AFL trade period LIVE: Saints ruckman traded to Geelong; Suns consider Blakey pitch after meeting

Young Hawthorn forward Aidan Schubert has requested the Hawks trade him to the Suns.

Schubert has toured Gold Coast’s facilities earlier this week when the opportunity of the move arose.

The Hawks drafted Schubert with pick 23 in last year’s AFL draft and he played one senior game this past season.

He has shown promise in the VFL but with Ben King joining the Hawks and Calsher Dear re-signing, there will be fewer opportunities for him to earn senior games.

King has been reportedly spotting at Melbourne Airport this morning as he prepares to join the Hawks.

Now the AFL season is over, plenty of footy types have made their way to watch their favourite NBL sides.

Recently retired Lions three-time premiership coach Chris Fagan cheered on his home state Tasmania JackJumpers to a 109-99 win over Brisbane Bullets in Brisbane last round and did so with a Jackies jersey on.

Fagan is good mates with Jackies championship coach Scott Roth who praised Fagan post game as the team’s good luck charm.

“A big shoutout to Fages in the building, he’s obviously a Tasmanian and a huge supporter of us,” Roth said.

Not trade news, but a big story brewing in the AFL world is the future of ex-Saints star Nick Dal Santo, who is coach of the club’s AFLW side.

St Kilda’s season thus far has been dismal - no wins, and only one behind scored in the entire game against the Bulldogs on Saturday. It was a record performance, and not in a good way.

Hannah Kennelly wrote about the Saints and Dal Santo on Sunday:

If St Kilda want to have a successful AFLW program, they need to make several bold decisions. The first one should be parting with long-time senior coach Nick Dal Santo, whose position, after a winless season so far, is now untenable.

Though Dal Santo defended himself and his team after the loss, and he hasn’t lost the support of his players, she writes, there is clear evidence that the time for change is now.

Read the full piece here.

Hawthorn free agent target Ben King has been spotted by people at Melbourne Airport flying into town this morning.

Multiple callers to AFL Trade Radio said he was met by a Hawks staffer when he got off the plane.

The Hawks lodged free agent paper work to sign King earlier this week, but the Suns still have a day or so to match the offer and force the Hawks to do a trade for King.

Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick has joined the conga line of clubs in Melbourne to meet with wantaway Swan Nick Blakey.

Blakey’s partner lives in Queensland.

Other clubs believe Geelong - who are also scheduled to meet the contracted Swan - are the frontrunners but their capacity to get a deal done is slim given their existing draft capital.

However, they could strengthen their hand.

Gold Coast Suns coach Damien Hardwick has flown to Melbourne to meet Nick Blakey, who is as we reported yesterday, is meeting the Cats as well.

Hardwick is doing his due diligence on the Swans star.

Nick Blakey will meet with Geelong as soon as Thursday as he explores a potential move to the Cats amid the rancorous fallout from the Pullman Hotel scandal.

Blakey flew into Melbourne on Wednesday to meet with his management and discuss a potential exit from Sydney, after a breakdown in the relationship between club and player.

According to two industry sources with knowledge of the situation, Blakey is preparing to sit down with the Cats as he explores whether a stunning late trade can be engineered despite having five years remaining on his lucrative Sydney contract.

He is yet to request a trade; however, this masthead revealed on Wednesday that the Cats, Essendon and St Kilda have all expressed interest in the 26-year-old who is contracted until the end of 2031.

As the Giants face more player turnover, one mainstay will remain in the charcoal and orange with midfielder and former captain Stephen Coniglio signing on for his 16th season.

Coniglio is the last original Giant still with the club following Toby Greene’s move to Geelong and the Giants confirmed he was sticking around this morning.

Giants football general manager Jason McCartney praised Coniglio.

“Stephen is clearly an extremely valued person and player and it’s fantastic that he’ll be at the club next year,” McCartney said.

The action continues today as more AFL clubs look to lock in deals before the weekend arrives.

I’m Roy Ward and I’ll be tapping away at the keys today.

All eyes will be on whether Nick Blakey meets with Geelong today or Sydney give any indications of their plans for him.