Dan Houston was all smiles on Tuesday after finally making his way from Port Adelaide to Collingwood in a massive five-player trade. Photo: AFL MEDIA

After more than a week of inactivity, the 2024 AFL trade period sprung to life on Tuesday with a deluge of player movements.

The biggest deal of the day involved five players and three clubs.

One of the highest-profile trade targets in star Port Adelaide backman Dan Houston finally made his way to Collingwood along with the Power’s pick 58.

As part of the deal, Port Adelaide received Gold Coast pair Jack Lukosius and Rory Atkins as well as Collingwood mature-age recruit Joe Richards, and the Power also pocketed draft selections 13, 29 and 50 from the Suns while also snaring pick 36 from Collingwood.

The third leg of the monster trade saw Magpies speedster John Noble head up to Gold Coast which also acquired a future first-round pick each from Collingwood and Port Adelaide while also taking selection 39 off the Power’s hands.

The other big trade of the day also involved three clubs, as West Coast welcomed Richmond premiership star Liam Baker into the fold as well as Carlton goalsneak Matt Owies. The Eagles also got picks 12 and 73 from the Blues.

However, controversially, to make the deal happen, West Coast gave up its highly coveted pick 3 to the Blues who also obtained picks 63 and 68 from the Eagles. It’s certainly a bold strategy from West Coast, considering next month’s draft is widely tipped to be one of the best ever.

The last piece of the trade saw the Tigers come into possession of pick 14 from the Blues. Richmond now has four picks in the top 25 (1, 14, 20 and 24) and with Shai Bolton and Daniel Rioli expected to attract premium prices from Fremantle and Gold Coast respectively, the Tigers could end up with as many as eight of the first 25 selections.

West Coast CEO Don Pyke did his best to quell fan discontent over the pick 3 trade.

“If you look at the deal in isolation, the slide from No.3 to No.12, and obviously using No.14 to get Liam Baker, looks a bit odd,” Pyke told SEN on Tuesday.

“But for us it was part of a bigger play that we had around Liam and the commitment we made to him to bring him to the club.

“So we’re fulfilling and honouring that commitment as well as sliding back in a draft which we believe has got some depth.”

Meanwhile, late in the day fringe Lion Harry Sharp got his wish and landed at Melbourne with the Demons’ pick 49 and future third-round pick heading back Brisbane’s way.

The Lions were also involved in a separate pick swap which saw them net selection 27 from the Saints and give up picks 32 and 45.

With less than 24 hours before the trade deadline, there are still plenty of players who are yet to get to their clubs of choice.

Geelong and the Bulldogs remain at loggerheads over Bailey Smith, and the prospect of the Cats walking him to the draft remains a possibility with the Dogs unhappy with the current offer of pick 17.

Gold Coast is closing in on Rioli and is expected to part ways with picks 6 and 23 in order to reunite him with his old coach Damien Hardwick, as the Suns also aim to ensure they have enough points to snare academy product Leo Lombard.

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West Coast defender Tom Barrass is expected to make his way to the Hawks, despite Hawthorn’s stunning decision to trade pick 14 last week, and Bolton still looks on course for Fremantle in a deal that will almost certainly see the Tigers get picks 10 and 18 in return.

Sydney champion Luke Parker is no closer to joining North Melbourne after the Swans rejected the Kangaroos’ initial offer of pick 62, Essendon forward Jake Stringer remains likely to get to GWS and diminutive Bulldogs utility Caleb Daniel looks headed for North Melbourne as well.

Speculation might remain strong regarding Melbourne superstar Clayton Oliver wanting to join Geelong, but the Demons remain adamant he isn’t going anywhere and they are displaying similar levels of confidence about Kysaiah Pickett.

St Kilda has its sights on Bulldogs veteran Jack Macrae and reportedly made a play for Carlton swing man Brodie Kemp after cooling on Port Adelaide ruckman Ivan Soldo.

A possible return to GWS for Essendon midfielder Dylan Shiel is looking less likely, James Peatling wants to join former Giants teammate Isaac Cumming at the Crows and the Eagles have declared an interest in Brisbane youngster Deven Robertson.

The 2024 AFL trade deadline is 7:30pm Wednesday (AEDT).

2024 PLAYER MOVEMENTS

17. Harry Sharp (BL) traded to Melbourne in exchange for pick 49 and future third-round pick.

12/13/14/15/16. Collingwood received Dan Houston (PA) and pick 58 (PA); Port Adelaide received Jack Lukosius (GC), Rory Atkins (GC), Joe Richards (Coll), pick 13 (GC), pick 29 (GC), pick 36 (Coll) and pick 50 (GC); Gold Coast received John Noble (Coll), pick 39 (PA), future first-round pick (Coll), future first-round pick (PA).

*Pick 27 (StK) traded to Brisbane in exchange for picks 32 and 45.

10/11. West Coast received Liam Baker (Rich), Matt Owies (Carl), pick 12 (Carl) and pick 73 (Carl); Carlton received pick 3 (WC), pick 63 (WC) and pick 68 (WC); Richmond received pick 14 (Carl).

*Pick 9 (Ess) and future third-round pick (Ess) traded to Melbourne in exchange for picks 28, 40, 46, 54, 65 and future first-round pick.

*Pick 46 (Adel) traded to Melbourne in exchange for future third-round pick.

*Pick 14 (Haw) traded to Carlton in exchange for future first-round pick and future second-round pick.

*Pick 34 (Carl) and pick 66 (Carl) traded to the Brisbane Lions in exchange for future second-round pick and pick 73.

*Pick 20 (BL) traded to Richmond in exchange for picks 32, 42, 43 and 45.

9. Jack Graham (Rich) joined West Coast as an unrestricted free agent. Richmond received pick 42 (AFL) as compensation.

8. Jack Darling (WC) traded to North Melbourne in exchange for pick 68.

7. Alex Neal-Bullen (Melb) traded to Adelaide in exchange for pick 28.

6. Isaac Cumming (GWS) joined Adelaide as an unrestricted free agent. GWS received pick 21 (AFL) as compensation.

5. Nick Haynes (GWS) joined Carlton as an unrestricted free agent.

4. Tom Campbell (StK) joined Melbourne as a delisted free agent.

3. Harry Perryman (GWS) joined Collingwood as an unrestricted free agent. GWS received pick 16 (AFL) as compensation.

2. Josh Battle (StK) joined Hawthorn as an unrestricted free agent. St Kilda received pick 8 (AFL) as compensation.

1. Elliott Himmelberg (Adel) joined Gold Coast as an unrestricted free agent.