lachie whitfield officially joins carlton
Written by Marcus Guarnera
Carlton have finally completed a trade to land Lachie Whitfield from GWS, after negotiating for majority of the trade period. The deal will see the Blues trade away both pick 25 and 26 alongside a Carlton’s third-round pick in 2028. Carlton will also land two more picks in this years draft with pick 31 and 50 according to Callum Twomey on X.
Whitfield will add run and carry off half-back for Carlton next season, in their first full campaign under Josh Fraser. Fraser took over from Michael Voss during last season and one of the major changes he made was to add more ball movement from halfback, which Whitfield has shown to be elite at over the years. Carlton have managed to add Whitfield all while keeping a strong draft hand for the next three years
The Blues still hold both their’s and Sydney’s first round pick for both this and next season, as a result of the Charlie Curnow trade. GWS wanted a first round pick for Whitfield, but Carlton where hesitant to offer this due to Whitfield’s age, and the fact he will be out of contract next season. Carlton also want a strong draft hand in 2028 where they will hope to match two father-son bids.
These bids will be for Lukas Koutoufides son of Anthony and Will Thornton son of Bret, who are already training with the Carlton academy. Carlton are losing their on third-round pick in 2028 in the trade for Whitfield. However the Blues picked up Port’s third-round pick in 2028 on Friday for Hudson O’Keeffe. Carlton also picked up Collingwood’s third-round pick in 2028 as they traded Flynn Riley earlier today.
Riley pushed for a move to join Collingwood as he requested a trade to the Pies before the opening of the trade period. Callum Twomey is now reporting that the deal was completed today for the Pies third-round pick. Carlton where likely more open to trading away a pick in 2028 to complete a deal for Whitfield once they received one of those picks from Collingwood.
This is despite the fact that Carlton offered Riley a two-year contract to stay at Ikon Park. Instead Riley will take a four-year deal to join Collingwood, as the Pies offered Riley a longer deal according to Sam Edmund. This comes as Collingwood have been fans of Riley for a long-time as they wanted to select him in last seasons mid-season draft. However, Carlton where on the board before Collingwood and decided to select him before Collingwood.
Carlton will now need to bring another ruckman to Ikon Park after the loss of Flynn Riley and Hudson O’Keeffe to the Bulldogs last Friday. Marc Pittonet and Liam Reidy are now the only rucks left on Carlton’s list. Carlton could trade for another ruckman before the trade deadline tomorrow, however the most likely anwser for Carlton will be through the draft or by picking up a delisted free agent.
