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“It won't be coming in”: AFL knocks back mid-season trade period for 2025
Lachlan Geleit, SEN • February 5th, 2025 9:15 am
The AFL won’t be introducing a mid-season trade period for 2025, according to Seven’s Mitch Cleary.
While many were expecting the new player movement window to be created this year, Cleary says what once seemed a fait accompli is yet to be green lit, despite the talk ahead of the 2024 season.
“When they rewrote the latest CBA, there was a clause in there that they could pull the trigger on a mid-season trade period in conjunction with the AFLPA when they feel the time is right,” Cleary told SEN's Whateley.
“So we thought going into 2024, it could be a chance, but they knocked it on the head this time last year. Then we thought, well, it appears it’ll be a fait accompli for 2025.
“But I spoke to clubs and the AFL again (on Monday) and they said that it won't be coming in for 2025.”
After speaking to several clubs about the potential of a mid-year trade period, Cleary thinks there are several reasons holding the concept back from coming to fruition. Those reasons include reckless trading and the potential that the ladder could become even more lopsided in the back end of the campaign.
“It feels to me that the fans are split and clubs are a little bit too,” Cleary said.
“They think that, yes, it could help them attack a premiership. But then do you want to go throw all your eggs in a basket to chase a premiership that may hurt you for the future?
“What does it mean for a club, like North Melbourne, West Coast and Richmond, who may have traded away some of their senior players in the back end of the season when they're down the lower parts of the ladder, to then stock up for these draft picks in years to come?
“Would it make the ladder even more lopsided and the games more lopsided as the season wears on?
“These are all discussions that the AFL is having, but the AFL has reaffirmed again that it won't be going forward with a mid-season trade period for 2025.”
While it’s the second year in a row that the potential of a mid-season trade period has been considered and knocked on the head, Cleary thinks that we might be further away from it than what the AFL industry felt just 12 months ago.
“I think they're a bit more cooler than they were this time last year,” Cleary said.
“I think it was definitely being thrashed around and discussed a bit more heavily this time last year than what it is as of February 2025.”
Listen to Cleary’s full chat with Gerard Whateley below:
