.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From Clayton Oliver\u2019s delayed move and Zach Merrett\u2019s failed move, to a couple of trades that went through&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":607669,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[123877,638,64,63,689,55,639,3423,14349,696,160382,73674,7803,62280,295599,13213,2485,295597,12186,282126,12181,681,15631,27288,647,29105,14426,677,6082,295601,701,295602,212297,1124,85,2801,125038,11236,295600,42264,295598,56,87241,660,108450,92574,23510],"class_list":{"0":"post-607668","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-afl","8":"tag-academy-picks","9":"tag-afl","10":"tag-au","11":"tag-australia","12":"tag-australia-and-new-zealand","13":"tag-australian-football-league","14":"tag-australianfootballleague","15":"tag-ben-waterworth","16":"tag-bobby-hill","17":"tag-brad-scott","18":"tag-bruhn","19":"tag-business-model","20":"tag-clayton-oliver","21":"tag-contract-offers","22":"tag-failed-move","23":"tag-finals-series","24":"tag-gold-coast","25":"tag-initial-one-year-deal","26":"tag-jack-buller","27":"tag-jack-watts","28":"tag-jesse-hogan","29":"tag-jon-ralph","30":"tag-lauren-wood","31":"tag-marquee-signing","32":"tag-melbourne","33":"tag-midweek-tackle","34":"tag-nate-caddy","35":"tag-oceania","36":"tag-port-adelaide","37":"tag-potato-cake","38":"tag-queensland","39":"tag-real-numbers","40":"tag-salary-cap-room","41":"tag-south-australia","42":"tag-sports","43":"tag-tasmania","44":"tag-third-round-pick","45":"tag-trade-news","46":"tag-trade-regrets","47":"tag-trade-value","48":"tag-trades-clubs","49":"tag-tribunal-case","50":"tag-umpire-abuse","51":"tag-victoria","52":"tag-young-kids","53":"tag-zach-merrett-hawthorn","54":"tag-zak-butters"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607668","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=607668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607668\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/607669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=607668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=607668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=607668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}