AFL Media\u2019s Josh Gabelich<\/a>, GWS is considering the 32-year-old Hamling \u2014 who\u2019s yet to receive a contract offer from the Swans \u2014 to boost its defensive stocks following the anticipated departure of intercept backman Leek Aleer in October. <\/p>\nHamling, an unrestricted free agent, has played 14 senior games this season; the most he\u2019s played at the level since he played 22 for the Dockers back in 2019. <\/p>\n
But the tall utility remains behind fellow key defenders Dane Rampe, Tom McCartin and Lewis Melican, with Nick Blakey also able to play tall in Dean Cox\u2019s backline. <\/p>\n
With star Giants defenders Sam Taylor and Jack Buckley each having suffered injuries at different points this year, the need for depth coverage has been evident for Adam Kingsley\u2019s brigade. <\/p>\n
Hamling was drafted by Geelong in 2011 but couldn\u2019t manage a senior match, going on to play in the Western Bulldogs\u2019 2016 premiership triumph before playing six seasons with Fremantle then joining the Swans ahead of 2024. <\/p>\n
Gabelich added that Essendon\u2019s Jayden Laverde, Hawthorn\u2019s Sam Frost and Richmond\u2019s Jacob Koschitzke were other names on the Giants\u2019 radar. <\/p>\n
‘The pressure is on them too!’: Longmuir | 01:38<\/p>\n
YOUNG BOMBERS IN LIMBO<\/p>\n
A trio of young Bombers have yet to receive contract offers from Essendon for next year amid looming crunch calls on the list. <\/p>\n
Defender Jaxon Prior and forward Ben Hobbs remain unsigned and reportedly haven\u2019t yet been offered new deals as list boss Matt Rosa and company navigate a host of uncontracted names. <\/p>\n
Hobbs, 21, was a first-round draft pick in 2021 and has played 18 senior games this year and 65 in total across four seasons at Tullamarine. He is a non-free agent, meaning any departure would have to either come via trade or at the drafts. <\/p>\n
\u201cClubs are aware (Hobbs) hasn\u2019t received an offer and is definitely gettable,\u201d journalist Callum Twomey told AFL Media\u2019s Gettable. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not sure if he gets a new deal at the Bombers \u2014 I think that\u2019s still to be worked out in coming weeks. <\/p>\n
\u201cLike a couple of midfielders there, it\u2019s very uncertain on what the future holds for these guys. It\u2019s not a good time to be out of contract at the Bombers, because there are so many list changes that have to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prior, in his first year at Essendon since signing as a delisted free agent from Brisbane, is one of just four Bombers to have played all 21 games this year, playing a mid-sized stopper role for coach Brad Scott. <\/p>\n
Co-host Riley Beveridge added that the pacy Luamon Lual has also yet to be offered a new contract at Bomberland. <\/p>\n
Lual has been a revelation in Scott\u2019s side since debuting, with the 20-year-old playing every game since coming into the side in Round 13. It would be a shock to most if the no.39 pick from 2023 wasn\u2019t offered a new deal, given the glimpses he\u2019s shown. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A premiership defender is reportedly a chance to join a record-equalling fifth AFL club this off-season. Meanwhile, three…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":82450,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1142,9126,63,689,14413,696,13661,62280,27713,12148,62282,1127,10124,2105,43,62279,2524,25887,10400,12412,62276,62278,673,44,19122,677,1137,17286,62283,1141,51305,12144,51240,62277,670,7200,14359,41,39,42,40,11236,12920,62281],"class_list":["post-82449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-adam-kingsley","tag-adelaide-crows","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-ben-hobbs","tag-brad-scott","tag-callum-twomey","tag-contract-offers","tag-dane-rampe","tag-dean-cox","tag-depth-coverage","tag-fox-footy","tag-fremantle-dockers","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-headlines","tag-intercept-backman","tag-jack-buckley","tag-joel-hamling","tag-justin-longmuir","tag-matt-king","tag-matt-rosa","tag-mid-sized-stopper-role","tag-new-south-wales","tag-news","tag-nick-blakey","tag-oceania","tag-player-movement-developments","tag-premiership-defender","tag-premiership-triumph","tag-riley-beveridge","tag-sam-frost","tag-sam-taylor","tag-senior-games","tag-simmo-horseafl","tag-sydney","tag-sydney-swans","tag-tom-mccartin","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-trade-news","tag-trade-whispers","tag-young-bombers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82449","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=82449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82449\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}