Bailey Smith and Patrick Dangerfield. Credit: Instagram That incident prompted Smith to apologise by text message to the female photographer. Smith, dressed in a cowboy hat as a Brad Pitt from the film Legends of the Fall, posed for close photo with Patrick Dangerfield, dressed as a character from TV series Yellowstone, and posted to social media a comment about it being a look from Brokeback Mountain. Smith – who has flirted with controversy all year – had AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon come to his house for a fireside chat to discuss his behaviour, but has escaped any serious AFL or club sanction. Earlier, AFL football boss Greg Swann said the league was “not thrilled” with the behaviour of the Geelong players but wanted to push matters such as these back to clubs to deal with and not the league.
“We’re not thrilled, obviously, with what happened and nor are Geelong, so they’re going to take some steps,” Swann said ahead of the Cats’ apology. “We pushed it down to them to deal with. We’ve had some good chats to them about that, and they already were [looking at it], which was good.”
- Michael Gleeson Petracca meets with the Suns Christian Petracca has flown to the Gold Coast to meet the Suns in a hastily organised meeting two days after he met with the Crows in Adelaide.
Petracca had already spoken with coach Damien Hardwick but on Wednesday boarded a plane for the Gold Coast to meet with the leadership group and senior staff ahead of the club’s best and fairest award. Wantaway Demons star Christian Petracca. Credit: AFL Photos The Demons’ 2021 Norm Smith medallist told the club last week he was interested in a trade again this year, and the club was happy for him to speak with other clubs. The Suns had made a strong bid to secure Collingwood free agent Jamie Elliott and are very keen on James Rowbottom from Sydney. Petracca would add class and ball-winning strength to the midfield of Brownlow medallist Matt Rowell and captain Noah Anderson, and allow the Suns to use former skipper Touk Miller in different roles.
Suns midfielder Sam Flanders has fielded offers from a number of Victorian clubs, including St Kilda, who are prepared to trade pick No.7 in the draft for the midfielder they have offered a five-year deal worth about $900,000 a year to. The Bombers are also keen on Flanders. The Suns had said they would not entertain trading the contracted Flanders without bringing in another experienced, quality player such as Elliott. Petracca would fit that bill. Pick No.7, were they to secure it, could be enticing for Melbourne as part of a trade. The Demons are among clubs very interested in the Suns’ dynamic forward/midfielder Bailey Humphrey, who is contracted. Gold Coast are not prepared to entertain offers to trade him.
Should the Suns continue to pursue Western Bulldogs forward Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, who also met with the club’s coaches and senior players on Wednesday, that might open up conversations around other senior Suns players for trade. Pending the feedback from senior players and coaches on the Ugle Hagan meeting, the Suns will decide whether to continue to pursue the former No.1 draft pick. Ugle-Hagan missed the entire AFL season this year through injury, fitness and personal issues, and a source with knowledge of the situation said the Suns would ask the AFL for full disclosure on any, and all, issues connected to Ugle-Hagan that might affect his ability to play next year. Those close to Ugle-Hagan say getting out of Victoria would be good for the talented, dynamic tall forward. He spent time at a health retreat in Queensland in the middle of this year. Should the Suns pursue Ugle-Hagan – at this stage, they appear his only suitor – they would seek to strike their own new contract with the player and leave his management to settle the outstanding terms with the Western Bulldogs.
Jamarra Ugle-Hagan trained sparingly with the Western Bulldogs this year. Credit: Eddie Jim That is, the Suns would offer their own contract and the Bulldogs either reach a settlement with Ugle-Hagan for the remainder of his contract with them, or the Dogs pay the balance between any Suns offer and the residual amount on his contract. Loading Ugle-Hagan did not play football at any level in 2025 as he dealt with a range of issues from his fitness and health to personal and family matters. His training during the year was sporadic. After missing the finals in 2025, the Western Bulldogs will reconvene on Wednesday night for their best and fairest vote count – the Charles Sutton Medal.
Last month Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge said he was hopeful Ugle-Hagan would return to playing AFL in 2026 but did not commit to that being at his club, where the talented forward remains contracted for one more season on about $800,000. “We haven’t seen him for a couple of weeks. He’s been home dealing with some stuff on the mission,” Beveridge said. “It seems like he’s healthy enough, and he’s still training on. I’m just hoping for him that the end of it all is there’s an opportunity for him to play AFL footy next year.”
- Michael Gleeson On the move: Tasmania Devils and their chief executive Brendon Gale now have a clear picture of their list concessions. Credit: Artwork: Stephen Kiprillis $5m sign-on pool and a bounty of draft picks: Tassie’s list concessions
The AFL’s bid to make the Tasmania Devils competitive from day one have been revealed, including giving the fledgling club a signing bonus pool of $5 million to secure star talent from rivals. Loading The list concessions, rubber-stamped by the AFL Commission last week, also include having the Devils trade six of their11 first-round draft picks across their first three years in the AFL. They have been given picks Nos.1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 and 13, and the first selection of each subsequent round in their first draft, which is expected to be in 2027, ahead of their AFL debut in 2028. Four of these picks – Nos.5, 7, 11 and 13 – will need to be used in trades.
In their second and third drafts, the Devils will have their own first-round selection, as well as being handed picks Nos.5 and 9 in each year. However, the No.5 pick must be traded. They will also have the first selection in each subsequent round. The Devils will have multiple years to trade those picks, allowing them to be used in the ensuing two national drafts. While a bonus signing pool had been floated, that the pool is up to $5 million will ensure the Devils are an attractive option for established talent willing to make a move. Collingwood star Nick Daicos told this masthead this year that he wouldn’t rule out a move to Tasmania. “I’d never rule anything out. It’s hard to picture, obviously, it’s so far away – but I’m very happy at Collingwood now,” he said.
The Devils will have two years to snare up to 18 uncontracted players as free agents from rival clubs, with a maximum of one player per club. Clubs that lose uncontracted players will be handed compensation picks in return. In a statement, the AFL said the list concessions given to the Devils will be subject to review, depending on any changes to the overall draft system. The Devils continue to search for a senior coach, with Collingwood great Nathan Buckley among the candidates.
- Jon Pierik
[SRC] https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/sport/afl/suns-will-seek-info-from-afl-as-they-explore-ugle-hagan-trade-20251001-p5mz7e.html
