Which player, still on an AFL list, would you love back at your club?
Let’s just pretend there is no consequences for this player returning in terms of salary cap, trades, or who was recruited to fill the hole thereafter.
This exercise is purely based on what would strengthen your club right now as we prepare to enter 2024. We have taken age and recent form into consideration.
So, which former player would your club welcome back with open arms or take back in a heartbeat?
See our assessments of every club below:
Charlie Cameron
There are plenty of goal kicking options at the Crows, but just imagine if Charlie Cameron was one of them.
He is arguably the best small forward in the competition. Who wouldn’t want that sort of class roaming around their forward 50?
His presence would allow the Izak Rankine and Josh Rachele types to spend more time up the ground, giving him the dangerous space around goals.
Cameron was just getting going when he was a Crow, kicking 87 goals in 73 games, before truly finding his feet at the elite level in his second year with the Lions.
The 29-year-old’s 273 goals for Brisbane is the fourth most in club history. His 360 career tally would sit third behind Taylor Walker and Tony Modra had he stayed in Adelaide.
Andrew Slevison
Jack Crisp
While they’re a destination club now, that wasn’t always the case for Brisbane as they lost a handful of star players in the early to mid-2010s.
One of those players was Jack Crisp, who joined Collingwood from Brisbane as part of the initial Dayne Beams trade.
Since joining the Pies, Crisp has played a miraculous 208 consecutive games where he has become a two-time best and fairest winner and model of consistency.
Sadly for Brisbane, letting go of Crisp came back to bite them in the 2023 Grand Final as the 30-year-old booted two huge goals to go with 25 disposals in the four-point win.
Brisbane would also love to have Carlton’s Sam Docherty back at the club. He has been an outright star since joining the Blues, but we think they’d take Crisp due to his big-game performances and his ability to bolster the midfield.
Lachlan Geleit
Liam Jones
Carlton rarely has key players departing in the trade period, with Zac Fisher, Zach Tuohy, Paddy Dow, Will Setterfield, Liam Stocker, Oscar McDonald and Liam Jones the only ex-Blues currently on other lists.
Of those, Jones would likely be the most sorely missed at Princes Park going into 2024.
Jacob Weitering comes into the year with an injury and while their depth behind him is solid, Jones would be an upgrade and likely still in their best 22.
The veteran retired in 2020 rather than receive the COVID vaccine, returning a year later to sign with the Western Bulldogs as a free agent.
He was in the All-Australian equation before he fractured his wrist last season, yet still managed a fifth-placed finish in the Dogs’ best and fairest.
Nic Negrepontis
Ollie Henry
The reigning premiers have actually seen a lot of quality players leave the club in recent seasons but none hurt more than Ollie Henry’s departure.
While the likes of Brodie Grundy, Taylor Adams, Adam Treloar and Jaidyn Stephenson all left the club as better players than Henry, the Pies were happy to let them walk in one way or another.
As for Henry, the Pies were hoping to keep hold of the young forward who insisted on a move to Geelong to play with his brother Jack.
As Collingwood may have guessed, the former first-round pick made an immediate impact at the Cats, kicking 41 goals in his first season in the hoops.
Aged just 21, Henry will no doubt continue to improve and the Magpies would love to have the exciting forward in their line-up for the next decade.
Lachlan Geleit
Joe Daniher
Imagine if this version of Joe Daniher was still proudly wearing the sash?
The forward was barely on the park during his final three seasons at the Bombers, however since heading north he has completely turned his career back around.
The 2023 season with the Lions was arguably his most dominant at AFL level.
Daniher would slot seamlessly into an Essendon list starved of star key position players, with Kyle Langford and Peter Wright currently serving as the Bombers’ prime targets up forward.
Daniher has thrived during his time as a Lion, and right now he truly seems like the one that got away for the Bombers.
Jack Makeham
Lachie Neale
The Dockers do have some quality midfielders, but there’s no way they’d say no to a Lachie Neale return.
Since he departed the club at the end of 2018, the Brisbane Lions star has won two Brownlow Medals and three All-Australian selections.
He is one of the league’s absolute premier midfielders (even if AA selectors overlooked him in 2023).
There was even some talk of a potential Fremantle return at the end of 2021, but that never eventuated.
Imagine Freo’s midfield in 2024 with Neale alongside Andrew Brayshaw, Caleb Serong, Jaeger O’Meara and Hayden Young, roving to Sean Darcy and Luke Jackson, with a fit Nat Fyfe again bursting through.
The thought is salivating.
Andrew Slevison
Tim Kelly
There’s little doubt the Cats don’t regret the trade that sent Tim Kelly to West Coast given it effectively landed Jeremy Cameron.
However, the midfield was a problem for Geelong throughout 2023 and Chris Scott would love an attacking midfielder who can hit the scoreboard.
Kelly averaged 25.4 disposals per game in his last season for the Cats while also booting 24 goals.
A player in that sort of form might have just been the difference for Geelong making finals last year and could be again in 2024.
Seb Mottram
Izak Rankine
Izak Rankine feels like the one that got away for Gold Coast, given he was set to re-sign before backflipping as Adelaide offered him a mammoth contract.
The livewire small forward had a solid first year with the Crows, but is expected to grow into one of the game’s premier damaging forwards who can move into the midfield.
He would be a very nice icing on the cake for Damien Hardwick and the Suns going into the 2024 season.
Of course, they turned him into Bailey Humphrey, who will likely play the same role and showed enormous promise in his debut season, but having him back would also be nice.
Nic Negrepontis
Jeremy Cameron
Arguably the game’s best player and one of its most versatile talents, Jeremy Cameron is the spearhead the Giants are missing.
Jesse Hogan and Jake Riccardi proved more than serviceable across 2023 but Cameron is on another level to that duo. Adam Kingsley already boasts one of the best defences in the competition and Cameron would have handed him the most potent attack as well.
Aaron Cadman is pinned as the perfect Cameron replacement, but he’s still at least five years off his best footy and the Giants need Hogan and Riccardi to stand up again to contend in 2024.
Seb Mottram
Bradley Hill
It would be a romantic return if Bradley Hill were to find his way back to Waverley Park to play under three-time premiership teammate Sam Mitchell.
He’s a genuine outside runner with nice skills and that is the type of player Mitchell could use with his young group. Karl Amon made an impact on the wing last year and Hill could do similarly, either there or across half-back.
His presence would allow some of the younger Hawks, the Josh Weddle and Connor Macdonald types, to flourish with another senior head around them for guidance.
While he certainly is not a ‘must have’ for the Hawks, Hill would be a nice piece on top as the emerging side strives to take the next step in 2024.
Andrew Slevison
Jesse Hogan
It’s no secret that the Demons still lack a prominent key forward in their side.
That situation has arguably held them back from achieving the ultimate goal in winning a premiership across the last two years.
Former Demon Jesse Hogan, who is the Giants’ number one key forward now, would be a welcome addition to Simon Goodwin’s side today.
Across two clubs (GWS and Fremantle), Hogan has managed to kick 132 goals from 69 games since he left the Demons at the end of 2018. This is second to only Bayley Fritsch as the most goals kicked by Melbourne players in the past five years.
Harrison Petty (at times) and Jacob van Rooyen are the main key forwards for the Demons today, yet both would likely be pushed aside for the return of Hogan if that dream was ever to eventuate.
Zac Sharpe
Jason Horne-Francis
Look, this ended on awkward terms, but of course if North Melbourne could inject anyone back into their list, it would be Jason Horne-Francis.
The former number one draft pick looks like a star of the future and while the Roos are pretty loaded when it comes to young midfielders, 'JHF' would be an incredible addition.
The youngster left for Port Adelaide after one year due to homesickness and after butting heads with coach David Noble.
He immediately made an impression at the Power with his class, burst and craft through the midfield and around goals.
Horne-Francis would look good in royal blue and white stripes alongside some of North’s current young guns.
Nic Negrepontis
Karl Amon
Karl Amon is clearly the most talented player to have departed the Power in recent years and would add even more star quality to this vaunted Port Adelaide engine room.
Amon would fill the wing role left vacant by the exit of Xavier Duursma with aplomb, having put together a stellar 2023 for Hawthorn in which he averaged 23 touches and finished 11th in metres gained per game.
He also finished eighth in the Hawks’ best and fairest last year.
Amon was maligned during his time at the Power, but did poll 15 Brownlow votes in 2022 before he left Alberton for Waverley.
However, if the Power instead elected to shore up one of their weaknesses, St Kilda’s Dougal Howard could instead be the move.
His name doesn’t necessarily jump off the page, but Howard is the type of reliable defender that Port Adelaide desperately needs in their backline in 2024.
Jack Makeham
Tyson Stengle
There is no doubting Tyson Stengle’s ability.
That was the case when he was at Richmond back in 2017 and 2018, but he just wasn’t able to break into a strong side that won a flag and made a prelim in those two seasons.
After he was traded back home to Adelaide, where he ran into some off-field drama, the penny finally dropped.
He became a premiership player with Geelong in an All-Australian, 57-goal season in his first year with Geelong, proving he possesses the enormous ability that was first recognised at Punt Road.
While his form did somewhat drop off in 2023, he still kicked 27 goals and provided 12 goal assists, which would have ranked third and equal fifth respectively at Tigerland last year.
The current Tigers are crying out for a quality small forward and the Stengle of today would be the perfect player to fill the void.
Andrew Slevison
Blake Acres
Since leaving the Saints, Blake Acres has played for both Fremantle and Carlton and has now announced himself as a genuine threat in the competition.
Acres’ form for the Blues last year was outstanding and he came up big during their epic finals run.
His performance in Carlton’s elimination final against Sydney would’ve sent shivers down the spine of St Kilda supporters.
He had a career-high 23.5 disposals and 433.8 metres gained from 23 games in his first year at the Blues and he made that gut-running wing role his own.
He’s the type of player Ross Lyon’s side would love to have.
To be fair to the Saints, he wasn’t the answer back then and it was the right move for both player and club to part ways but that doesn’t make it any easier seeing him dominate in big finals.
On current form, Acres would be a lock in St Kilda’s Round 1 side that’s set to face Geelong in just over a month’s time.
Hugh Fitzpatrick
Jordan Dawson
An easy choice, Sydney would absolutely love to have the Adelaide skipper back at the club.
While Dawson wasn’t the player that he is now when he left the Swans at the end of 2021, Sydney knew what they had in the big-bodied midfielder and didn’t want him to return home to South Australia.
In 45 games for the Crows since joining the club, Dawson has been named captain, won two Showdown Medals and has been anointed an All-Australian.
At 26, Dawson is at the start of his prime years and would no doubt be a huge inclusion if the Swans could add him back into their line-up.
Lachlan Geleit
Willie Rioli
The Eagles boast an impressive record of keeping players, but Willie Rioli was one who got away.
The club was publicly disappointed with Rioli’s decision to seek a trade to Port Adelaide and it’s not hard to see why.
A premiership player in his first campaign with the Eagles in 2018, Rioli had the potential to become one of the game’s elite small forwards before his anti-doping saga.
With Liam Ryan already battling soft tissue issues ahead of 2024, Rioli would be a welcome presence at West Coast.
Seb Mottram
Josh Dunkley
This one is very easy.
Josh Dunkley is a genuine A-grade midfielder and his performances for the Lions in his first year were great.
After winning the Bulldogs’ best and fairest in 2022, in a year where the Dogs played finals, Dunkley accepted a lucrative offer from the Lions and became one of Brisbane’s best players the following year.
The Dogs missed out on finals last year and their midfield became an issue for the first time in a long time with the likes of Jack Macrae and Bailey Smith forced out of the engine room.
Dunkley’s ability to play on the opposition’s best midfielder, shut him down and get 25 touches himself is what makes him such a valuable player and is why he’s missed at the Dogs.
Lewis Young is also a defender the Dogs wouldn’t mind having back in their fold. He played 24 games over five seasons at Whitten Oval but left for the Blues at the end of 2021.
A lot of pressure was placed on Liam Jones in his first year at the club and a player like Young would be great for depth.
Hugh Fitzpatrick
