2026 AFL trade period: the club moves and what they mean for SuperCoach and AFL Fantasy
The AFL counts 30 players who changed clubs in the 2026 trade and free agency period, and for SuperCoach and AFL Fantasy in 2027 each of them takes his new club's bye. Fantasy League Lens matched the 28 confirmed in Nine's tracker against last season's scoring and the 2027 fixture, so you can see who moved, what they averaged and which bye round they now carry.
The 28 moves, by 2026 SuperCoach average
| Player | Move | Position | SuperCoach avg | AFL Fantasy avg | Games | 2027 bye |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zak Butters | Port Adelaide to Western Bulldogs | MID | 121.2 | 104.5 | 17 | R12 → R15 |
| Lachie Neale | Brisbane to Collingwood | MID | 110 | 102.2 | 23 | R11 → R14 |
| Zach Merrett | Essendon to Hawthorn | MID | 108.3 | 104.1 | 23 | R15 |
| Lachie Whitfield | GWS to Carlton | DEF | 103 | 99.8 | 21 | R12 → R14 |
| Nick Blakey | Sydney to North Melbourne | DEF | 98.6 | 86 | 22 | R12 → R13 |
| Rowan Marshall | St Kilda to Geelong | RUC/FWD | 90.5 | 83.3 | 21 | R14 → R12 |
| Scott Pendlebury | Collingwood to Gold Coast | MID | 83.8 | 79.2 | 17 | R14 → R11 |
| Kieren Briggs | GWS to Richmond | RUC | 83.2 | 71.9 | 18 | R12 → R11 |
| Toby Greene | GWS to Geelong | FWD/MID | 81.5 | 85.8 | 21 | R12 |
| Flynn Riley | Carlton to Collingwood | RUC | 80 | 65 | 1 | R14 |
| Trent Rivers | Melbourne to West Coast | DEF | 79.1 | 77.4 | 16 | R15 → R14 |
| Keidean Coleman | Brisbane to Essendon | DEF | 72.8 | 66 | 13 | R11 → R15 |
| Nathan O'Driscoll | Fremantle to Richmond | MID | 66.3 | 64.1 | 16 | R13 → R11 |
| Jack Bowes | Geelong to Essendon | MID | 65.3 | 69.9 | 9 | R12 → R15 |
| Sam Marshall | Brisbane to St Kilda | MID | 63.5 | 56 | 2 | R11 → R14 |
| Ben King | Gold Coast to Hawthorn | FWD | 58.6 | 48.9 | 23 | R11 → R15 |
| Jesse Hogan | GWS to Collingwood | FWD | 55.8 | 49.1 | 9 | R12 → R14 |
| Josh Goater | North Melbourne to Hawthorn | DEF | 55.2 | 55.3 | 6 | R13 → R15 |
| Joel Amartey | Sydney to Carlton | FWD | 54.1 | 50.4 | 15 | R12 → R14 |
| Jordon Butts | Adelaide to Western Bulldogs | DEF | 53.4 | 42.2 | 9 | R11 → R15 |
| Jordan Ridley | Essendon to Geelong | DEF | 52 | 57 | 7 | R15 → R12 |
| Sam Butler | Hawthorn to Gold Coast | MID/FWD | 50.9 | 59.4 | 8 | R15 → R11 |
| Luke Pedlar | Adelaide to Port Adelaide | FWD | 44.3 | 47.3 | 10 | R11 → R12 |
| Zane Duursma | North Melbourne to Melbourne | DEF/FWD | 39.9 | 36.1 | 15 | R13 → R15 |
| Will McLachlan | Brisbane to Melbourne | FWD | 28 | 28 | 1 | R11 → R15 |
| Aidan Schubert | Hawthorn to Gold Coast | RUC/FWD | 24 | 49 | 1 | R15 → R11 |
| Jack Viney | Melbourne to West Coast | MID | 0 | 0 | 0 | R15 → R14 |
| Brodie Ryan | Hawthorn to Melbourne | · | · | · | · | R15 |
Averages and games are from the 2026 home-and-away season. Positions are 2026 positions. The bye column shows the 2027 bye at the old club, then the new one where it changes. · means no 2026 record.
The big scorers on the move
Five players who averaged 95 or more in SuperCoach changed clubs: Zak Butters (Port Adelaide to Western Bulldogs, 121.2 SuperCoach, 104.5 AFL Fantasy); Lachie Neale (Brisbane to Collingwood, 110 SuperCoach, 102.2 AFL Fantasy); Zach Merrett (Essendon to Hawthorn, 108.3 SuperCoach, 104.1 AFL Fantasy); Lachie Whitfield (GWS to Carlton, 103 SuperCoach, 99.8 AFL Fantasy); Nick Blakey (Sydney to North Melbourne, 98.6 SuperCoach, 86 AFL Fantasy).
Last season's average is a record, not a forecast. How a new club uses a player, his role, his time on ground and who he shares the ball with, decides whether he holds it, and none of that is known until the pre-season matches. Treat these averages as the starting point for a question, not the answer.
Byes move with the player
2027 has no early byes. Every club has one mid-season bye between Round 11 and Round 15, and a traded player takes his new club's. 24 of the 28 moves change a player's bye round. Among the bigger names: Zak Butters (Round 12 to Round 15), Lachie Neale (Round 11 to Round 14), Lachie Whitfield (Round 12 to Round 14), Scott Pendlebury (Round 14 to Round 11) and Rowan Marshall (Round 14 to Round 12). Zach Merrett stays in Round 15, because Essendon and Hawthorn share it.
| Bye round | Clubs | Moved players now in it |
|---|---|---|
| Round 11 | Adelaide, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Richmond | 5 |
| Round 12 | Geelong, GWS, Port Adelaide, Sydney | 4 |
| Round 13 | Fremantle, North Melbourne | 1 |
| Round 14 | Carlton, Collingwood, St Kilda, West Coast | 8 |
| Round 15 | Essendon, Hawthorn, Melbourne, Western Bulldogs | 10 |
Round 15 now holds 10 of the moved players, the most of any bye round. In 2026 both games scored your best 18 in a bye round; neither had announced its 2027 bye rules by early November, so check before you build around them.
Moves with almost no 2026 data
Some averages above rest on very few games: Flynn Riley (1 game), Sam Marshall (2 games), Will McLachlan (1 game), Aidan Schubert (1 game). Jack Viney did not play a game in 2026, and Brodie Ryan is not in either game's 2026 player list. Those numbers tell you very little about 2027.
Plan your 2027 side with the new clubs
The free Fantasy League Lens team builder already puts every traded player at his new club, so its bye planner counts each player against the right round before the 2027 player lists are out. The 2027 loophole schedule shows when each club plays every round. Once the season starts, Fantasy League Lens captures your private league after each lockout and shows who owns what, every rival trade and your bye-round lineup.
The 2027 AFL SuperCoach and AFL Fantasy season passes are A$19.99 each until the first Round 1 game (7.30pm AEDT, Wednesday 17 March 2027), then A$24.99, with no subscription.
Moves from Nine's trade and free agency tracker (updated 14 October 2026), read 30 October 2026. Nine lists 28 moves; the AFL counts 30, so two are not shown here. Averages from the 2026 SuperCoach and AFL Fantasy player lists after the final home-and-away round. 2027 byes from the AFL's 2027 match data.
Common questions
Which players changed clubs in the 2026 AFL trade period?
28 confirmed moves are listed here, from Nine's trade and free agency tracker. The biggest fantasy scorers to move were Zak Butters (Port Adelaide to Western Bulldogs), Lachie Neale (Brisbane to Collingwood), Zach Merrett (Essendon to Hawthorn), Lachie Whitfield (GWS to Carlton) and Nick Blakey (Sydney to North Melbourne). The AFL counts 30 moves in total.
How do the 2026 trades change 2027 byes?
A player takes his new club's bye. 24 of the 28 moved players change bye round, and 10 now have theirs in Round 15, including Zak Butters, Keidean Coleman and Jack Bowes. Neither SuperCoach nor AFL Fantasy had announced its 2027 bye rules by early November 2026.
When are 2027 SuperCoach and AFL Fantasy prices released?
Neither game had published 2027 starting prices by early November 2026. Fantasy League Lens updates its player lists, and the team builder, once they do.