Nick Blakey to meet with Cats in trade bombshell

Nick Blakey will meet with Geelong as soon as Thursday as he explores a potential move to the Cats amid the rancorous fallout from the Pullman Hotel scandal.

Blakey flew into Melbourne on Wednesday to meet with his management and discuss a potential exit from Sydney, after a breakdown in the relationship between club and player.

According to two industry sources with knowledge of the situation, Blakey is preparing to sit down with the Cats as he explores whether a stunning late trade can be engineered despite having five years remaining on his lucrative Sydney contract.

He is yet to request a trade; however, this masthead revealed on Wednesday that the Cats, Essendon and St Kilda have all expressed interest in the 26-year-old who is contracted until the end of 2031.

Geelong is Blakey’s preferred destination should he leave the Swans, with the 26-year-old still determined to investigate a move despite Sydney publicly maintaining he’s a required player.

But the Cats’ trade collateral could be an issue with the club holding picks 14 and 34 as well as a future first-round pick in 2028 after using next year’s first-round pick to secure Jordan Ridley from Essendon on Wednesday.

Essendon are also in the mix for the All-Australian Swans defender, with the Bombers conducting due diligence on what looms as one of the most significant moves of the trade period.

There are obvious connections between Blakey and the new-look Essendon football department.

New Bombers coach Mark McVeigh spent six seasons on Sydney’s coaching staff, including five as an assistant to John Longmire, who himself has just crossed from the Swans to Essendon in a senior football role.

Longmire has known Nick Blakey since he was born, being a close friend with his dad John, a premiership teammate at North Melbourne. John also was an assistant coach with Longmire at the Swans. Longmire was Nick Blakey’s senior coach for the first six seasons of his AFL career.

Those relationships give Essendon intimate knowledge of Blakey as both a person and a footballer as the Bombers assess whether to make a serious play for him.

Blakey’s future has become one of the most intriguing storylines of the trade period after he was one of five Sydney players suspended for the remainder of the season following the fallout from the Pullman Hotel incident.

The incident is still being investigated by Victoria Police.

No charges have been laid and Blakey, along with four other Swans who served suspensions for breaching the club’s behavioural standards, has denied criminal wrongdoing. One of those players, Riley Bice, is no longer subject of the investigation and is being treated as a witness.

Blakey remains contracted to Sydney until the end of 2031, leaving the Swans with enormous leverage in any negotiation. Blakey is understood to be on a deal worth more than $1 million a season.

Sydney have so far publicly refused to entertain the prospect of losing him.

Swans head of list strategy Chris Keane said this week the club had received no indication from Blakey or his management that he wanted to leave and expected him to return in 2027.

But behind the scenes, the situation remains live.

Blakey has continued to canvass his options and his meeting with Geelong represents a significant escalation from the Cats’ public position earlier this week.

Geelong football boss Andrew Mackie said on Monday the club had done no work on a potential Blakey deal, having previously played down its interest in the running defender.

The Cats have already been among the busiest clubs of the exchange period, completing a deal with Essendon for defender Ridley.

Ridley, pick 60 and a fourth round pick in 2028 was traded in exchange for utility Jack Bowes, who joined his third club after stints with the Cats and the Suns, a 2027 first-round pick and a 2028 second-round pick.

They also landed Giants captain Toby Greene as an unrestricted free agent.

However, any plans to use a pick from West Coast for Gryan Miers in a deal with St Kilda ruckman Rowan Marshall were scuppered when Miers’ manager Liam Pickering said the contracted forward would not be joining the Eagles. Marshall remains adamant he wants out of the Saints and boycotted their club best and fairest on Monday night.

The Suns have offered Hawthorn’s Aidan Schubert a five-year deal to convince him to move north as part of a new look forward line. Schubert has been given time to make the call but if he decides to join the Suns, the club will take the compensation on offer for Ben King rather than matching the Hawks’ contractual offer to force a trade. They would then do a separate deal for Schubert.

Melbourne also convinced emerging Brisbane Lions forward Will McLachlan to request a trade after seven matches in two-and-a-half years. The Lions wanted to retain McLachlan, but the talented 21-year-old decided he was more likely to play AFL at the Demons in 2027.

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