AFL trade period day three LIVE coverage: Saints and Cats tussle over Marshall

Updated October 7, 2026 — 11:12am,first published October 7, 2026 — 8:59am

The Giants have farewelled assistant coach Ben Hart, as he departs the club for an opportunity with Collingwood.

The four-time All-Australian defender won two premierships with the Crows and two best and fairests across a 311-game Hall of Fame career.

Hart most recently coached in Melbourne when he led the Northern Bullants in the VFL in 2022.

Geelong have their hands full in attempting to secure Jordan Ridley from Essendon in exchange for picks and Jack Bowes with discussions expected today.

The Cats are aware they need to stump up more than their initial offer for Rowan Marshall and are working hard to reach a position where they can improve their offer.

If Miers goes to West Coast, they may be able to secure a pick in the early 20s however that all rests on the Eagles who have not yet made an offer to Miers to turn his head west.

West Coast will need to make their call soon.

When the NFL made landfall at the MCG, it catapulted Melbourne into global focus.

Thousands of Americans came here unaware of the Yarra River or the city’s laneway culture, instead equating Australia with images pushed in advertising – the outback, kangaroos and Uluru.

Most knew the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House – but little of Australia’s second-largest city, whose cultural assets and imagery are, as research has repeatedly attested, consistently absent from the country’s most internationally recognised emblems

The Victorian government often cites Melbourne as the sports and arts capital of Australia.

What needs to be done to retain this status, and remain internationally competitive, will be discussed later this month at Melbourne Assembly, a civic forum The Age is hosting, bringing together industry leaders, key decision-makers and the community to shape the city’s future.

Read more here: 

In 2008, The Age’s Emma Quayle flew to Perth to interview Jaymie Graham.

It is the story of how Graham and his partner, Kasey, became legal guardians of his youngest sister, Candy.

The decision to take five-year-old Candy into their home - Jaymie and Kasey have two younger children, Hudson and Neve - was a major reason for his retirement from playing at the age of 25. Graham became one of the most respected assistant coaches in the AFL, and on Tuesday was appointed North Melbourne’s senior coach. Candy is now in her 20s. Emma Quayle is a recruiter for GWS.

You can read the remarkable story here. 

Didn’t have time to read up on all the trade news yesterday? No worries at all, our summary is below:

Richmond have secured ex-Fremantle winger Nathan O’Driscoll in a low-cost move to bolster Adem Yze’s midfield division.

The Tigers handed over pick 61 for O’Driscoll in the only completed deal on the second day of the trade period on Tuesday.

However, Hawthorn did lodge paperwork for sharpshooter Ben King to join as a free agent from Gold Coast, while Zane Duursma doubled down on his request to move to Melbourne, and will not consider staying with the Kangaroos.

Although there was only one trade officially lodged on Tuesday, there was still plenty happening and plenty for Andrew Wu and Michael Gleeson to talk about on the Real Footy podcast.

Hawthorn’s move on Ben King and – coupled with the recruitment of Zach Merrett on Monday – what it means for their premierships aspirations was on top of the agenda.

They also spoke about Jaymie Graham’s first outing as senior coach of North Melbourne, the complex negotiations surrounding Rowan Marshall, Sam Marshall and, potentially, Gryan Miers.

Have a listen here:

Hello and welcome to the third morning of trade period, the AFL’s silly season.

I’m Hannah Kennelly and I’ll be guiding you through the first part of the day.

We’ll be covering every weekday of this period – it ends on Wednesday October 15 – live from 9am AEDT, with all the news, analysis and inside word on the wheeling, dealing and player moves.

Our experts will also have daily wraps on the Real Footy podcast each day – we will let you know a little later how to submit your questions for the team to answer. And we always have an eye on the comments, so have your say there too.