AFL Trades: Hawthorn blink on Tom Barrass deal as West Coast Eagles land valuable Chad Warner bait

It was a long, painful game of who blinked first.

And the Hawks blinked.

With about 20 minutes remaining til the trade deadline, West Coast landed some value for a contracted player, some bait to help them catch a big fish in 2025.

And the Hawks got Tom Barrass, the elite defender they believe will help them take another step towards challenging for silverware.

The Eagles were chasing two first-rounders and, in the end, received a future first, second and third pick while sending back a future fourth to the Hawks.

Tellingly, West Coast had the choice and called for the picks to be tied to Hawthorn, not Carlton, as the Hawks had future first and second-rounders from both following their stunning decision to trade away selection 14 last Friday, one of the key planks to the Barrass deal.

The Eagles are banking on the Blues finishing higher next season than the Hawks, who will have a tougher fixture in 2025.

The Hawks will claim a victory in that they kept one of those future first-rounders.

It felt like a draw, but if there had to be a winner declared it was West Coast in a split-decision with both fighters bloodied after 15 rounds.

For West Coast, it followed two days of ridicule after they’d thrown out their own curve ball, splitting pick three with the Blues on Tuesday in a three-club exchange to acquire Richmond defender/midfielder Liam Baker, with delisted Carlton small forward Matt Owies thrown in to the deal. They exited with pick 12 and a horde of angry Eagles fans threatening to burn down Mineral Resources Park.

Now, they have trade equity in 2025 when West Australian Chad Warner will come out of contract at Sydney, unless the Swans extend that tenure in the interim.

If the cackle is true that Warner wants to move back to his home State at the end of next season, the Eagles now have skin in the game.

Down the road, Fremantle traded out its 2025 collateral by spending big on Shai Bolton but can still trade back into the game.

But for now at least, the Eagles have moved up on the grid.

The addition of Jack Graham, Baker and Owies helps address one of the Eagles’ biggest issues — a lack of depth in the middle of their list.

Meanwhile, the Eagles at least have 12 to use in a draft that goes deep.

But as chief executive Don Pyke said on Tuesday, pick 12 is not 3.

In 2022, the Eagles split 2 for 8 and 12, picking up Reuben Ginbey and Elijah Hewett. North Melbourne took Harry Sheezel at 2, who was the AFL Rising Star in his first season.