There's only one game of the 2026 AFL season left to play. After the colour and ceremony and excellence of the big dance, though, attention will turn - and quickly - to the player movement space.
Plans, contingencies and schemes have been bubbling away in the background for much of the season, with such preparation only ramping up with 16 teams no longer able to lift this year's cup.
Here's a recap of the week's biggest stories in this space!
Essendon offer big bucks to four-game Hawk
The Essendon Bombers have put a bold offer in front of Hawthorn defender, Noah Mraz.
A four-year, $3 million offer is in front of the 20-year-old - one year for each of the senior games he's managed since being drafted with Pick 35 in the 2024 National Draft.
The Dandenong Stingrays product is injured at the time of writing, and contracted until 2028.
Sam Mitchell was pragmatic about the Bombers' pursuit of his defender, and the hubbub surrounding the likes of Calsher Dear, when speaking to SEN during the week.
"If you're trying to match everyone's fees, then obviously you're going to blow your cap. So we're very focused on having a great environment that people want to be a part of, and we'll continue to try to do that as best we can," he said.
Collingwood meet with Hawthorn father-son
Speaking of Calsher Dear, early this week, reports emerged that the father-son had taken a meeting with Collingwood, as the Pies look to shore up their forward line of the future.
The Pies' key forward stocks are solid for the next year or two, with Dan McStay showcasing why he was so sought after with a strong back half of 2026. Tim Membrey is also going around again, with the pair to be joined by former Coleman Medallist Jesse Hogan, imminently.
Dear has significant interest from the Demons and Cats, too, with Melbourne believed to have a four-year deal in front of the 21-year-old.
Dear broke out in 2024, kicking 25 goals from 17 matches as the Hawks returned to September for the first time since 2018. Since then, he has battled with injury and form, condemned to plying his trade for Box Hill while the senior side face off in preliminary finals.
Craig McRae also met with Tiger Jayden Short this week, as the club look to lure the premiership hero over Olympic Boulevard. McRae and Pies heavy hitter Justin Leppitsch were heavily involved at the Tigers during their most successful period in modern memory, with McRae looking to leverage that connection in the hopes of masterminding Short's defection.
Another Giants veteran on the trade block as club commits to list "reset"
GWS champion Lachie Whitfield could be on the move, as the expansion club look to retool.
Jesse Hogan, Toby Greene and Jake Stringer are among the names to have signalled their intentions to depart this off-season - intentions the club have committed to facilitating.
"It's not unusual for us to have some changes on an annual basis to the list," outgoing GWS boss Dave Matthews told SEN.
"Clearly, this is the most high-profile and significant because he (Greene) has been captain of the club.
"There's a bit of a reset, but it's not like it's a rebuild or there's any sort of major issue from my point of view.
"The club's in a more stable position than what sometimes gets presented."
Now, Whitfield, Pick 1 in the 2012 National Draft, is also on the trade block, with the club chasing a first-round pick for his services.
Carlton and St Kilda are in the running for the classy distributor's services.
St Kilda list boss Stephen Silvagni has ties to Whitfield, having aided the Giants in drafting him some 14 years ago. Rumblings of Whitfield's recent day on the golfing green with Blues Ollie Hollands and former teammate Nick Haynes have sent the rumour mill into overdrive, regarding a move to IKON Park.
The Giants are looking to add another premium pick to their hand, with their first selections currently Pick 7 and Pick 28.
AFL intervenes to block proposed pick purchasing in Butters deal
A rule introduced in 2025 has halted trade talks betwixt the Western Bulldogs and Port Adelaide, as the clubs looked to engineer a deal centred around Todd Marshall "separate" to their Zak Butters negotiations.
As expertly explained by Zero Hanger's Marcus Beeck:
"The rule stops clubs from paying off their player's salary after sending them to another club if the same two clubs have already completed a trade where one club sends a free agent and the other receives a compensation pick.
To explain it more: If player X leaves club A as a free agent to club B, and then club A receives a compensation pick, then no further separate trade where club B receives a player from club A, with club A paying their salary, can occur."
Port were keen to send Marshall to the Dogs, and pony up a large portion of his salary, in exchange for another two first round picks, after already receiving one from the AFL as compensation for Butters' move.
The AFL have vetoed the trade, as Port paying Marshall's salary is forbidden in this unique set of circumstances.
Greene explains Geelong defection
Outgoing Greater Western Sydney Giants skipper Toby Greene has explained the deciding factors in his mooted move to Geelong.
The beloved inaugural Giant has played 282 games in the orange and charcoal, booting 450 goals, and growing up before the nation's very eyes, and under its very intense srutiny.
Now, a new chapter beckons to the mercurial larrikin.
"I would love to have three kids and that's a lot easier in Victoria," Greene told SEN's Crunchtime on Saturday.
"We got family support down here. We certainly struggled there with our first (child) as well, which was hard, but we are fine now. We're super happy. We love Sydney, love the people, love the club, but we wanted to go from a family perspective.
"From a selfish footy perspective, I'm gonna be really, really excited by a new challenge, it's something different, a new environment.
"Over the last few days before I got to a decision, I was like, 'Oh, I'm actually really excited to try something different and prove myself to new people and try and finish off my career with a lot of energy and fun'."
Beers with Chris Scott and a text from best mate Jeremy Cameron ultimately swayed Greene, who admitted to drawing the ire of some of his teammates when communicating the move.
