Assessing intriguing moves from the 2024 Trade Period

Surprise: It’s a bonus Shinboner post coming out of trade period.

In addition to going through North Melbourne’s business – both individually and as a collective – today’s piece has some musings on other moves around the competition which caught my eye. For better or worse. Or, in one particular case, for how confusing it was.

North Melbourne’s moves

Luke Parker

The intangibles in Parker’s move are too many to mention, but it’s important to put that aside for a moment and focus on how he still has plenty of good football left.

As a starting point, I’d imagine Parker will be part of the forward rotation but liberally switch between there and on-ball when the situation requires. In many ways it’ll be similar to his appearances this year for Sydney, but I can’t imagine North will reduce him to the defensive-forward-on-a-key-back role we saw a couple of times for the Swans.

The highlighted areas are where Parker will likely impact most…

…and it’ll be fascinating to see which roles change around him. With Parker walking straight into the side and assuming some sort of leadership role – whether with a formal title or informally, it doesn’t really matter – he’ll challenge new teammates both offensively and defensively.

Because Parker’s voice carries so much weight – who’s going to disagree with him – it should result in a sharp uptick in standards. Pre-season reports will provide the first glimpse of who’s benefiting most from his presence.

Jacob Konstanty

The steak knives in the Parker deal, who by all reports was a high chance of a delisting. Given Sydney don’t often play genuine small forwards outside of Tom Papley, Konstanty would have had to kick the door down to earn a game in his two years at Sydney. He didn’t do so, injuries and inconsistent form cruelling any chance of an AFL debut.

Because the cupboard is bare for small forwards at Arden Street, Konstanty will get a chance to show what he’s capable of if fit. He couldn’t ask for a better situation to prove his worth; his skill set lines up perfectly with what North have been screaming out for if he’s good enough.

Just, please, whatever anyone does … DO NOT WRESTLE THIS MAN.

Jack Darling

Opinions on Jack Darling’s arrival at North are a good test of football knowledge. The reasons for the move are obvious:

– Low cost
– Upgrade on-field*
– Can teach forwards plenty
– Allows younger key position players to develop

(*But he’s not best 22 at West Coast, people say. Of course not, there’s Oscar Allen, Jake Waterman, and whoever the second ruck ends up being, ideally Jack Williams. But how he can make North’s team better, people say. Look at North’s forward line, I say)

That Darling has enough internal fire to proclaim he’s still capable of a 40-goal season is great, but it shouldn’t be viewed as the pass mark. The benefits of his move probably won’t show up instantly, but if it all pays off we’ll see it develop over time with the forward line learning to work as a more cohesive unit.

Caleb Daniel

In isolation, pick 25 for Daniel is slightly overs and if you gave the recruiters some truth serum I’m sure they’d admit as much.

The deal makes much more sense if you look at the whole package with what Daniel’s arrival allows. Reports suggest Daniel will return to half back for North after spending most of this season on the wing and high half forward for the Bulldogs.

In turn it allows Colby McKercher to progress higher up the field. Logic dictates it’d be to a wing to start, given questions over whether his body is ready for on-ball action yet. Personally I’d like it to be McKercher’s ultimate role and then floating in for on-ball periods ala Errol Gulden, but we’re digressing to a different discussion.

Daniel taking the quarterback role isn’t a defensive downgrade on what we witnessed from the small backs this year – even though it says more about the capabilities on show throughout 2024, really – and it has an added flow-on offensive impact.

Based off the setup to finish 2024, McKercher replaces Dylan Stephens on a wing. That is a significant upgrade.

And as for Daniel himself, he gets to play in a position where he can make the most of his skills by foot. He was well regarded as a popular Bulldog who helped to set standards, and his game should age well. There’s no reason he shouldn’t still be contributing handily at the back end of his four-year contract.

As a collective

The one part yet to be touched on is pick two and its future. It’d be no surprise if it is split at some point between now and the National Draft, particularly given how open North have been about it.

Assuming it does happen, North’s player movement period ends with two high quality selections, three experienced players to upgrade the side both on and off field, along with a speculative shot in a position of desperate need – all without compromising key future planks.

For a team working their way up from the bottom of the food chain, I don’t think you can ask for too much more.

Jack Lukosius

As covered in this year’s Port Adelaide Finals Dossier, there wasn’t a huge amount of subtlety in the Power’s ball movement.

To unlock the best of Lukosius this will have to change. The losses of Dan Houston to Collingwood and Charlie Dixon to retirement should – should – force a shift. Dixon’s absence means there isn’t the key forward as a fulcrum Port have so enjoyed over the past few years, with no one on the list projecting as a consistent like for like replacement.

Without Houston, Port lose their best distributor from the back half. For all the promise Logan Evans showed after debuting this year, he’s not the same type of player as Houston and expecting him to produce at the same level would be unrealistic. Asking Kane Farrell to add Houston’s workload to his shoulders would be setting him up for failure as well. So the movement out of the back half, surely, needs to shift a little as well to cater for changing personnel.

Lukosius has been on record, repeatedly, as wanting to play forward. It stands to reason it’s where he’ll start in Port Adelaide colours, but to get the most out of him a new role in their forward structure will need to be created.

Because of Port’s midfield depth, this year there was no forward who had the responsibility of distributing closer to goal.

This role should be what’s earmarked for Lukosius, making the most of his brilliant kicking. Playing him too close to home turns him into more of a ‘traditional’ key forward, which the game seems to be slowly moving away from and doesn’t maximise his skill set.

But higher up the field, perhaps in something similar to a high half-forward role, unlocks both his field kicking for others and still has him close enough to hit the scoreboard himself. Not to mention the matchup nightmare he’d be for opposing half backs, players in those roles usually on the least threatening forward.

The summary: Port need to shift their offensive mode to make the most out of Lukosius’ talents. Given the other personnel changes, it should be a road they’ve already started down anyway.

Matt Kennedy

I’ll happily stand corrected if I’ve missed a key piece here, but as I understand the sequence of events:

– Kennedy wants more midfield time at Carlton
– Carlton tell Kennedy he can look elsewhere for it if he’d like
– Given Kennedy is behind Cripps, Walsh, Hewett, and Cerra at the very least, it makes sense
– Particularly given he isn’t the explosive type
– Kennedy settles on … the Western Bulldogs
– The same Western Bulldogs where he’ll be behind Bontempelli, Treloar, Richards, and Liberatore at the very least for midfield time, and should be behind Sanders as well
– Good on Kennedy for getting some security with a three-year deal, per reports

But after all that, Kennedy has found himself – in a best-case scenario – stuck in a similar position he tried to avoid at Carlton. What happens if those ahead of him stay fit and he’s moved teams for no change to his role?

At least from the Bulldogs’ perspective he’s excellent depth, and we know Luke Beveridge won’t hesitate to play Kennedy in a variety of roles if needed. It’s a tick for the club. From an individual perspective it’s a confusing move. Hopefully I’ve missed the obvious explanation.

James Peatling

On paper, Peatling as the defensive anchor in an Adelaide on-ball unit featuring Jordan Dawson, Izak Rankine, Jake Soligo and a couple of others floating through in the second string looks fresh, aggressive, with complementary roles, and most of all – modern. Which, as everyone knows, hasn’t been the case in recent memory.

I want to believe that’s how the Crows will set up come the start of 2025, along with fellow new recruits Isaac Cumming on a wing and Alex Neal-Bullen as a high half-forward. It makes too much sense not to.

But to do it, they have to move past veterans and one-dimensional on-ballers. Peatling’s addition should be the catalyst for Adelaide to pull the trigger and progress. Whether they do it determines whether Peatling becomes genuinely useful, or just another guy.

Shai Bolton

Of all the moves in this year’s trade and free agency period, there’s no bigger upgrade for any team than Bolton’s move to Fremantle (and there’s no point trying to convince me otherwise, my mind is made up).

These were the general and small forwards Fremantle rolled out this year, round by round (top = round 1, bottom = round 24):

To start, Bolton would likely nominally be a forward, but as we all know, can spend time on-ball, come up to the ball as an extra half forward, and most importantly, add that extra dynamism and unpredictability Fremantle haven’t had much of recently.

It’s a perfect fit into Fremantle’s structure because it benefits both individual and team – the structure should be strong enough to maximise Bolton’s skill set, and Bolton’s skill set breaks the structure of the opposition.

It’s such a no brainer, only injury – or an attempt to change what makes Bolton great – will influence this move.