Buku Khamis set to explore his options, Bombers facing big list crunch

Herald Sun

16 hours ago

Contracted Western Bulldogs swingman Buku Khamis is keen to find a new start with more opportunities as his manager confirmed 'if the right opportunity came up he would leave.'
Khamis has played 14 games this year but none since round 16, with coach Luke Beveridge looking past him in the past six weeks.
His manager Ray Purcell told this masthead on Tuesday that the Dogs wanted to extend him past his 2026 contract but he was keen to assess his options.
'Buku is still contracted for next year. We are talking to the Dogs and the reality is they want him. Everyone felt this would be his breakout season and he's a huge talent who keeps improving but he's got to play games,' Purcell said.
'If he is not playing games he reaches a threshold.
'If the right opportunity came up then he would go. But it has to be a club where he is going to play. He can have a very long and productive career if he's in an environment where he is playing games or he can have another year like this and he's on the shelf.'
Khamis was the club's first next generation academy player but they could lose him and fellow NGA star Jamarra Ugle-Hagan in the same off-season in a worrying reduction in their key position depth.
The Dogs have Liam Jones out of contract and out of favour and also face a huge decision on All Australian Adam Treloar, who has battled calf issues this season.
'The Dogs have been great,' Purcell said.
'He's (Buku) a great story through the academy and they have invested a lot in him but it's a mature industry and at the moment he can't live its life.
'It's like being a surgeon and watching other people perform. He has the capacity to play forward or back and what he needs is consistency of games in a position at the highest level. It's how you get better.'
The Dogs are on track to extend the contract of Tom Liberatore in coming weeks after another stellar season full of leadership and brilliant midfield form. SHOCK SUITOR FOR VETERAN CAT EMERGES
West Coast is opening its doors to bring in experienced heads this off-season, with an interest in veteran Cat Mitch Duncan.
The Eagles have emerged as a player in the coming trade period, with several figures in the football industry expecting Andrew McQualter's side to hunt experienced players to lift a team headed towards a second wooden spoon in three years.
A West Australian native, Duncan looms as a potential option to either play a season with the Eagles before stepping into coaching, or be lured west as a coach.
Duncan would be able to walk to any club he chooses as an unrestricted free agent, having played 305 games for the Cats.
He is yet to decide on his 2026 plans and whether he will retire, but has begun the path to coaching and enjoyed mentoring players in a VFL stint this year.
The two-time premiership player is due to return from shoulder surgery next week in a late-season push to be part of another Geelong finals series.
Duncan holds a relationship with McQualter that was struck up in a Covid hub.
The Eagles will talk with the AFL in coming weeks about winning draft assistance to boost its rebuild, with this year set to be the fourth running they finish in the bottom three.
Clubs like North Melbourne and Gold Coast have been handed extra list spots in the past, which could mean Duncan could fill a spot as a player next year without costing the club the chance to develop a youngster.
Sam Mitchell played one year with West Coast in 2017 before joining the club's coaching panel on the way to his gig as Hawthorn head coach, while Luke Hodge (Brisbane) and Jordan Lewis (Melbourne) also had stints with young sides that went on to win premierships.
A powerhouse off the field, West Coast has won 11 games since the start of 2022, and just one this year.
McQualter said this week his team was 'in a rush to get better' and the club was 'open to every avenue' to improve.
It is expected the Eagles will looks hard at players in the mid-stage of their career, as well as veterans, having lured Richmond premiership players Jack Graham and Liam Baker west last year. BOMBERS PLAYERS IN LIMBO
Essendon faces an unprecedented list crunch that has put as many as eight players in limbo after bringing in four mid-season draftees this season.
The Bombers have 48 players on their list and have four first and second-round draft picks with another likely to come in if they secure free agency compensation for Sam Draper.
It means the Dons have not been able to give answers to many of their current listed players about their futures.
The Bombers have tabled Draper a four year deal with a trigger for a fifth but Adelaide and Brisbane have submitted more lucrative offers.
The Herald Sun understands the Dons have offered contracts to back-up rucks Nick Bryan and Vigo Visentini, but Draper's decision affects both of those players.
Players who are yet to be offered deals include Will Setterfield, Jayden Laverde, Jaxon Prior, Matt Guelfi, Dylan Shiel, Todd Goldstein, Alwyn Davey Jnr and Luamon Lual.
Mid-season draftee Archer May was signed with an 18-month contract while Lachlan Blakiston, Oskar Smartt and Liam McMahon are out of contract this season but have all shown plenty in their time on field.
Blakiston has been told he is likely to get a new deal, while McMahon has kicked four goals in three AFL games.
Davey would seem less likely to be offered a new deal with the Dons set to bring in two new NGA players in Adam Sweid and Hussien El Achkar.
The Dons believe Harley Reid will re-sign at West Coast, but have two top ten picks given they secured Melbourne's first-rounder.
Clubs have varied views on Sweid and El Achkar, but they are likely to drop somewhere between the early 20s and pick 40.
The Dons could still trade up to ensure they take another pick in the teens or 20s before matching bids and are aware clubs will be keen to secure their top 10 picks for academy points.
So all options are still open as they tell managers they will have more clarity in offering deals in coming weeks.
Essendon is keen to keep top-ten pick Elijah Tsatas, who is contracted to next season, even though he is open to the possibility of playing elsewhere to get more game time.
They believe he still has huge upside but he could not get into the AFL side at a time when the list was decimated with injuries because the midfield was largely intact.
Then when the midfielders started dropping like flies he suffered a hamstring injury that will likely end his season. RETIRING GUNS SET TO BE HEADHUNTED
AFL clubs will be hunting three of the most respected football minds in the business this off-season with Travis Boak, Callan Ward and Luke Breust all set to be targeted for assistant coach or leadership roles.
Boak and Ward retired this week, with Ward telling this masthead he will take a break post-season but is open to opportunities in the football world.
He said he was still shattered to have missed out on his chance to win that elusive premiership but will remain at the Giants until the end of the season to continue helping their quest.
He does not have a specific role but has a huge presence with his leadership.
Breust is still mulling his decision but has played only five AFL games as the club gives chances to its new breed of small forwards.
He is keen to remain involved in football if this is his last AFL season after three AFL flags, and could eventually end up as a GM of football given his footy acumen.
Clubs like the Roos would be desperate for those kind of footy minds who can still relate to AFL players and also have exceptional leadership abilities. FRESH DEAL LOOMS FOR iNJURED BLUE
Carlton swingman Brodie Kemp is deep in discussions on a contract extension as the Blues begin to work through a deep list of players out of contract.
Kemp has been out since rupturing his achilles in April, having played in each of Carlton's five games before the injury.
An adaptable player, who can play key posts at either end, Kemp's return next season could off set Jack Silvagni's departure if he walks as a free agent and Harry O'Farrell as he recovers from an ACL rupture.
The Blues are planning to draft young key back Harry Dean as a father-son.
The Blues have a host of players to work through contract calls on, including Jesse Motlop, Nick Haynes and Alex Cincotta.
Tom De Koning and Silvagni are free agents who could be on the way out. CALL ON ASSISTANT COACHES COMING SOON
The AFL coaches association will distribute a list of available assistant coaches to clubs in coming weeks as it works with clubs to give advance warning on coaching movements.
The August 1 deadline for clubs to tell assistant coaches about their futures has come and gone.
But as AFLCA boss Alistair Nicholson says, it is more of a guideline than a concrete deadline.
He will continue to talk to club football bosses about giving out-of-contract assistant coaches warning so if they are moved on they are not stuck on the coaching merry-go-round without time to find a new role.
Once it becomes clear which clubs are not recontracting assistant coaches the AFLCA can distribute a list to clubs so they are aware of available talent.
'I reached out to the footy managers a couple of weeks ago to tell them August 1 is coming. It's not a contractual requirement. It's more of a convention,' Nicholson said.
'We ask them what they are thinking and it normally takes a couple of weeks for that to build throughout August.
'Our point is that we need to make sure it isn't happening in the first week of October. If everything gets moving earlier people can look for opportunities in different areas.
The lift in the AFL's football department soft cap of $750,000 will give clubs room to pay their assistant coaches more and also consider new hires.
'There are other parts of the program that will be topped up as well and clubs are also looking at the development areas as somewhere they might add to because clubs are aware it's challenging to bottom out or rebuild.'
Originally published as Moneyball: Buku Khamis set to explore his options, Bombers facing list crunch, Cat's Eagles link