Racing
League
Rugby
Cricket
Golf
Motorsport
Combat Sports
Football
Netball
Basketball
Other Sports
Sport Nation
Live sport on SN this weekendTrade talk: The Blue expected to walk in coming weeks
SEN • August 24th, 2025 3:28 pm
With Carlton wrapping up what was a relatively disappointing year, the club turns its attention to a crucial off-season ahead of 2026.
Despite missing finals for the first time since 2022, the Blues’ CEO Graham Wright opted to keep the faith in Michael Voss, allowing the head coach to see out the final year of his contract.
That being said, the coaching panel is far from secure, with footy boss Brad Lloyd already moved on in what appears to be the first domino to fall within an unstable unit.
As for the playing group, Carlton are currently handling 15 expiring deals, leaving the football department with some major list decisions heading into next season.
While the club will be sure to sort out a number of re-signings in the coming weeks, wantaway stars are expected to confirm their departures within the near future – one of which will mark the end of a legendary family history.
“Jack Silvagni – he has kept himself at arm’s length from a lot of club functions, gatherings and meetings with the players, unlike Tom De Koning, who has stayed invested until the end,” chief reporter Sam Edmund told SEN Crunch Time.
“The expectation at the Blues is that (Silvagni) will notify them that he is leaving under free agency. Whether it’s Collingwood, whether it’s the Western Bulldogs, he’s also met with Essendon – remains to be seen.
“This shouldn’t be surprising when you’ve had the best offer you’ve ever put in front of this player, four years at close to $700,000 a season, and they put it in front of him several months ago and he hasn’t signed it – never a good sign.
“Compensation picks for that pair. There are more than a dozen players out of contract at the Blues, which Mitch McGovern curiously now is one.”
Beyond the expiring deals, rumours continue to fly surrounding the Blues’ star core, and in particular, Charlie Curnow.
The superstar forward had a somewhat down year, dealing with persisting injuries and struggling to find any consistent form. It was earlier reported that the two-time Coleman Medallist was eager for a move up north, to which Curnow himself stated that he was to remain a ‘Bagger.
That being said, the interest in Curnow around the competition has certainly ramped up as the trade period approaches, and with the star willing to entertain a move, his future at the club is far from certain.
“Whether you like it or hate it, the intrigue around Charlie Curnow leading up to and into the early part of trade week is something that will unmistakably live on,” Edmund reported.
“The ball is in his court, in terms of what he wants to do, and if he does want to do something, how he goes about it, because the Blues are resolute.
“He is contracted, and I think he is a realist in that way – he knows that it is going to be very very difficult (to leave). We lived this with Christian Petracca last year, it’s too much money, it’s too many years, it’s too hard and for what the club would want back in return understandably for a two-time Coleman Medallist, they might not ever get.
“When I say, he’s got a decision to make – is he of a mind and of a personality to bang his fist on the table and say, ‘I demand to be traded’? I’m not sure that he is.”
“There are no demands or banging the table – he signed the contract,” Gerard Whateley stated.
“But ‘if there is a three-team market for me, and you felt that you would be happy with any of those deals, I’d be open to it.’”
Edmund: “That’s the perfect way to explain it. I think that’s the flavour, the temperature at the moment.”
