{"id":78412,"date":"2025-10-08T15:10:21","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T05:10:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/?p=78412"},"modified":"2026-07-03T10:29:40","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T00:29:40","slug":"the-2025-trade-value-column-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/2025\/10\/the-2025-trade-value-column-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The 2025 Trade Value Column: Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Following on from Part 1, let\u2019s run through the 15 players with the highest trade value in the AFL.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you want to read how we ranked players 30-16 you can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/2025\/10\/the-2025-trade-value-column-part-1\/\">find that here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But let\u2019s go through the best of the best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Right in Their Primes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>15<\/strong>. Hugh McLuggae, 27, 6 years left<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>14<\/strong>. Ed Richards, 26, 5 years left<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>13<\/strong>. Chad Warner, 24, 2 years left<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>12<\/strong>. Zak Butters, 25, 1 year left<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>11<\/strong>. Izak Rankine, 25, 2 years left<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>10<\/strong>. Noah Anderson, 24, 2 years left<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Are you noticing a pattern here?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We\u2019re into the top-15 and we still don\u2019t see the Brownlow medallist, but we do see his running mate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?id=1970112229187187147&#038;dnt=true&#038;lang=en_AU&#038;width=500&#038;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.neds.com.au%2Fblog%2F2025%2F10%2Fthe-2025-trade-value-column-part-2%2F\" scrolling=\"no\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\" loading=\"lazy\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" style=\"border:0;\" title=\"X Post\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Look at who Chris Scott targeted in finals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He put his defensive stoppers onto Hugh McLuggage and Cam Rayner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Outside, run and carry splash players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Against Hawthorn, it wasn\u2019t Jai Newcombe, it was the high half forwards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The game is about outside run, or at the very least the capacity to take the ball on your own from inside to out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These guys, right now, are the best at it in footy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?id=1959491428515459095&#038;dnt=true&#038;lang=en_AU&#038;width=500&#038;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.neds.com.au%2Fblog%2F2025%2F10%2Fthe-2025-trade-value-column-part-2%2F\" scrolling=\"no\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\" loading=\"lazy\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" style=\"border:0;\" title=\"X Post\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The only reason they\u2019re below the attacking mid group is because they\u2019re just that little bit older and, with the exception of Richards and McLuggage, are locked up for less time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Butters is the one who could be traded over this trade period, so it\u2019s worth spending some time on him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019m a Richmond fan who is hesitant to spend real assets on midfielders after Hopper and Taranto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019d throw the house at Butters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dropping him into a one-paced Richmond midfield would be like dropping Jon Bernthal into <em>The Crown<\/em>: it would electrify it.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"We Own This City - Car Wash Bust [1x03]\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0XtJQotJxJY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He\u2019s a perfectly balanced player who brings enough splash to wreck a game on his own. You can\u2019t overpay for a guy like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?id=1973663371443716388&#038;dnt=true&#038;lang=en_AU&#038;width=500&#038;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.neds.com.au%2Fblog%2F2025%2F10%2Fthe-2025-trade-value-column-part-2%2F\" scrolling=\"no\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\" loading=\"lazy\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" style=\"border:0;\" title=\"X Post\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>If he gets traded, the price should be high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Attacking Mids<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>9<\/strong>. Harley Reid, 20, 3 years left<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>8<\/strong>. Jason Horne-Francis, 22, 3 years left<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>7<\/strong>. Max Holmes, 23, 3 years left<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>6<\/strong>. Finn Callaghan, 22, 4 years left<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>5<\/strong>. Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera, 22, 2 years left<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These guys are the centre attacking midfield position that everyone wanted to be in FIFA career mode.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The architect that links the midfield to the forwards with creative ball use and run, aka the L1+Triangle merchants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?id=1951876818111180987&#038;dnt=true&#038;lang=en_AU&#038;width=500&#038;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.neds.com.au%2Fblog%2F2025%2F10%2Fthe-2025-trade-value-column-part-2%2F\" scrolling=\"no\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\" loading=\"lazy\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" style=\"border:0;\" title=\"X Post\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Impressively, however, none of them are particularly high-turnover players, all sitting outside the top-80 for disposal: turnover ratio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That group is essentially the younger model of the last group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Horne-Francis and Harley Reid are different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Both guys attended around half of their team\u2019s stoppages and had about four clearances a game, but both, crucially, kicked 14 goals in a season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Those two being this high is more projection than anything, but you can see talent seeping out of those two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And with the way Reid in particular was talked about before re-signing, you can\u2019t have him outside top-10 for trade value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?id=1960213359359611183&#038;dnt=true&#038;lang=en_AU&#038;width=500&#038;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.neds.com.au%2Fblog%2F2025%2F10%2Fthe-2025-trade-value-column-part-2%2F\" scrolling=\"no\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\" loading=\"lazy\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" style=\"border:0;\" title=\"X Post\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Untouchables<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>4<\/strong>. Riley Thilthorpe, 23, 3 years left<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>3<\/strong>. Will Ashcroft, 21, 1 year left<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2<\/strong>. Nick Daicos, 22, 4 years left<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>1<\/strong>. Sam Darcy, 22, 4 years left<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019ve been doing this list since 2022, and last year was the first year where Marcus Bontempelli and Christian Petracca weren\u2019t on top of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The last two years have been the AFL\u2019s <em>Dark Knight Rises <\/em>moment. Petracca and Bont aren\u2019t quite having a coffee in Italy yet, but these four are ready to pick up the mantle like Robin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Dark Knight Rises - Ending ***1080p PURE HD***\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/LYj4Aq5fdjk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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\u2019 lives, all under 24.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The only one that isn\u2019t 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\u2019m not sure what else I\u2019m meant to do with him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?id=1969329401515962482&#038;dnt=true&#038;lang=en_AU&#038;width=500&#038;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.neds.com.au%2Fblog%2F2025%2F10%2Fthe-2025-trade-value-column-part-2%2F\" scrolling=\"no\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\" loading=\"lazy\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" style=\"border:0;\" title=\"X Post\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>If The Bedrocks are Leo in <em>One Battle After Another, <\/em>these guys are Leo after <em>Titanic. <\/em>Massively talented, already established, but on a rocket ship to super-duper stardom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Full list:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><u>The Untouchables<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>1<\/strong>: Sam Darcy, 22, 4 years left<br><strong>2<\/strong>: Nick Daicos, 22, 4 years left<br><strong>3<\/strong>: Will Ashcroft, 21, 1 year left<br><strong>4<\/strong>: Riley Thilthorpe, 23, 3 years left<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><u>The Attacking Mids<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>5<\/strong>: Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera, 22, 2 years left<br><strong>6<\/strong>: Finn Callaghan, 22, 4 years left<br><strong>7<\/strong>: Max Holmes, 23, 3 years left<br><strong>8<\/strong>: Jason Horne-Francis, 22, 3 years left<br><strong>9<\/strong>: Harley Reid, 20, 3 years left<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><u>Right in Their Primes<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>1<\/strong>0: Noah Anderson, 24, 2 years left<br><strong>11<\/strong>: Izak Rankine, 25, 2 years left<br><strong>12<\/strong>: Zac Butters, 25, 1 year left<br><strong>13<\/strong>: Chad Warner, 24, 2 years left<br><strong>14<\/strong>: Ed Richards, 26, 5 years left<br><strong>15<\/strong>: Hugh McLugagge, 27, 6 years left<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><u>The Bedrocks<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>16<\/strong>: Sam Taylor, 26, 7 years left,<br><strong>17<\/strong>: Harris Andrews, 29, 4 years left<br><strong>18<\/strong>: Jacob Weitering 28, 6 years left<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><u>The Key Forward Hopes<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>19<\/strong>: Josh Treacy, 23, 5 years left<br><strong>20<\/strong>: Ben King, 25, 2 years left<br><strong>21<\/strong>: Logan Morris, 20, 2 years left<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><u>The Prototypes<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>22<\/strong>: Marcus Bontempelli, 30, 4 years left<br><strong>23<\/strong>: Isaac Heeney, 29, 3 years left<br><strong>24<\/strong>: Christian Petracca, 29, 4 years left<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><u>The \u201cI\u2019m Not Sure What to Do With You\u201d Crew<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>25<\/strong>: Luke Jackson, 24, 3 years left<br><strong>26<\/strong>: Tom De Koning, 26, 8 years left (post St Kilda offer)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><u>The Kids<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>27<\/strong>: Murphy Reid, 19, 3 years left<br><strong>28<\/strong>: Harvey Langford, 19, 2 years left<br><strong>29<\/strong>: Joel Freijah, 20, 1 year left<br><strong>30<\/strong>: Josh Weddle, 21, 1 year left<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Following on from Part 1, let\u2019s 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\u2019s 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\u2019re into the top-15 and&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":78419,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,8298,598,344],"tags":[29,8260],"hub_post_cat":[],"class_list":["post-78412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australian-rules","category-guywholikessport","category-special-interest","category-sports","tag-afl","tag-guywholikessport"],"acf":{"md_tip_date":"","md_tip_date_end":"","md_market_url":"","tip_date":"08\/10\/2025","event_country":"Australia"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78412"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78412\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78412"},{"taxonomy":"hub_post_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hub_post_cat?post=78412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}