The 2025 Continental Tyres AFL Trade Period and Free Agency windows are set to bring a flurry of activity as clubs look to bolster their rosters ahead of the new season. This year, the periods are marked by significant rule changes and strategic opportunities that could reshape team lineups across the league.
The Free Agency period opens on Friday, October 3, at 9 am AEST and closes on Friday, October 10, at 5 pm AEDT. Meanwhile, the Continental Tyres AFL Trade Period will run from Monday, October 6, at 9 am AEDT to Wednesday, October 15, at 7:30 pm AEDT. Throughout these periods, Continental Tyres AFL Trade Radio will provide daily updates from 7 am to 6 pm AEDT, ensuring fans are kept informed of all player movements and negotiations.
Understanding the Trade Period
The Trade Period is a crucial 10-day window occurring after each year’s Grand Final but before the Telstra AFL Draft. It allows all 18 AFL clubs to exchange players and draft picks in a formal setting, providing them with an opportunity to improve their playing lists or selections at the Draft.
This year introduces a significant rule change, allowing clubs to trade draft picks up to two years in advance. This means that in 2025, clubs can trade picks for the 2025, 2026, and 2027 drafts. Such flexibility is expected to create more dynamic and strategic trading scenarios.
Key Dates and Player Movements
During the Trade Period, clubs can trade players, draft picks, or a combination of both. Most trades involve two clubs, but multi-club exchanges are also permitted. The AFL verifies all trades to ensure fairness and compliance with league rules.
Draft selections are typically allocated in reverse order of the finishing ladder from the previous season. Richmond, finishing 18th in 2025, will have the first draft pick. However, with the ability to trade picks in advance, the draft order can vary significantly. For instance, Hawthorn’s trade with Carlton in 2024 secured them a future first-round pick, positioning them with pick 8 in the 2025 draft.
The Draft Value Index and Its Impact
The Draft Value Index (DVI) is a system devised by the AFL to attach a points value to each draft pick, ensuring clubs pay ‘fair value’ for selections, particularly for father-son and Academy players. For example, pick No.1 is worth 3000 points, while pick No.2 is valued at 2481 points.
The 2025 DVI introduces a revamped system that attributes fewer points to lower-order picks, compelling clubs to pay a ‘fair’ price for players.
This system helps clubs gauge the fairness of pick swaps. For example, swapping pick No.2 (2481 points) for No.6 (1659 points) and No.18 (836 points) is considered equitable. Clubs often trade down to accumulate more points, essential for matching bids on father-son and Academy players.
Exploring Free Agency
Free Agency provides players with another avenue to change clubs, categorized into restricted and unrestricted free agents. Unrestricted free agents, having served eight years or more at one club and being out of contract, can move freely to a club of their choice. This category also includes delisted free agents, who can join any club without requiring a trade.
Restricted free agents, typically among the top 25% of wage earners, can receive offers from other clubs. If their current club matches the offer but the player still desires a move, a trade must be negotiated.
Free Agency Compensation
The AFL compensates clubs with a net loss of free agents through a points-based formula considering the new contract and age of the departing player. Compensation draft picks are allocated in one of five rounds, depending on the player’s value.
Strategic Moves and Salary Dumps
Clubs can trade players out of contract whom they intend to re-sign if no suitable trade partner is found. However, players with remaining contract years must consent to any trade, retaining the right to veto unwanted moves.
A ‘salary dump’ is a strategy where clubs close to or exceeding the salary cap trade expensive, out-of-favor players, often attaching a draft pick to incentivize the receiving club to take on the player’s contract.
Delisted free agents can still be signed after the Trade Period, and clubs can exclusively trade draft picks up until and during the Telstra AFL Draft, scheduled for November 19-20.
As the AFL Trade Period and Free Agency windows approach, clubs and fans alike are poised for a transformative period that could significantly alter the competitive landscape of the league.
