Pies set sights on rival skipper; Geelong spark Curnow bidding war; Saints leave Aleer stranded

Collingwood’s hunt for midfield reinforcement has led them to North Melbourne captain Jy Simpkin.

The Magpies had expressed interest in Melbourne onballer Clayton Oliver, but have now set their sights on Simpkin, who this masthead revealed last month was unhappy with his midfield time after finishing the season in a wing role.

Oliver has officially nominated the Giants after meeting with coach Adam Kingsley, football boss Jason McCartney and a handful of club stars on a boat in Sydney last Friday.

The Demons are set to pay a sizeable chunk of Oliver’s remaining contract, which expires in 2030. The 28-year-old is due to earn about $1.3 million-a-season in the next five years.

Simpkin, who is holidaying in Europe, is contracted until the end of the 2029 season, so it would likely take a strong first-round pick to convince the Kangaroos to part with him.

North Melbourne list boss Brady Rawlings said on Monday that Simpkin raised his concerns about his midfield time in his exit meeting, but that the Roos felt the wing was where he best fit within their plans.

They plan to prioritise Luke Davies-Uniacke, George Wardlaw and Harry Sheezel as their frontline midfielders, with Simpkin still likely to have some centre-bounce opportunities.

“You look at the last couple of weeks of football, and he played on the wing and was probably one of our better players,” Rawlings said.

“We play players in positions we think will help us win and that has been the case with Jy. We know he can play inside as well. We think the best thing for our footy club at the moment is Davies-Uniacke, Sheezel and Wardlaw on the inside, and a blend of Simpkin on the outside and potentially on the inside.

“We haven’t had a trade request, he’s contracted for four more years, he’s our captain, he’s 27, and he’s a dual best-and-fairest winner.”

Cats start a Curnow bidding war

Charlie Curnow’s chances of being traded have been given a serious boost after Geelong created a potential bidding war with Sydney by offering three first-round picks to the Blues.

The first-round picks are spread out from 2025 to 2027 and show Geelong mean business in their push to pair Curnow with fellow Coleman medallist Jeremy Cameron.

Although there are no players involved in Geelong’s offer to the Blues, Carlton are exploring other potential trades that could see them land forwards from rival clubs.

The Blues are aware that Tasmania’s mortgage on first-round picks in the 2027 draft will diminish the value of Geelong’s offer.

Gold Coast’s Ben Ainsworth is a strong chance to become a Blue, but at this stage – two sources involved in the discussions said – this is more likely to be part of a separate deal to any Curnow trade.

Sydney’s Will Hayward is also potentially on the move, but he would likely form part of the Swans’ own bid for Curnow.

Carlton and Geelong officials met on Thursday, day four of the trade period, about a potential Curnow deal.

Curnow has long viewed Geelong as his preferred destination if he left Carlton, but the Swans were seen as the frontrunner until today.

The Cats, meanwhile, had also made an offer of a first-round pick for St Kilda star Rowan Marshall, who had previously requested a trade to Geelong. But that proposal wasn’t accepted.

The Suns are comfortable with Ainsworth, who is contracted until the end of 2028, exploring his options, and he is a strong chance to land at the Blues.

There would need to be some high-end draft picks involved in any Curnow deal, with Carlton making it clear they will drive a hard bargain.

Saints’ stunning Aleer backflip

On an eventful day, big-spending St Kilda withdrew their interest in Greater Western Sydney defender Leek Aleer in a stunning backflip after beginning negotiations with the Giants.

This masthead revealed the Saints’ trade chaos on Thursday afternoon, after Aleer requested a trade to the Moorabbin-based club in the days following Greater Western Sydney’s 19-point elimination final loss to Hawthorn.

St Kilda had offered Aleer a four-year deal worth north of $700,000 annually, so the 24-year-old stands to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Aleer is holidaying in Barcelona and woke up to the life-changing trade development that will likely lead to him returning to the Giants, who were always keen to retain him.

The breakdown of the Aleer deal came as the Saints secured West Coast premiership forward Liam Ryan in a history-making trade, and as troubled Western Bulldog Jamarra Ugle-Hagan closed in on a heavily incentivised deal with Gold Coast.

The Eagles sent Ryan and a 2027 third-round pick to St Kilda, in exchange for the Saints’ 2026 second-round selection.

The Giants had asked for that selection for Aleer, but that would have involved GWS giving something back.

The Ryan trade was the first to involve a pick two years in the future, narrowly ahead of another deal involving the Saints on Thursday. St Kilda traded young ruckman Max Heath to Melbourne for a 2027 fourth-round selection.

Heath joins the Demons on a three-year contract.

The Saints had already secured ex-Carlton pair Tom De Koning and Jack Silvagni in free agency, and exchanged pick seven for Gold Coast’s Sam Flanders on Wednesday.

Aleer was seeking greater senior opportunities, but had solidified his role in Adam Kingsley’s defence by the end of the season, playing in 13 of the Giants’ final 14 games, including the final against the Hawks.

Is the Sun about to rise for Jamarra?

Ugle-Hagan moved closer to rejuvenating his AFL career on the Gold Coast, meeting senior club officials at the club on Thursday morning.

Before completing a medical with the Suns, Ugle-Hagan said he would always love the Dogs but was looking forward to living with Gold Coast’s Indigenous liaison officer Jarrod Harbrow.

“I’ve still got to tick off a couple of little boxes. We’ll see what happens from there,” Ugle-Hagan told Nine News. “He [Harbrow] is an unbelievable character who’s going to support me.”

Ugle-Hagan’s Suns contract will include behavioural clauses, which will give the Suns an option to terminate his deal at the club’s discretion, after the player’s year-long battle with well-documented off-field problems.

Although a trade and potential payout with the Bulldogs will have to be finalised in the coming days, all parties have agreed that Ugle-Hagan will be a Suns player by the end of the trade period, according to competition sources unwilling to talk publicly about contract negotiations.

Ugle-Hagan’s contract is set to be a heavily incentivised two-year deal, with a minimal amount guaranteed.

The 23-year-old’s playing wage in 2026 will look closer to what he was being paid in his first season after being taken at pick one in the 2020 national draft.

He will, however, have the ability to earn substantially more based on games played, goals kicked and best-and-fairest results.

Suns defender Connor Budarick is expected to join the Bulldogs in the trade period, while Dogs utility Buku Khamis wants to get to Carlton, but it remains unclear if they will be part of the deal to land Ugle-Hagan.

Ugle-Hagan, who is contracted at the Bulldogs for 2026, has more than $900,000 remaining on his contract for next season.

His manager, Robbie D’Orazio, will now negotiate a payout with the Bulldogs, but it is unknown how much, if any, the Dogs would be willing to pay. Ugle-Hagan didn’t play a game this year and was able to train only on a handful of occasions, after a spate of off-field issues.

Craig Cameron, Gold Coast’s general manager of talent and player strategy, gave an update on the Suns’ position on Thursday morning.

“We are looking to see someone who is going to make a commitment to get himself back to a position where he can play consistent football,” Cameron said on AFL Trade Radio.

“The No.1 thing is, ‘Do we think a fit and healthy Jamarra can help us as a footy club?’

“He met with our leadership group. He will do a medical with us today, and we need to get the AFL to clear it as well, but we are progressing that.”

Cameron said Gold Coast had a strong Indigenous cohort, which could potentially assist the move. Ugle-Hagan was at the Indigenous All Stars match against Fremantle in February.

“The Western Bulldogs is a really good football club and nothing I’m about to say is meant to be detrimental …” Cameron said.

“I think the fact we’re not in Victoria, we are out of that football bubble, and away from some of those elements that have probably taken Jamarra away from the path that he should be on, is a good place for him to start to rebuild his footy career.”

Haggling over Ah Chee

Brisbane want pick No.16 from Adelaide in exchange for dual premiership player Callum Ah Chee.

The Lions have not received an offer for Ah Chee, who turned 28 today and has requested a trade to the Crows on a five-year deal. The Lions have offered four years and a trigger for a fifth.

The Crows’ next pick after 16 does not come until 48, which will not satisfy the Lions, but list boss Justin Reid said this week the club would not be giving up its first-round selection.

Pick 16 will likely be pushed out several spots once father-son and academy selections are factored in.

The Lions are after points to claim highly rated academy prospect Daniel Annable, who is tipped to go in the first five, but picks 16 and 17 would give the reigning premiers flexibility to trade up the order or shuffle selections into next year’s draft.

Meanwhile, Richmond and West Coast continue negotiations for defender Tylar Young, who has requested a trade to the Eagles. The Tigers would like West Coast’s pick 34 in return for Young, but a deal has not been agreed upon.

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