Prominent AFL player manager Tom Petroro has forecast the 2018 trade period could be the biggest in history.
Last year saw 31 trades made, with the majority of those involving player movement.
Petroro, who manages the likes of Chad Wingard, Lachie Neale, Alex Fasolo and Joel Selwood through Stride Sports Management, believes it’s possible we could see upwards of 40 players move clubs.
“I read an article during the week that said there was 32 or 33 players talked about and I looked at that and went 20 to 25 get done, and then I looked at it and went, well, there’s probably another four or five that I know of that aren’t in this article that are probably a good chance to see things happen as well,” Petroro told SEN’s Crunch Time.
“So I assume a lot more than 20 (players will move). Is it 30, is it 40, it’s hard to tell.
“You talk about the Kangaroos being into Andrew Gaff, they’ve got the money for Gaff, and then they miss out on Gaff, Gaff stays – for argument’s sake – and they still have the money.
“Do they jump into Dylan Shiel, do they look at another player, things can change course pretty quickly.
“Most clubs are pretty calculated, but I still firmly believe there’s one or two more to come.
“Like, there’s another big fish to fall.”
The trade period kicks off on Friday October 5th with free agency opening and closes on October 17th at 8:30PM.
The exchange of draft picks will remain open until the night of the draft on November 16th.
Players that have been linked to movement in any capacity include: Tom Lynch, Andrew Gaff, Jared Polec, Daniel Hannebery, Lachie Neale, Steven May, Dylan Shiel, Stefan Martin, Gary Rohan, Jake Lloyd, Braydon Preuss, Rory Lobb, Nic Newman, Chad Wingard, Jesse Hogan, Tim Kelly, Scott Lycett, Aaron Hall, Luke Dahlhaus, Daniel Menzel, Jack Steven, Mitch McGovern, Luke Dunstan, Darcy Moore, Jordan Roughead, Levi Casboult, Will Setterfield, Harry Himmelberg, Alex Fasolo, Mitch Wallis, Tom Liberatore, Tom Jonas, Jack Hombsch, Jack Lonie, Jarryd Roughead, George Horlin-Smith, Lincoln McCarthy, Tom Langdon, Will Brodie, Kade Kolodjashnij, Jacob Townsend, Anthony Miles and Jasper Pittard.