Kane Cornes has ranked from 10-1 the best AFL players who have been traded so far in this trade period – as of 7am on Tuesday morning.
This trade period has been impacted by a clear lack of star power, particularly when you look at last year’s, headlined by the likes of Jason Horne-Francis, Izak Rankine, Josh Dunkley, Tim Taranto, Luke Jackson and others.
With many deals still yet to be completed, and Collingwood’s Graham Wright believing they have acquired the best player in this trade period so far, Cornes has ranked the top 10 to this point.
10. Matt Flynn (West Coast)
“Hasn’t been spoken about a lot, but he is definitely good enough to be a starting ruckman in this league and that will happen for West Coast next year,” Cornes said.
9. Zac Fisher (North Melbourne)
“Good speed, good agility and looked good across half back late in the year and it’s a nice home for him if they can settle him down across half back.”
8. Liam Henry (St Kilda)
“He’s one of the steals of the period for the Saints, they got him for a bargain price. Massive upside, great talent, good athletic attributes.”
7. Tyler Brockman (West Coast)
“Untapped. Absolutely untapped. He’s my favourite that’s been traded in this period in terms of the price and what he can become. He’s 20, he’s played 20 games. Unfortunately he’s going to the Eagles who have a poor record of training standards. Hopefully that changes because I think he needs to train hard and work on his craft. I think he should have gone to Fremantle. He has a whole bag of tricks.”
6. Ben McKay (Essendon)
“I’ve made my thoughts known on McKay. They’re getting a stock standard big defender who gets lost with his positioning and he doesn’t quite know where to stay and where to press. I’m not sure there’s gigantic upside other than he solves a positional need for the Bombers. His biggest strength is intercept marking.”
5. Jade Gresham (Essendon)
“It’s hard to value Gresham, but at his best he is damaging. His disposal count dropped to 17.5 this year and his kicking efficiency slipped and it’s a concern, but he still averaged 3 tackles, 80 entries inside 50 and kicked 20 goals in a down season. I do like him at his best.”
4. Tom Doedee (Brisbane)
“Doedee hasn’t been spoken about enough and maybe it’s because he’s out for most of next season. He’s an elite intercepting defender. He’s courageous in the air. He rarely gets beaten one-on-one. He’s sound with ball in hand and he’s an excellent leader. Every team would love him.”
3. Taylor Adams (Sydney)
“This was his first season since 2014 averaging under 22 touches a game, we know why that was with his positioning across half forward. Back in the midfield next year on the small SCG is going to suit him.”
2. Brodie Grundy (Sydney)
“This could be controversial, but I’ve got Grundy at two. He’s still a top seven ruckman in the league. Couldn’t have had a worse 2023, but he’s still 29, Sydney’s midfield will make him look good. Smaller ground at the SCG will suit him because he doesn’t have a massive tank. He’s got three or four very good years of footy in him and he’ll probably be a top five ruckman this time next year.”
1. Lachie Schultz (Collingwood)
“I agree with Graham Wright, I think he’s the best player that’s been traded. He’s number one for scoreboard impact at Fremantle, most goals over the last four years and he’s elite defensively.”