What do footy supporters love about the trade period and why does the interest in the window grow exponentially every single year?
The answer - it provides hope. Hope that your team will be better, harder, stronger, fitter and improve next season.
Hope that your side will uncover the next superstar, hope that you have added the missing pieces to the premiership puzzle, hope that your club has a plan and is willing to take a risk to pull it off.
This morning we’ll go through every side and its trade period and judge it with one simple question: Did it achieve the only measure of a successful window and provide hope to its fans?
KANE SAYS: Adelaide will be a better side in 2023 than they were in 2022. The new forward six will provide plenty of highlights and will pack out Adelaide Oval. Adelaide’s list isn't perfect, it still has many holes, but the club has a plan and is executing it.
IN:
Izak Rankine
Pick 46
Future 3rd (COL), Future 4th (FRE)
OUT:
Billy Frampton
Pick 5
Future 3rd (to GC), Future 4th (to GC)
KANE SAYS: What a trade period for the Lions. They secured the present and the future. Lions fans should be filled with hope.
IN:
Josh Dunkley
Jack Gunston
Pick 35 (Dan McStay compo), 36, 38, 55 and 56
Future 2nd (GEE), Future 3rd (WB), Future 4th (MEL)
OUT:
Daniel McStay
Tom Berry
Pick 15, 46
Future 1st (to WB), Future 2nd (to WB), Future 4th (to HAW)
KANE SAYS: A quiet but successful trade period for the Blues. All the pieces are in place. They must win a flag in the next three seasons.
IN:
Blake Acres
Pick 49 (Liam Jones compo)
Future 4th (ESS)
OUT:
Will Setterfield
Pick 68
Future 3rd (to FRE)
KANE SAYS: While the trade period wasn't ideal - and I certainly don't agree with most of the moves that were made, Dan McStay, Billy Frampton and Bobby Hill certainly won't move the needle - the club has a plan and are being aggressive in achieving it. You can't fault that.
IN:
Tom Mitchell
Bobby Hill
Dan McStay
Billy Frampton
Pick 25, 27
OUT:
Ollie Henry
Brodie Grundy
Pick 41, 50
Future 2nd (to GWS), Future 3rd (to ADE)
KANE SAYS: The trade period was a big fail for the Bombers. Sam Weideman is hardly going to provide the hope that Essendon fans have craved for over 20 years.
IN:
Sam Weideman
Will Setterfield
Pick 54, 68, 72
Future 4th (SYD)
OUT:
Aaron Francis
Pick 42
Future 4th (to CAR)
KANE SAYS: Did Fremantle improve? Probably. No one knows where Luke Jackson will play and how he will fit in, but you can’t deny there is significant upside here. Josh Corbett is a forward target, Jye Amiss will be better next year, hopefully they get 18 games out of Nat Fyfe. Jaeger O’Meara was an added bonus. There's enough hope there for Dockers fans.
IN:
Jaeger O’Meara
Luke Jackson
Josh Corbett
Pick 30, 44, 67
Future 2nd (WB), Future 2nd (NM), Future 3rd (CAR), Future 3rd (NM), Future 4th (NM)
OUT:
Lloyd Meek
Rory Lobb
Blake Acres
Griffin Logue
Darcy Tucker
Pick 13
Future 1st (to MEL), Future 2nd (to MEL), Future 2nd (to HAW), Future 3rd (to NM), Future 4th (to GC)
KANE SAYS: They continue to teach the rest of the competition a lesson. One of the best trade windows in AFL history.
IN:
Ollie Henry
Tanner Bruhn
Jack Bowes
Pick 7
OUT:
Cooper Stephens
Pick 18, 38, 48, 55
Future 2nd (to BRI), Future 3rd (to GC), Future 4th (to BRI)
KANE SAYS: No hope, no idea. The Jack Bowes deal was the worst trade in AFL history plus they lost a fourth-year gun in Izak Rankine. An utter disaster for the Gold Coast Suns.
IN:
Ben Long
Tom Berry
Pick 5
Future 2nd (GWS), Future 3rd (ADE), Future 3rd (GEE), Future 4th (ADE), Future 4th (STK)
OUT:
Izak Rankine
Josh Corbett
Jack Bowes
Pick 7, 25, 32, 36, 56
KANE SAYS: It was a depressing few weeks for the Giants. At least there's the hope of a new coach, the number one pick and one of the healthiest draft hauls a club has ever had.
IN:
Toby Bedford
Pick 1, 15, 18, 19, 31, 57
Future 1st (RIC)
OUT:
Tim Taranto
Jacob Hopper
Bobby Hill
Tanner Bruhn
Pick 3, 21, 40, 44, 63
Future 2nd (to BRI)
KANE SAYS: It is impossible to understand what the Hawks set out to achieve here. They bring in a 27-year-old free agent on massive money, but lose their two most accomplished midfielders and their best forward. Hard to see how they win more than six games and the damage of the repeated beatings on the young group will be scarring. Imagine how James Sicily, who is 27 and just signed a five-year contract, is feeling this morning knowing he has not a chance to win a premiership at Hawthorn. What a fall for such a great club.
IN:
Lloyd Meek
Cooper Stephens
Karl Amon
Pick 41, 48, 50
Future 2nd (FRE), Future 4th (BRI)
OUT:
Jaeger O’Meara
Tom Mitchell
Jack Gunston
KANE SAYS: There's hope everywhere for Dees fans. Upgraded the ruck from Luke Jackson to Brodie Grundy and added experienced midfield depth in Lachie Hunter and both for a bargain basement price. They also future proofed the list with a massive draft haul. Melbourne won the trade period.
IN:
Lachie Hunter
Josh Schache
Brodie Grundy
Pick 13, 37
Future 1st (FRE), Future 2nd (FRE)
OUT:
Sam Weideman
Luke Jackson
Jayden Hunt
Toby Bedford
Pick 33, 43, 53, 67, 72
Future 3rd (WB), Future 4th (to WB)
KANE SAYS: A president in hiding, no ownership of the situation they've put their young players in, no coach, no CEO, no recruiting staff, no number one draft picks. Zero hope!
IN:
Griffin Logue
Darcy Tucker
Pick 2, 3, 40, 43
Future 1st (PA)
OUT:
Jason Horne-Francis
Pick 1
Future 2nd (to FRE), Future 3rd (to FRE), Future 4th (to FRE)
KANE SAYS: Swapped pick eight and a future first round draft pick for Jason Horne-Francis, who will become a superstar and Junior Rioli, who fills a small forward hole. Just outstanding.
IN:
Jason Horne-Francis
Junior Rioli
Pick 33
Future 2nd (COL), Future 3rd (NM)
OUT:
Karl Amon
Pick 8, 57
Future 1st (to NM), Future 2nd (to WCE), Future 3rd (to WCE)
KANE SAYS: The Tigers are all-in and their fans are pumped up. They put in an aggressive plan and executed it perfectly. There’s lots of hope that next year will deliver another premiership.
IN:
Tim Taranto
Jacob Hopper
Pick 53, 63
OUT:
Pick 12, 19, 31
Future 1st (to GWS)
KANE SAYS: No hope. Nothing for the Saints fans to be optimistic about. Another underwhelming season awaits.
IN:
Zaine Cordy
Pick 32
OUT:
Ben Long
Future 4th (to GC)
KANE SAYS: The Swans stand still and hope the youngsters respond to a nightmare in September.
IN:
Aaron Francis
Pick 42
OUT:
Pick 37
Future 4th (to ESS)
KANE SAYS: It is astonishing how far the once mighty West Coast Eagles have fallen. It would have been unthinkable four years ago that a young star like Jackson would choose the Dockers over the Eagles. 27-year-old Jayden Hunt is hardly going to provide any hope for the two-win Eagles.
IN:
Jayden Hunt
Pick 8, 12
Future 2nd (PA), Future 3rd (PA)
OUT:
Junior Rioli
Pick 2, 40
KANE SAYS: A flat trade period, but if the team's coaching can match the quality on the playing list there is enough hope for Bulldogs fans. The playing list has the most exciting young spine in the AFL.
IN:
Rory Lobb
Liam Jones
Pick 21
Future 1st (BRI), Future 2nd (BRI), Future 3rd (MEL), Future 4th (GEE)
OUT:
Josh Dunkley
Lachie Hunter
Zaine Cordy
Josh Schache
Pick 30
Future 2nd (to FRE), Future 3rd (to BRI)