AFL Trade Period and Draft 2026: Key Dates and What They Mean for 2027
Free agency opens 2 October, the trade period closes 7:30pm AEDT on 14 October, and the national draft runs 19 and 20 November. Every date, how the draft order is really set, and what it does to next season's premiership market.
Quick answer. The 2026 AFL player movement period runs across October and November. Free agency opens Friday 2 October, the trade period runs Monday 5 October to Wednesday 14 October, delisted free agency runs 2 to 6 November, and the national draft is held on Thursday 19 and Friday 20 November with the rookie draft on Monday 23 November.
For six weeks after the grand final, the AFL is the most-searched sport in Australia despite nobody playing a game. Trade period and the draft are where next season's premiership market is actually decided, and they are the two events that reprice 2027 futures more than anything that happens in February.
Every key date, in order
| Window | Opens | Closes |
|---|---|---|
| AFL Free Agency | Friday 2 October, 9:00am AEST | Friday 9 October, 5:00pm AEDT |
| Trade Period | Monday 5 October, 9:00am AEDT | Wednesday 14 October, 7:30pm AEDT |
| Delisted Free Agency | Monday 2 November, 9:00am AEDT | Friday 6 November, 5:00pm AEDT |
| National Draft, round 1 | Thursday 19 November | |
| National Draft, remaining rounds | Friday 20 November | |
| Rookie Draft | Monday 23 November, 3:00pm AEDT | |
Note the timezone shift. Free agency opens on AEST and closes on AEDT because daylight saving starts in the first week of October. The trade deadline of 7:30pm AEDT on Wednesday 14 October is the hard cut-off, and a large share of every year's deals are agreed in the final two hours before it.
Free agency, trades and the draft are three different things
They get discussed as one blur of player movement, but the mechanisms are distinct and that matters if you are trying to work out what a club can realistically do.
How the draft order is actually set
The phrase "draft order" gets used as though it is just the reverse ladder. It is not, and the gap between the two is where most of the confusion comes from.
- Base order is reverse ladder. The wooden spooner picks first, the premier picks last, within each round.
- Trades move picks. By the time the draft arrives, a large number of selections have changed hands, often several times, and future-year picks are in play too.
- Free agency compensation adds picks. Clubs losing a significant free agent receive a compensation selection, which is inserted into the order rather than replacing an existing pick.
- Academy and father-son bids reshuffle everything. When a rival bids on an academy or father-son prospect, the holding club matches using a points system, which consumes their later picks and slides everyone else down.
This is why a phantom draft published in September looks nothing like the real thing in November, and why the genuinely useful version of that content is published after the trade period closes on 14 October rather than before it.
What trade period does to 2027 premiership odds
Futures markets on next season open during or shortly after the trade period, and they are priced off a roster that is still moving. Three patterns are worth understanding.
The market overreacts to named recruits and underreacts to depth
A single high-profile signing moves a club's price further than one player usually moves a twenty-two man team across twenty-three rounds. Losing three solid contributors quietly generally moves it less than it should.
Prices set in October are priced without the most important information
Pre-season injuries, list changes, role changes and the fixture itself are all still unknown. A premiership price taken in October is a bet made with materially less information than the same price in February, and the compensation for that is usually a longer price. Whether that compensation is adequate is the actual question.
Draft picks do not affect next season much
Most drafted eighteen-year-olds contribute little in their first year. A club that wins the trade period on draft capital has improved its 2029 outlook far more than its 2027 one, and futures markets do not always reflect that distinction.
Where the AFL model picks back up
Our AFL model runs weekly through the season with a published accuracy record at /afl-model-accuracy/. It is trained on match results, form, venue and travel, so it has nothing useful to say about trade period or the draft. It comes back online for the pre-season series in February and runs every round from the opening round.
Between the draft in late November and the pre-season in February, the Australian betting calendar hands over to the cricket. The Big Bash starts on 12 December and runs to the final on 26 January.
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Frequently asked questions
When is the 2026 AFL trade period?
The 2026 AFL trade period opens on Monday 5 October at 9:00am AEDT and closes on Wednesday 14 October at 7:30pm AEDT.
When is the 2026 AFL national draft?
The first round of the national draft is held on Thursday 19 November 2026, with the remaining rounds on Friday 20 November. The rookie draft follows on Monday 23 November at 3:00pm AEDT.
When does AFL free agency open in 2026?
Free agency opens on Friday 2 October 2026 at 9:00am AEST and closes on Friday 9 October at 5:00pm AEDT. A separate delisted free agency window runs from Monday 2 November to Friday 6 November.
What is the difference between free agency and the trade period?
In free agency an eligible player moves on their own terms, and their existing club can either match the offer or accept a compensation draft pick. In the trade period, clubs negotiate with each other and draft picks are the currency, so a contracted player can only move if their club agrees.
How is the AFL draft order decided?
The base order is the reverse of the final ladder, but it is heavily modified before draft night. Traded picks change hands, free agency compensation selections are inserted into the order, and academy and father-son bids are matched using a points system that consumes the holding club's later picks and pushes other clubs down.
Why do phantom drafts published early turn out to be wrong?
Because the draft order itself is not settled until after the trade period closes on 14 October, and it moves again on draft night as academy and father-son bids are matched. A phantom draft published before the trade period is working from an order that no longer exists by November.
Does the AFL trade period affect 2027 premiership odds?
Yes, and it is the single biggest repricing event of the AFL off-season. Worth keeping in mind that markets tend to move a long way on a single named recruit and less than they should on quiet losses of depth, and that drafted teenagers rarely affect the following season much at all.