Following on from Part 1, let’s run through the 15 players with the highest trade value in the AFL.
If you want to read how we ranked players 30-16 you can find that here.
But let’s go through the best of the best.
Right in Their Primes
15. Hugh McLuggae, 27, 6 years left
14. Ed Richards, 26, 5 years left
13. Chad Warner, 24, 2 years left
12. Zak Butters, 25, 1 year left
11. Izak Rankine, 25, 2 years left
10. Noah Anderson, 24, 2 years left
Are you noticing a pattern here?
We’re into the top-15 and we still don’t see the Brownlow medallist, but we do see his running mate.
Why?
Look at who Chris Scott targeted in finals.
He put his defensive stoppers onto Hugh McLuggage and Cam Rayner.
Outside, run and carry splash players.
Against Hawthorn, it wasn’t Jai Newcombe, it was the high half forwards.
The game is about outside run, or at the very least the capacity to take the ball on your own from inside to out.
These guys, right now, are the best at it in footy.
The only reason they’re below the attacking mid group is because they’re just that little bit older and, with the exception of Richards and McLuggage, are locked up for less time.
Butters is the one who could be traded over this trade period, so it’s worth spending some time on him.
I’m a Richmond fan who is hesitant to spend real assets on midfielders after Hopper and Taranto.
I’d throw the house at Butters.
Dropping him into a one-paced Richmond midfield would be like dropping Jon Bernthal into The Crown: it would electrify it.
Of the 36 players who averaged over 400 metres gained this year, Butters was one of only two (Noah Anderson the other) who had at least 12 contested possessions and 15 uncontested possessions.
He’s a perfectly balanced player who brings enough splash to wreck a game on his own. You can’t overpay for a guy like that.
If he gets traded, the price should be high.
The Attacking Mids
9. Harley Reid, 20, 3 years left
8. Jason Horne-Francis, 22, 3 years left
7. Max Holmes, 23, 3 years left
6. Finn Callaghan, 22, 4 years left
5. Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera, 22, 2 years left
These guys are the centre attacking midfield position that everyone wanted to be in FIFA career mode.
The architect that links the midfield to the forwards with creative ball use and run, aka the L1+Triangle merchants.
If the game today is about running the farthest and kicking the longest, three out of this five fit the bill. Wanganeen-Milera, Callaghan and Holmes are all exactly that player as three out of the top six metres gained players in the AFL.
Impressively, however, none of them are particularly high-turnover players, all sitting outside the top-80 for disposal: turnover ratio.
That group is essentially the younger model of the last group.
Horne-Francis and Harley Reid are different.
They are more forward/mid rather than mid/forward types who have less anaerobic capacity but are similarly explosive out of stoppage while not attending as many.
Both guys attended around half of their team’s stoppages and had about four clearances a game, but both, crucially, kicked 14 goals in a season.
Those two being this high is more projection than anything, but you can see talent seeping out of those two.
And with the way Reid in particular was talked about before re-signing, you can’t have him outside top-10 for trade value.
The Untouchables
4. Riley Thilthorpe, 23, 3 years left
3. Will Ashcroft, 21, 1 year left
2. Nick Daicos, 22, 4 years left
1. Sam Darcy, 22, 4 years left
I’ve been doing this list since 2022, and last year was the first year where Marcus Bontempelli and Christian Petracca weren’t on top of it.
The last two years have been the AFL’s Dark Knight Rises moment. Petracca and Bont aren’t quite having a coffee in Italy yet, but these four are ready to pick up the mantle like Robin.
In a game that now requires players to be able to run far, fast, and kick deftly to key forwards who need to win in 50/50 or 40/60 situations, these are the key players.
There are two inside/out game wrecking mids with sublime footskills, and two mobile key forwards who can pinch hit in the ruck when needed but generally prefer to wreck games and destroy defenders’ lives, all under 24.
The only one that isn’t locked up long-term is Will Ashcroft but, honestly, after two straight Norm Smiths before 21 and showing no ill-effects from a knee surgery, I’m not sure what else I’m meant to do with him.
If The Bedrocks are Leo in One Battle After Another, these guys are Leo after Titanic. Massively talented, already established, but on a rocket ship to super-duper stardom.
The Full list:
The Untouchables
1: Sam Darcy, 22, 4 years left
2: Nick Daicos, 22, 4 years left
3: Will Ashcroft, 21, 1 year left
4: Riley Thilthorpe, 23, 3 years left
The Attacking Mids
5: Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera, 22, 2 years left
6: Finn Callaghan, 22, 4 years left
7: Max Holmes, 23, 3 years left
8: Jason Horne-Francis, 22, 3 years left
9: Harley Reid, 20, 3 years left
Right in Their Primes
10: Noah Anderson, 24, 2 years left
11: Izak Rankine, 25, 2 years left
12: Zac Butters, 25, 1 year left
13: Chad Warner, 24, 2 years left
14: Ed Richards, 26, 5 years left
15: Hugh McLugagge, 27, 6 years left
The Bedrocks
16: Sam Taylor, 26, 7 years left,
17: Harris Andrews, 29, 4 years left
18: Jacob Weitering 28, 6 years left
The Key Forward Hopes
19: Josh Treacy, 23, 5 years left
20: Ben King, 25, 2 years left
21: Logan Morris, 20, 2 years left
The Prototypes
22: Marcus Bontempelli, 30, 4 years left
23: Isaac Heeney, 29, 3 years left
24: Christian Petracca, 29, 4 years left
The “I’m Not Sure What to Do With You” Crew
25: Luke Jackson, 24, 3 years left
26: Tom De Koning, 26, 8 years left (post St Kilda offer)
The Kids
27: Murphy Reid, 19, 3 years left
28: Harvey Langford, 19, 2 years left
29: Joel Freijah, 20, 1 year left
30: Josh Weddle, 21, 1 year left