{"id":926307,"date":"2026-10-13T06:18:17","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T06:18:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/926307\/"},"modified":"2026-10-13T06:18:17","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T06:18:17","slug":"afl-sydney-swans-defender-nick-blakey-traded-to-north-melbourne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/926307\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL: Sydney Swans defender Nick Blakey traded to North Melbourne"},"content":{"rendered":"

New North Melbourne defender Nick Blakey has broken his silence after the circumstances that led to his exit from Sydney.<\/p>\n

Blakey wanted a fresh start at Arden St after he and four teammates were suspended for breaching club standards on the eve of the 2026 finals series.<\/p>\n

There is a separate sexual assault allegation being investigated from the same night.<\/p>\n

North Melbourne parted ways with pick 6 and 47 from this year\u2019s draft as well as its 2027 second-round, 2028 first-round and 2028 second-round selections.<\/p>\n

Sydney, in return, gave North Melbourne Blakey, pick 52 from this year\u2019s draft and its 2028 second-round selection.<\/p>\n

Blakey apologised to the \u201cbroader community\u201d for what led to his Sydney departure and thanked North Melbourne for offering a fresh start.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to say that I\u2019m sorry for the events that led up to my exit from Sydney,\u201d Blakey said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know I have to win back the trust of the broader community, football and otherwise.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow I have the opportunity to move forward and I want to thank North Melbourne for helping me find a fresh start.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m grateful I have landed at a place that has such deep connections to me and my family.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is so much potential in this group and I\u2019m looking forward to getting to work to help take North Melbourne forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blakey, Isaac Heeney, James Jordon, Chad Warner and Riley Bice released a joint statement in the days after the August incident.<\/p>\n

But only Heeney spoke to media when the group arrived at Sydney for their exit meetings.<\/p>\n

North Melbourne \u2013 which just signed Jaymie Graham as coach \u2013 had previously struggled to sign a competition superstar despite strong attempts for nearly a decade.<\/p>\n

Nick\u2019s father, John, played 359 AFL games, including 224 at North Melbourne.<\/p>\n

In a separate trade, North Melbourne has sent Zane Duursma and pick 52 to Melbourne in exchange for pick 33 and 49.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, Lachie Whitfield has followed close friend Nick Haynes from GWS to Carlton.<\/p>\n

The Blues have secured Whitfield, pick 31 and pick 50 in this draft, while the Giants have acquired pick 25, 26 and a 2028 third-round selection.<\/p>\n

\u201cLachie is one of the premier ball users in the competition, and to add such a quality player to the side is a significant boost for our football club,\u201d Carlton general manager Chris Davies said in part.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat makes him so valuable is how he performs week after week, season after season.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat kind of durability and consistency doesn\u2019t happen by accident; we are welcoming a player who knows what it takes to perform consistently at AFL level, making his experience invaluable for our emerging talent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Originally published as AFL trade period: Sydney Swans defender Nick Blakey traded to North Melbourne<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New North Melbourne defender Nick Blakey has broken his silence after the circumstances that led to his exit…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":926308,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[437700,428813,493665,493680,493690,166114,140769,493686,28329,270514,493692,493673,376795,377938,381975,379284,493684,493685,413819,28222,638,416851,78573,493656,64,63,55,639,452797,457595,493670,215610,493660,316611,3181,493659,29256,596,436705,22718,447010,406888,493693,387166,493687,3487,493658,493661,138110,321688,5585,112816,11296,1685,647,493668,378592,493669,493677,43961,19122,6855,493672,493691,493681,493688,419421,6622,493657,493662,493666,9664,14418,161,281377,85,493671,493674,493679,493675,670,488564,395482,493683,493676,464505,395845,380422,401050,392106,387736,48148,384223,380430,493689,493663,493664,386778,388184,493667,493678,413294,364611,28333,93597,14850,176828,493682],"class_list":["post-926307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-s-draft","tag-s-father","tag-2028-first-round","tag-2028-second-round-selections-sydney","tag-493690","tag-166114","tag-140769","tag-359-afl-games","tag-28329","tag-270514","tag-a-2028-third-round-selection","tag-a-competition-superstar","tag-a-fresh-start","tag-a-joint-statement","tag-a-place","tag-a-player","tag-a-separate-sexual-assault-allegation","tag-a-separate-trade","tag-a-significant-boost","tag-accident","tag-afl","tag-afl-level","tag-afl-trade-period","tag-arden-st","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-blakey","tag-carlton-general-manager-chris-davies","tag-carlton-the-blues","tag-chad-warner","tag-close-friend-nick-haynes","tag-club-standards","tag-coach","tag-durability-and-consistency","tag-exchange","tag-football","tag-four-teammates","tag-gws","tag-his-exit","tag-his-experience","tag-his-first-personal-statement","tag-his-silence","tag-his-sydney-departure","tag-isaac-heeney","tag-its-2027-second-round","tag-its-2028-second-round-selection-blakey","tag-james-jordon","tag-jaymie-graham","tag-john","tag-lachie","tag-lachie-whitfield","tag-media","tag-melbourne","tag-my-exit","tag-my-family","tag-nearly-a-decade-nick","tag-new-north-melbourne-defender-nick-blakey","tag-newswire-sport","tag-nick-blakey","tag-north-melbourne","tag-north-melbourne-blakey","tag-north-melbourne-in","tag-only-heeney","tag-our-emerging-talent","tag-our-football-club","tag-part","tag-pick-25","tag-pick-33","tag-pick-6-and-47","tag-return","tag-riley-bice","tag-season","tag-silence","tag-sports","tag-strong-attempts","tag-such-a-quality-player","tag-such-deep-connections","tag-swans-exit","tag-sydney","tag-sydney-swans-defender-nick-blakey","tag-that-kind","tag-the-2026-finals-series-there","tag-the-august-incident-but","tag-the-broader-community","tag-the-circumstances","tag-the-competition","tag-the-days","tag-the-eve","tag-the-events","tag-the-giants","tag-the-group","tag-the-opportunity","tag-the-premier-ball-users","tag-the-pullman-hotel-saga","tag-the-same-night-north-melbourne","tag-the-side","tag-the-trust","tag-their-exit-meetings-north-melbourne","tag-this-draft","tag-this-group","tag-this-year","tag-tuesday","tag-ways","tag-week","tag-whitfield","tag-zane-duursma"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/926307","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=926307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/926307\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/926308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=926307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=926307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=926307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}