Former Adelaide defender Jake Kelly (left) will be a Bomber in 2022, while Tiger Mabior Chol is headed to Gold Coast.
The 2021 AFL free agency period got off to a steady start on Friday with two players finding new homes, and another one on the verge of following suit.
Essendon was the first club to add to its playing stocks by securing the services of former Adelaide key defender Jake Kelly, while Gold Coast followed suit shortly after by acquiring ex-Richmond big man Mabior Chol. Both players landed at their new clubs as unrestricted free agents.
Meanwhile, Carlton has lodged paperwork to sign Sydney midfielder George Hewett as a restricted free agent. The Swans have three days to counter the offer otherwise Hewett will be donning the navy blue next year.
Kelly joins the Bombers on a three-year deal after an impressive eight-year stint in defence with the Crows which saw him play 110 games, including the 2017 grand final, and become a mainstay of their backline after originally winding up at West Lakes via the rookie draft.
An effective one-on-one backman, the 26-year-old looms as an important addition to the Essendon playing list, with Cale Hooker having retired, and question marks still hovering over Michael Hurley’s future.
And while the Bombers’ cobbled-together defence gelled fairly quickly and helped them make the finals this year, it is still very much a work in progress.
Essendon will be hoping that Kelly complements the likes of Jayden Laverde, James Stewart and Jordan Ridley, while also helping with the development of players such as Aaron Francis, Brandon Zerk-Thatcher and Zach Reid.
“We know Jake brings important experience,” Essendon’s general manager of list and recruiting Adrian Dodoro said. “He is a seamless fit with his ability to play on dangerous small to medium forwards, so we’re really pleased Jake has chosen to come to Essendon.
“In our discussions with Jake, he is very excited and motivated by the direction the club is headed, and we look forward to seeing what he can contribute to our emerging playing group in years to come.”
Coincidentally, Kelly and Stewart were father-son options that Collingwood had the chance to recruit but ultimately overlooked and could now end up playing alongside each other in the same backline of the Magpies’ arch-rival.
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Kelly was also a former teammate of Essendon coach Ben Rutten, with both players on Adelaide’s list during the 2014 season.
Chol’s move to Gold Coast could end up being hugely beneficial for both player and club.
The former Tiger has shown glimpses of his enormous potential in recent years, most notably against Brisbane in round 18 when he kicked four goals, and could be set to explode after only scratching the surface in his 31 games across six seasons at Punt Road.
Not only are the Suns in desperate need of ruck reinforcements, as was so plain to see when Jarrod Witts suffered a season-ending knee injury in round three, forcing makeshift ruck Chris Burgess to shoulder a lot of the load, but they could do with some added potency in attack, too.
Chol could offer relief on both fronts, and the Suns obviously see him as very capable of providing support to key targets up forward like Ben King, Sam Day and Josh Corbett.
The 24-year-old heads back to his home state Queensland on a four-year deal.
“Gold Coast was the club that I wanted to go to and to be able to go there now and be a Suns player is exciting,” Chol said. “The Suns have a really young list and I think that is the most exciting thing and a lot of good players too.
“I’m just really grateful that the club has shown a lot of interest in me and I’m the player for them, hopefully I can pay them back for all the respect and trust they’ve shown me to go after me.”
As compensation for their losses of Kelly and Chol respectively, Adelaide received pick 42 from the AFL, while the Tigers received pick 38.
There are still plenty of other players expected to switch clubs over the next couple of weeks during the trade/free agency period, with North Melbourne veteran Robbie Tarrant set to join Richmond, Fremantle’s Adam Cerra nominating Carlton as his preferred next club, and Sydney’s Jordan Dawson requesting a trade to Adelaide.
Sam Petrevski-Seton, Jarrod Brander, Callum Coleman-Jones, Patrick Lipinski, Luke Dunstan and Jordan Clark are just some of the other players who are expected to find new homes as well.
COMPLETED DEALS
1. Jake Kelly (Adelaide) joined Essendon as an unrestricted free agent. Adelaide received pick 42 (AFL) as compensation.
2. Mabior Chol (Richmond) joined Gold Coast as an unrestricted free agent. Richmond received pick 38 (AFL) as compensation.
