The AFLW trade period is complete with 18 moves made and teams making their strategies for 2021 clear with varying trade period goals.
The likes of Adelaide and North Melbourne set out to deepen their rosters, Carlton looked for the final piece of a premiership puzzle, while St Kilda and Richmond added mature heads to young lists. Others did ... not a great deal.
No side raised more eyebrows than Melbourne however, trading out six players in order to hit the draft hard and refresh their list, while also aiming to remain in premiership contention. Did they pull that off?
Here are our grades for each team at the conclusion of the AFLW trade period.
IN: Jessica Sedunary, Lisa Whiteley, Hannah Munyard, Pick 45
Players lost: None
All Adelaide had to do this year to get a tick was retain their premiership core and they did just that, re-signing everyone including star co-captain Erin Phillips. That alone gives them a pass, but they were able to bring back premiership player Jess Sedunary from St Kilda and added some depth with GWS defender Lisa Whiteley and Bulldogs midfielder Hannah Munyard.
Adelaide has a total monopoly over South Australian draft talent meaning draft pick numbers are mostly inconsequential. This means they can trade them away to teams who actually have to jostle in a draft order without much fear.
The Crows added some depth and re-signed everyone they needed to. They get a tick. Let’s hope their star players have an injury free run this time around.
Grade: B
IN: Taylor Smith, Pick 37, Pick 51
Players lost: None
For the first time in AFLW’s short history, Brisbane has not been pillaged by other teams in the trade period. Every year since their inaugural Grand Final run, they have had star players poached - particularly 2019 with the introduction of the Suns. Brisbane get a big tick this time around for keeping everyone together, even if they did not add much themselves.
Their only real move was bringing across Taylor Smith from the Gold Coast. Smith is a highly rated 20-year-old athlete who will likely play as a key forward. A position the Lions needed depth in. A quiet trade period sometimes is a good trade period.
Grade: C+
IN: Charlotte Hammans, Elise O’Dea, Maddy Guerin, Pick 36
Players lost: Sarah Hosking, Jade Van Dyk
Carlton added one of the game’s elite veteran midfielders and did not even need to give up their first round pick to do it … and they got a former top 15 draft talent in that deal as well. Elise O’Dea is almost exactly the player Carlton needed coming out of a 2020 season where they were incredibly strong at both ends of the ground, but lacked a star experienced midfielder to take them over the top against sides like North Melbourne and Fremantle. O’Dea gives them exactly that and should create quite a powerful core with Maddy Prespakis, Grace Egan, Lucy McEvoy, Katie Loynes and Georgia Gee.
The Blues only gave up pick 15 for O’Dea and Maddy Guerin - the pick they received from Richmond for Sarah Hosking. Guerin is coming off a torn ACL in February, but was rated highly in her draft year as a versatile half forward flanker. Given Carlton paid unders for O’Dea anyway, Guerin looms as a essentially a free hit.
Losing Hosking is unfortunate, but she will have greater opportunity at Richmond given Carlton’s depth of young midfielders. Charlotte Hammans meanwhile is a talented young wing who they gave up a fourth round pick for. The ex-Sun will have plenty of time to develop and has a high upside.
On the flip side, they essentially gave up reliable key defender Jade Van Dyk to St Kilda for nothing and are yet to re-contract midfielder Chloe Dalton as she weighs up whether to play in 2021 or focus entirely on the Olympics. Dalton was one of the breakout players of 2020 and would be a huge loss.
Grade: A
IN: Abbey Green, Aliesha Newman, Pick 19, Pick 25, Pick 31, Pick 33
Players lost: Sarah D’Arcy, Sarah Dargan
The Magpies lost two players who were an important part of their rise up the ladder in 2020. Sarah Dargan had an excellent year across half forward and through the midfield, while Sarah D’Arcy has been a reliable centre half forward since the inaugural season.
Aliesha Newman provides pace and run off half forward, but they essentially gave up pick 17 for her as part of a three-way deal, which feels like overs when you look at what Carlton did with the O’Dea trade. Abbey Green comes in to replace the retired Eliza Hynes as ruck depth behind Sharni Layton and will hopefully also be a viable key forward option.
They gave up pick 11 to the Bulldogs for picks 19 and 25, which will allow them to get crafty with selecting father-daughter prospect Tarni Brown.
Collingwood was right there with the best teams in 2020, but needed to improve their list to keep pace with the top four and unfortunately on paper it looks like they’ve at best held ground. They got a lot of improvement out of their list last season and will need to hope they can get that again, while also nailing their many draft picks.
Grade: C
IN: Pick 46, Jessica Trend
Players lost: Tayla Bresland
For the second year in a row, Fremantle’s biggest trade period win is keeping their core away from West Coast. This simultaneously keeps them in premiership contention and makes it tough for the Eagles to threaten them.
This is ultimately what gets them a B grading, though it was an otherwise quiet trade period for Freo.
Jessica Trend is a handy pick-up from North Melbourne as she will provide the Dockers with greater midfield depth, particularly on the outside of stoppages. Fremantle’s midfield worked well last season, but they did have a need for more run and carry, something Trend provides.
The Dockers went undefeated in 2020 and will be hoping to get key players Steph Cain and Alex Williams back from injury. They were greatly aided by an extremely soft fixture last year and will need continued improvement from their list in order to stay up top.
Grade: B
IN: Pick 10, Pick 20, Pick 27, Pick 39
Players lost: None
The Cats had a very quiet trade period, re-signing their players and completing just the one trade - a pick swap with Melbourne.
They handed over picks five, 35 and 49 and received 10, 20, 27 and 39. Geelong gave up the third pick in the Victorian draft, but brought in some nice picks to help fill out their list after the retirements of Melissa Hickey and Anna Teague.
Geelong is clearly playing the long game, building their list through the draft, though it’s hard to see them rising out of the middle of the pack in 2021.
Grade: C
IN: Pick 56, Alison Drennan
Players lost: Charlotte Hammans, Taylor Smith
Another team that did not do a great deal, the Suns lost two players in Charlotte Hammans and Taylor Smith, the former who didn’t feature in 2020 and the latter who played once. Hammans and Smith were more long term development prospects who head to more mature lists.
The Suns didn’t really get anything for either youngster, but were able to bring in Alison Drennan from St Kilda. Gold Coast gets an experienced midfielder who uses the ball well and can help lead what is a relatively young group.
Gold Coast didn’t do anything special in the trade period, with their clear focus being on the young core they have and building through the draft.
Grade: C
IN: Pick 29, Pick 42, Katherine Smith
Players lost: Lisa Whiteley
Quite a few teams saw the sign and trade period as an opportunity to consolidate, rather than add and GWS was one of them. They lost a defender in Whiteley and added one with Katherine Smith.
They picked up some additional draft capital but, like Adelaide, the Giants have full access to their state’s draftees, meaning they’re not as big a deal necessarily.
Nothing much gained or lost for the Giants.
Grade: C
IN: Pick 5, Pick 15, Pick 17, Pick 35, Pick 49
Players lost: Aliesha Newman, Harriet Cordner, Bianca Jakobsson, Katherine Smith, Elise O’Dea, Maddy Guerin
Melbourne’s stated aim coming into the trade period was to remain a competitive team capable of winning the premiership while also bolstering their draft hand, turning over their list in doing so.
Did they accomplish this? To an extent. The Demons gave away six players, including former captain Elise O’Dea. Five of those six were entrenched members of their best 18, with Maddy Guerin someone they spent an early draft pick on a few years ago as well.
At the conclusion of the trade period, the Demons hold the third, ninth and 11th picks in the Victorian draft - a talent pool that has not been able to play at all this year because of COVID-19. A pick swap with the Cats allowed them to get access to the third pick, but they gave up a decent amount for it.
So yes, Melbourne successfully turned over their list and has a decent draft hand because of it. Only getting pick 15 for Elise O’Dea, especially when Carlton still holds pick 12, feels like a big miss however when you consider the value of star players in previous trade periods. They also got very little for Bianca Jakobsson, a player who made the All-Australian squad in her last full season.
Are they still a competitive team? Absolutely. They held onto enough to maintain a fighting shot at playing finals, but it’s hard to see them as a premiership contender in 2021 unless they get immediate impact from their draftees.
Melbourne’s real trade grade will come in two to three years, but for now they’ve taken a list one win away from a Grand Final in 2020 and taken a step backwards.
Grade: D
IN: Grace Campbell, Pick 22, Pick 44, Pick 50,
Players lost: Abbey Green, Jess Trend
After a turbulent off-season that included making their AFLW head coaching position redundant, North Melbourne seemed like a team to watch in the trade period. Would they keep their impressive list together or would players want out?
The former proved to be true, with the Kangaroos losing depth ruck Abbey Green and wing Jess Trend, but keeping hold of their core. They added draft picks and brought in Grace Campbell from Richmond, who makes up for the loss of Trend.
Campbell and Trend are different types of players, but North Melbourne boasts the scariest midfield quartet in the game with Emma Kearney, Jenna Bruton, Jasmine Garner and Ash Riddell, and the addition of an inside midfielder like Campbell lets them get more creative with those four.
The Roos remain a team in premiership contention and didn’t really need to do anything outlandish in the trade period.
Grade: B
IN: Sarah Hosking, Sarah D’Arcy, Sarah Dargan, Harriet Cordner, Pick 43
Players lost: Grace Campbell
The Tigers did what they had to do. They added AFLW standard players to a team that went winless in 2020. They have clearly made the decision to shun this year’s draft in favour of bringing in experienced players. They hold the number one overall selection, but their only other picks are 43 and 59 (the last pick in the draft).
Instead, they dealt their draft hand to bring in Sarah’s Hosking, D’Arcy and Dargan as well as Harriet Cordner from Melbourne. Hosking and Dargan step straight into their midfield rotations and Cordner helps steady a backline that was nowhere near AFLW level in 2020.
How they deploy D’Arcy when they already have three key forwards in Katie Brennan, Sabrina Frederick and Courtney Wakefield will be one thing to watch. It potentially means Brennan moves into the midfield permanently.
Giving up Grace Campbell for pick 43 was an eyebrow raising move however. Hosking is an upgrade on Campbell in the midfield, but the Blues pried pick 15 out of the Tigers for her. The inside midfielder was one of Richmond’s brighter lights in 2020 and they should have driven a harder bargain for her.
Grade: B+
IN: Jade Van Dyk, Bianca Jakobsson, Pick 24, Pick 34, Pick 40, Pick 57
Players lost: Alison Drennan, Jessica Sedunary
St Kilda was one of the more aggressive teams in the trade period and also one of the most successful. They brought in two quality players in Jade Van Dyk and Bianca Jakobsson for next to nothing, two players capable of being All-Australian calibre defenders if things go well for the Saints in 2021.
They lost Alison Drennan and Jessica Sedunary, but the gains outweigh the losses here and the Saints also managed to stockpile additional draft picks that they can utilise later in the year.
St Kilda built a strong list for 2020, one filled with young talent and a good mix of speed and x-factor. Jakobsson made the All-Australian squad as an intercept marking defender the last time we saw her back in 2019 and has the ability to play on the wing or even inside 50, while Van Dyk had her injury issues in 2020, but is capable of locking down on opposition forwards of all sizes.
The Saints get a big tick.
Grade: A
IN: Pick 3, Aisling McCarthy, Tayla Bresland
Players lost: None
After an incredibly disappointing first season, the Eagles needed to make a splash in the trade period to improve their list and they did that without giving up too much in doing so. They brought in Aisling McCarthy from the Bulldogs who will immediately give their midfield an injection of pace and class and only really gave up the compensation pick handed to them by the AFL to do it.
Tayla Bresland is a versatile player capable of filling a role in defence or inside 50 and should slot into their best 22 as well.
Now the Eagles need to hit the draft hard and even out what was a surprisingly old list.
Grade: B
IN: Pick 2, Pick 11, Pick 16, Katie Lynch
Players lost: Aisling McCarthy, Hannah Munyard
Once again, the Dogs have finished a trade period with fewer stars on their list than when they came into it. Whether it’s Jaimee Lambert or Emma Kearney or Monique Conti or Katie Brennan, they continue to let players slip through their fingers and Aisling McCarthy is the latest, joining West Coast.
McCarthy was one of the breakout players of 2020, finishing fourth in the club’s best and fairest as a speedy midfielder with great skills. They also lost Hannah Munyard to Adelaide, a depth piece out the door.
Katie Lynch is an interesting pick-up from Collingwood who will add to their forward line in 2021. After picking up four high-quality draftees last year, the Dogs once again have a strong draft hand and continue to get younger.
Grade: C-