The Hawks were caught off guard by Jack Gunston’s request to be traded back to Hawthorn, one year after he left for Brisbane.
Gunston, who is on holiday in the United States with Hawthorn captain James Sicily and Lions teammate Charlie Cameron, has not informed the Hawks of his desire to return.
In that regard, it is a nearly unique move that remains cloaked in mystery, especially given Hawthorn’s indication that trade targets Mabior Chol and Massimo D’Ambrosio remain top considerations.
Gold Coast remain firm on wanting a future second-round pick in return for Chol, which the Hawks are baulking at to date.
This masthead was aware in recent weeks that Gunston was weighing up a return to Victoria, but the situation accelerated in the past few days.
There is a theory Gunston’s trade request could also be about attracting the interest of fellow Victorian clubs, such as Melbourne and Richmond, where ex-Hawthorn assistant Adem Yze is now in charge.
The Demons previously expressed interest in the 32-year-old, who played in the Hawks’ 2013-15 flag three-peat and kicked 410 goals in 211 games.
Gunston kicked 22 goals in 17 games for the Lions this past season, but fell out of favour mid-year and embarked on a mini-pre-season before reclaiming his spot.A knee injury sidelined him late in the season, and he was unable to force his way into Chris Fagan’s senior side despite being declared available ahead of the preliminary final.
Brisbane have acknowledged Gunston’s trade request, but are “assessing its position”, given he is contracted until the end of next season.
The Lions agreed to trade ruck-forward Tom Fullarton to Melbourne for pick 47, and he will effectively replace Brodie Grundy, who was brought in a year ago to fill Luke Jackson’s void.
The Demons are also trying to trade for Adelaide’s Shane McAdam, but the Crows have not accepted their offer of a future second-round selection.
Bombers round out the three-piece.
After completing a free agency hat-trick with the signing of Jade Gresham on Friday, Essendon will shift their attention to negotiating a deal for Xavier Duursma.
The Bombers had previously recruited ex-North Melbourne pair Ben McKay and Todd Goldstein in free agency before adding Gresham to their roster, following a lengthy process meant to obtain St Kilda an end-of-first-round compensation pick (No.21).
The Saints’ acting general manager of football, David Misson, cautioned that if Essendon’s offer did not trigger that amount of compensation, they might consider matching it.
“I’m super excited to be joining a massive club like Essendon [and] to see what this group can achieve in the future,” Gresham said.
“I believe we can do something special, and I’m happy to be a part of the journey ahead. I can’t wait to meet everyone at the club, get stuck into pre-season, and get to work for a massive 2024.”
St Kilda have indicated they are not willing to part with their newly acquired pick 21 in an exchange for Fremantle’s Liam Henry, who is seeking a trade to the Saints.
A source familiar with St Kilda’s position, who was not authorised to speak on the record, said the Saints did not want to use their first pick, No.13 or the Gresham compensation selection, in a trade for Henry, because of their wish to invest in the draft.
But they have a full suite of future selections, which can be used. Many clubs prefer future picks in this year’s trades because of a widespread view that the 2024 draft offers better depth of talent than this year’s shallow draft.
Western Bulldogs have offered St Kilda a future fourth-round pick for Nick Coffield, with an expectation that more progress would be made in discussions next week, according to a source familiar with those talks.
Meanwhile, Duursma, who is contracted for one more season at Port Adelaide, is likely the only other player the Bombers will bring in before Wednesday night’s trade deadline.
That deal will almost certainly involve defender Brandon Zerk-Thatcher going the other way, having already requested a trade to Alberton to be closer to family.
However, the key difference is Zerk-Thatcher is out of contract, so there is a chance Essendon may have to sweeten the deal with a draft pick – perhaps 31 or 52 this year – although they will try to avoid that scenario, like with Gresham.
The Bombers offered Zerk-Thatcher a three-year contract, the same length as the one he would accept at the Power.
Any agreement on the two players is trending towards a Wednesday night crescendo, with Power list boss Jason Cripps also juggling their pursuit of Geelong key defender Esava Ratugolea and Western Bulldogs ruckman Jordon Sweet.
The Cats rebuffed Port’s offer of pick 24, which is now 25 after Gresham’s move, while the Power are refusing to include ex-Geelong Grammar student Ollie Lord, grandson of the Cats’ 1962 Brownlow medallist Alistair Lord.
Another year for Hawkins
Geelong great Tom Hawkins will continue at the Cattery for an 18th season after agreeing to a new one-year contract.
Melbourne made an audacious play for Hawkins to try and bolster their own forward line, but the 35-year old, who will start next season on 347 matches, looks set to remain a one-club player.
The news was not so good for Bulldog Toby McLean, who will depart the Kennel after being informed he would not be offered a contract.
Painting Arden St Pink
The 194-centimetre defender averaged almost 11 disposals and three intercept marks in an excellent SANFL campaign this year, and projects as part of North Melbourne’s solution down back after Ben McKay’s departure.
Pink, 25, did not play an AFL game in his three seasons at Sydney, before being delisted at the end of 2019.
The Kangaroos will be short on tall defensive options entering next season, given Griffin Logue will also still be recovering from his ACL rupture.
Aidan Corr is North Melbourne’s most experienced defender, and may have to tackle the opposition’s No.1 forward, unless the likes of Pink and Kallan Dawson can step up.