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Hawthorn co-captain Jai Newcombe.

Risk versus reward: Rating the best and worst long-term deals across the AFL

We dive into the risks clubs take when they sign players to long-term deals, and how often the risk actually pays off.

  • Peter Ryan and Marc McGowan

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Hawthorn's Nick Watson says a Coke bottle was thrown at he and his teammates at the end of Thursday night's game at the MCG against Sydney.
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Watson alleges soft drink bottle thrown at Hawks

Hawthorn's Nick Watson says a Coke bottle was thrown at he and his teammates at the end of Thursday night's game at the MCG against Sydney.

Tom De Koning in his first hitout for St Kilda.

Expecting a free run at a top-10 pick for your club? Not so fast

A proposal to eliminate free agency compensation picks from the first 10 selections of the 2026 AFL national draft is in doubt.

  • Sam McClure, Peter Ryan and Andrew Wu
North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson.

‘This is on me, not the club’: Alastair Clarkson opens up on the Roos’ plight

In an expansive interview, the veteran four-time premiership coach outlines his goals for the struggling North Melbourne, and what would make him walk away.

  • Jake Niall
Collingwood superstar Nick Daicos.

Not just Tasmania: Look out Collingwood, Victorian rivals are circling Daicos

Nick Daicos appears unwilling, for now, to sign the kind of long-term extension that could make him a Magpie for life.

  • Sam McClure
Blues young gun Jagga Smith.

Jagga Smith never had a scan as a junior. His first one in the AFL devastated him

Carlton’s young gun hits the MCG on Thursday for the first time in a Blues guernsey – his club under serious pressure and needing a win over the Tigers.

  • Peter Ryan
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Ben King is poised to break Victorian hearts all over again.

Will Victorian hearts break again? The AFL’s biggest trade and free agency targets in 2026

From big-ticket targets to the players who might be squeezed out of their clubs, this is the mail on the footballers who will be hunted by teams in 2026.

  • Marc McGowan and Peter Ryan
After a series of big moves in 2025, St Kilda are firmly in the spotlight in 2026. From left are president Andrew Bassat, star recruit Tom De Koning, and coach Ross Lyon.

‘Not going to be pushed around’: Can the Saints buy a stairway to heaven?

Whatever unfolds at St Kilda in 2026, the Saints have moved from off-Broadway to Times Square. They’ve raised the stakes dramatically.

  • Jake Niall
Cooper Hodge trained at Hawthorn in January but is part of the Lions academy.

Draft tensions rise as the choice of Luke Hodge’s son looms

Cooper Hodge, the son of the four-time Hawks premiership player, grew up in Brisbane developing his talent in the Lions academy. Both the Lions and Hawks have hosted him at training.

  • Peter Ryan
The Brisbane Lions’ Will Ashcroft, North Melbourne’s Harry Sheezel, Nate Caddy, of Essendon, and Hawthorn’s Nick Watson are among the emerging young stars of the AFL.

Who has the best young guns in the AFL? Your club’s 22-and-unders ranked

The players born since the start of 2004 are not only stars of the future, many are already lighting up the competition.

  • Marc McGowan