Hudson O’Keefe set to join the bulldogs in five team mega trade

Written by Marcus Guarnera

Carlton are set to be apart of the five team trade that will see Zak Butters join the Western Bulldogs. The deal will include Hudson O’Keeffe leaving Carlton to join the Bulldogs, after he nominated them as his preferred trade destination before the opening of the trade period. O’Keeffe will be the first of two ruckman to leave Carlton this trade period as Flynn Riley is expected to leave Carlton to join Collingwood.

Carlton will receive Melbourne’s 2028 fourth round pick as compensation for giving up O’Keeffe according to Tom Morris via X. Carlton will not be involved in any other pick swaps in the deal despite rumours Carlton could look to move up within the first round of this years draft. Carlton will need to match a father/son bid for Cody Walker and that could be difficult for Carlton currently if he is bid on with one of the first two picks.

Regardless a future fourth round pick is reasonable compensation for a ruckman which has only played in eight games in the last two seasons. Carlton could have decided to take a pick in 2028 rather than a pick this year to bolster their hand for the 2028 draft. Lukas Koutoufides son of Anthony and Will Thornton son of Bret will both be eligible for Carlton to bid on through farther/son rule in the 2028 draft.

Both have already begun playing for the Vic-Metro under 16s team and training within the Carlton academy. Currently Carlton only have their own picks in all four rounds of that draft and none from other teams. The Blues picks will also be pushed back as Tasmania are set to hold three first round picks in the 2028 draft with their original pick, pick five which they are forced to trade and pick nine.