Tanner Bruhn joins Cats who move up draft order in deal with Lions; Ollie Henry, Jack Bowes and other trade rumours

Ben Jensen GEELONG’s first moves of the AFL trade period finally became official on Friday with local product Tanner Bruhn, son of former Grovedale Tiger Matthew, joining the Cats from GWS in exchange for the Cats’ first round pick – currently pick 18. The Cats also picked up the Brisbane Lions’ pick 25 in exchange for a second round pick (currently 38), two third-round picks (48 and 55); along with two future picks: a second-round and fourth-round. These two deals were the only trades to take place in what has been an excruciating trade period so far. The window for restricted and unrestricted free agent deals closed on Friday night; there will be further opportunities for free agents opening up in November and December. The trade period will finally wrap up at 7:30pm on Wednesday.

WAIT, ISN’T JACK BOWES GOING TO THE CATS TOO IN THE ‘DEAL OF THE CENTURY’?
That may well be the case but as yet, no paperwork has been lodged with the AFL or at least none that have been made public. The deal is said to be 80-gamer Bowes, a top 10 draftee in 2016, heading to the Cats in exchange for just a future second-round pick. And the deal gets better, the Cats also set to be handed pick 7 in this year’s draft. “How does that happen?” you may ask? It’s apparently part of a ‘salary dump’ with the Suns needing to make room in their salary cap, with Bowes reportedly on $1.6 million over 2023 and 2024.

AND HOW ABOUT OLLIE HENRY? COLLINGWOOD FANS ON TWITTER WERE MELTING DOWN
Yes Ollie Henry is another trying to get to the Cats to join his brother Jack, a deal not yet done and possibly won’t be. Ollie was dropped by the Magpies for the finals series and reportedly hasn’t been offered a new contract so if a trade can’t be struck the 20 year old 25-gamer from St Joseph’s may find himself going into the draft. The Cats have reportedly offered pick 38 and the Magpies are holding out for more.

OK OK WE GET THAT DEAL, BUT WHY DO CLUBS TRACK PICKS?
Honestly we don’t quite get it and have to look up the rules each off-season, but in simple terms it is linked to clubs needing certain picks and ‘points’ available to draft father-son or ‘academy’ picks; read this article from last season for more info (Link to The Age). In the case of the Lions they have Will Ashcroft in their sights who if he wasn’t eligible as a father-son (being son of Marcus) is spoken of as a potential number one pick. The Lions are also after Jaspa Fletcher, son of Adrian Fletcher who played at four club but passed the 100-game threshold at the Bears/Lions.

ESAVA RATUGOLEA LINKED WITH PORT ADELAIDE AND ST KILDA
The only certainly after a CEO’s death warrant after receiving the ‘full support of the Board’ is an AFL player being in ‘required player’ status; which is where Esava Ratugolea finds himself. The ruck/forward who late in the season converted himself into a useful tall defender but could only manage one game in this role and didn’t feature in finals. The 24 year old has been linked with Port Adelaide and St Kilda. Geelong list manager Andrew Mackie, until recently understudy to Stephen Wells, is so far not blinking but don’t be surprised if the deal is done shortly. You can’t blame Ratugolea for seeking greener pastures; the link to Corey Enright at the Saints, who still lives in Geelong, will no doubt be on his mind along with regular senior games.

OTHER DELISTINGS
Players confirmed as delisted by the Cats so far include the following; those ‘delisted’ are presumably seeking another club via a trade or the draft, but so far none have been picked up:
Quinton Narkle (delisted)
Francis Evans (delisted)
Nick Stevens (delisted)
Zane Williams (delisted)
Paul Tsapatolis (delisted)
Luke Dahlhaus (retired)
Joel Selwood (retired)
Shaun Higgins (retired)