AFL trade week: the deals are done, the pressure is just starting

Three deals were completed on day one of the AFL trade period, including Zach Merrett’s move to Hawthorn. That quick resolution has not quieted the market; it has opened room for bigger questions, with a possible Zak Butters deal and Rowan Marshall seeking a move to Geelong. Marshall’s absence from St Kilda’s best-and-fairest night makes the tension unusually public. The early lesson: trade week rewards decisiveness, but it also exposes who is prepared to wait—and who isn’t.

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