AFL trade period live updates: St Kilda prepares Nick Blakey offer, Bulldogs lodge Zak Butter paperwork

I’ll field this one for Chris. There is more chance of the Hawks chucking in Nick Watson to sweeten the deal than those picks going back Hawthorn’s way.

We’ll be dealing in future seconds and future thirds for Aidan Schubert and Sam Butler.

In many ways the Tigers will shape the top five or six picks in this draft with their selection. Like Chris, I expect Essendon will take Ethan Drever with the first pick in the open pool, leaving Richmond with a strong group to pick from.

I certainly wouldn’t be counting out Harry van Hattum with that pick. He may not have had the season he had hoped for and has slipped in some rankings around the place, but not in mine. He remains a unique and exciting ruck prospect, and he has spent a fair bit of time talking with Richmond already, going so far as sitting down and discussing ruck craft with Ivan Maric.

If van Hattum gets past Richmond, I don’t think the Eagles take him as they went with Cooper Duff-Tytler early last year (even though I think HVH is more likely to be a leading AFL ruck than CDT), so he could end up a steal for someone like Melbourne, depending on how the top 10 shakes out after trades.

If not van Hattum, Richmond would look closely at Arki Butler. I would wonder if he is not a little too similar to the style of player they have taken early in previous years already.

Heath Mellody should come under strong consideration too, as I think he would balance out the young Richmond midfield really well. There’s more than a little Trent Cotchin in Mellody.

Hey trade bloggers, nice to be here alongside Chris again.

Got to be honest, I’ve not got a single clue what any of you are talking about. Seems to me that we BADLY need some trades, you’re all losing your minds a little bit.

I’m expecting Zak Butters and Ben King news today at the very least, and hopefully some Nick Blakey progress too. There’s still well over a dozen deals still in the balance, many of which are waiting for the big dominos to fall before they start moving too. It’s all ahead of us.

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Obviously Nick Blakey has the police investigation hanging over his head, which is no doubt leading to mixed feelings.

I’d love to know how Saints and Roos fans are feeling about him potentially joining your club.

Very quiet on the Lawson Humphries front, Matty.

I’d say he stays at Geelong now that the Nick Blakey ship has sailed.

Humphries is out of contract in 2028, I’d say he might be more of an option for Freo (and maybe West Coast) next summer.

The Suns have until 4:15pm this afternoon to match Hawthorn’s contract offer to Ben King if they want to force a trade.

The general consensus is that this will not happen and they will accept a compensation pick from the Hawks.

Given they have no other picks of value, it wouldn’t shock me if they split this pick in order to get the Schubert and Butler deals done, but they certainly won’t be sending 7 to Hawthorn.

What on earth is going on over there in Western Australia folks?

I can’t be having more LWs than completed trades right now.

Thanks for the love, Liam!

My gut feel is that they go with Ethan Drever. He tested really well at the draft combine and has speed and athleticism, two attributes the Bombers really lack.

Mark McVeigh made a point to mention that he wanted to add speed to the list, and I think Drever fits really well with the likes of Dyson Sharp, Sullivan Robey and co as the inside-outside midfielder that the Dons don’t quite have yet.

In terms of what they need, it is still just about everything.

I’d love to see them add some more pressure forwards and I think the backline needs a lot of work as well with Ridley gone and McKay a shell of his former self.

They’ll be hoping for a clean bill of health for Lewis Hayes after a wretched run with injuries.

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I’ll be honest, Coco, I’ve got absolutely no idea with this one.

I’m not even sure Port is going to accept the compensation pick, and if they do, what does that mean for a trade?

Do the Dogs send some young players Port’s way?

Honestly, anything could happen with that one. It doesn’t seem like a cut and dry transaction.

Essendon has signed NGA product Jayden Nguyen to a one-year deal as a Category B rookie.

That means Nik Cox, Kayle Gerreyn and Tom Edwards are the players that remain unsigned for the Dons.

“Jayden’s constant application to improvement has been terrific in his first couple of seasons and we’re excited to see that roll on into next year,” Bombers list boss Matt Rosa said.

“He’s got a willingness to take the game on and use his speed but also has a real competitive streak in him which has translated well to his VFL performances as a pressure forward.

“We’re confident Jayden can continue to develop his game and be an asset as he continues to develop his forward craft.”

It seems as though the LW beef was a major talking point out of day four’s blog.

I think there will be a bit to play out on the Bobby Hill front, Ed.

A healthy and engaged version of him would definitely be helpful for the Dockers, or any time, for that matter.

However, it has been a while since we’ve seen that version, so I’d say that one is very firmly a wait and see for now.

I’m going to actually push back on you here, Georgia, I think the Dockers are absolutely fine to run it back.

Let’s be honest, they probably should be premiers. They’ve got one of the most stacked lists in the competition.

Sometimes it’s a case of if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!

It appears as though that ship has sailed, Ge.

I think it’ll be either St Kilda or North from here on for Blakey.

The Nick Blakey chase probably means that Sam Marshall is on the backburner for now, to be honest.

My guess is that if they get Blakey through the door, then they try to use some future picks to get Marshall.

It might have to be something like a 2028 second-rounder, but Brisbane might not like that.

Does Marshall then pivot to Essendon, because they have the picks to appease Brisbane?

Plenty to play out.

All the noise seems to be that Blakey’s preference is still North Melbourne, and I don’t know whether the Saints can match the Roos contract, given they’ve already paid top dollar to Nasiah and TDK.

St Kilda is betting that Sydney likes their trade package a little better than what North has to offer, and therefore Blakey has no  option but to come there.