A second Victorian club is understood to be hunting Lachie Neale, and will send the coach to meet with him.
Essendon confident on an AFL assistance package.
A former AFL umpire has revealed rule changes for next year.
And the Demons are open to trading away their pair of first-round picks, for the right deal.
All that and more from media buzz...
Neale to meet with former coach
Brisbane star Lachie Neale is still weighing up his future, and is set to meet former mentor and St Kilda coach Ross Lyon this weekend.
Neale is contemplating a move away from Queensland, with Collingwood among the clubs chasing his signature.
Fremantle is understood to have registered interest, but not at the detriment of their list management, while he has ties to South Australia.
Daisy: "So this is a formal pitch (and not just a regular catch up)?"
Caro: "Absolutely."Caroline Wilson on Ross Lyon meeting with Lachie Neale 👉 https://t.co/M9q2CvkZIN https://t.co/82aSDb9tyH pic.twitter.com/hjAJIAabzG
— 7AFL (@7AFL) June 30, 2026
Tasmania coaching race down to two
Tasmania is understood to have narrowed its search down to Ken Hinkley and John Longmire. Not Nathan Buckley.
Hinkley and Longmire have been open to a return to the AFL coaching landscape after departing Port Adelaide (2025) and Sydney (2024) in recent years.
Buckley was long believed to be the frontrunner, and even pulled out of the Melbourne race given his desire to be the Devils' inaugural coach.
The Tassie coaching list has been narrowed down...@cleary_mitch pic.twitter.com/OJkpKUUdsg
— Triple M Footy (@triplemfooty) July 1, 2026
Essendon confident on assistance package
The Bombers are growing in confidence that they will receive some help from the AFL in the form of an assistance package.
Essendon think they may attain an end of first round selection as well as some rookie spots to help kick-start their rebuild, as they slumped to 18th spot on the ladder.
"I think Essendon are bordering on confident that they will receive an end of first round pick and maybe some rookie spots as well."
Caroline Wilson on Essendon's pitch for an assistance package 👉 https://t.co/M9q2CvkrTf pic.twitter.com/mcjq82AoSH
— 7AFL (@7AFL) June 30, 2026
Lions up Bailey offer
Brisbane has increased its offer to retain free agent Zac Bailey at the club, upping the initial six-year deal to seven.
Adelaide is coming hard for Bailey, and is understood to be offering more in terms of financial compensation.
But the Lions, according to AFL Media, won't go down without a fight, matching the length of tenure to the Crows.
Pies star open to all options
Collingwood gun Jordan De Goey is looking for a multi-year extension beyond 2027, and has begun talks with the club on a new deal.
De Goey is in a rich vein of form, and is looking for security which will extend his playing career until he's 35.
His manager, Ryan Vague, provided this statement to the Herald Sun.
“Conversations have started. I am in open dialogue with the club. He is super happy with his life and his footy and he will let his footy do the talking for the rest of the year. We will see how the year goes and in the background he is letting me work on his contract. I will look at what is best for my client and look at the options available.”
Hawks key forward's frank future admission
Mitch Lewis believes the potential acquisition of Gold Coast's Ben King won't push him out of the club.
Lewis has an offer in front of him from Hawthorn, but has held off from signing the contract as he waits to see what the Hawks do.
Adding intrigue into the situation is Jack Gunston is expected to sign a one-year deal, while the club is also considering what they do with Calsher Dear, who is also out of contract.
“I have thought a little bit about that. I don't think so. Depending on, you know what ‘Gunners' (Jack Gunston) does next year. Obviously he is playing sensationally good football," he said to the Herald Sun.
“But Ben King is that deeper sort of player. So if I continue to get up between the arcs … I think Ben King, if he came to the club, is the sort of player where obviously we would make it work.
“That's just what a contract negotiation is. A lot of people that have gone through it in the past and there have been a lot of people that go through it in the future. I'm just in it right now.
“I would be more stressed if I was out of contract and not performing well, but I am contributing to the side. So I'm in a safe spot in the sense that I know that I'm going to have a career beyond this year. A couple of years ago that potentially wasn't going to pan out.”
However, according to AFL Media, the Hawks have improved their four-year offer to Lewis.
It is understood Lewis was holding out for more financial benefits, and it's been reported he has received it. It's not at the stage where he'd sign the dotted line, but it's moving in the right direction.
Blues meet with Bulldog
Carlton is understood to have met with Bulldogs defender Buku Khamis during the club's bye week.
Khamis wanted to head to Ikon Park last year, but was held to his contract, which expires at the end of the year.
The Blues wanted to bring in the high-flying backman, but given the dealings they had with Charlie Curnow and the complexities around that, they struggled to move anymore pieces.
According to AFL Media, Khamis is firmly on the radar of Carlton, even though the Bulldogs have tabled a three-year deal.
Jack Bowes on to a third AFL club?
Geelong utility Jack Bowes could find his way to a third team, with Essendon among clubs registering its interest in his services.
Bowes is coming to the end of the deal he signed when leaving Gold Coast, and was packaged along with Pick 7 in a Suns fire sale.
He signed a four-year deal with the Cats, and has yet to have an offer put to him by the Kardinia Park powerbrokers.
The Bombers have interest in the 28-year-old, according to AFL Media.
Saints register interest in Power forward
St Kilda has flagged interest in injured Port Adelaide utility Ollie Lord.
Lord is currently sidelined with an ACL injury, playing only one game this season. He has been hindered with injuries throughout the early part of his career.
The Power youngster is out of contract, and may not have his deal renewed at Port Adelaide, meaning the Saints, if they maintain their interest, could pick him up via the delisted free agency period, according to AFL Media.
Controversial AFL rules set to change
Former AFL umpire Ray Chamberlain said the league will adjust the set-shot goal kicking rules after a second incident drew confusion and anger.
Logan Morris was denied a goal for not kicking directly over the man on the mark despite not improving the angle. It came a month after Nick Watson received the same treatment.
But Chamberlain said on AFL 360 the umpires had acted in accordance with the way the ruling is written, despite the league walking back the decision.
“We will see a change to the way the laws are written, in relation to this, and it will capture the example in particular of Logan Morris,” he said.
“That will be best practice … on Thursday night, that wasn't best practice – it wasn't what had been conveyed to umpires.
“They concede they left their umpires hanging.
“What Andrew Stevens did on Thursday night is exactly as he had been instructed to do since stand has been introduced.
“His call to call play on where the brace leg didn't get back to the line of the kick was what he had been instructed to do and what I would've done, had I been in that set of circumstances.”
Melbourne open to trading top picks
Melbourne's pair of first-round picks are on the table, according to coach Steven King.
The Demons, through shrewd trading last year, ended up with Gold Coast's first-round selection, as well as their own.
They have been linked to Suns gun Bailey Humphrey, while they have been around the mark for other players.
Humphrey is contracted at Gold Coast until the end of 2028, but is considering a fresh start for the second straight year.
“He's still contracted at Gold Coast for another couple of years, that's probably where it sits for me. Having coached Bailey and knowing a few of those boys up there, I think he's a Gold Coast player,” King began.
“If there's an opportunity to acquire talent to make us a better football team, at the right time and through the right channels, that would be something we'd do.
“We've got two first-round picks this year, so that's an option for us to get better, looking at free agents as another avenue and then there's uncontracted players as well.
“I'm really confident with the group of players that we have, getting more exposure in games, and that's where our true growth growth will come from and improvement.
“But anywhere we can target specific needs, we'd be crazy not to look at that.”
“It'd have to be an unbelievable deal for the club to part with those, but for the right circumstances, you'd have to look at everything.
“We do understand it's the last draft before its compromised for two or three years with Tassie coming in, so they're pretty valuable assets. And with what our recruiting team does with their track record at identifying talent.
“The best thing is we've got every option on the table and we'll look at everything.”
