CAITLIN BASSETT: Being part of the AFL trade period is risky but can be rewarding for players like Dan Houston

The AFL’s annual game of cat and mouse - the trade period - is underway as clubs vie to improve their lists and put themselves in a stronger position for the next season.

But it’s also a massive waiting game for the players.

What a club wants and what a player wants isn’t always exactly the same thing and players can have their lives and their careers shaped by which deals get done and which ones end up on the trade scrapheap.

Unlike leagues in America or football competitions in Europe, the power still largely rests with the players in Australia — which is great.

Players aren’t asked to up and leave without any prior warning.

Yet still the next week will have a massive influence on the lives of some of these young athletes.

I relocated three times during my netball career and each one had different motivations.

I was lucky enough to be getting opportunities in my home State so there was no reason for me to move early in my career. I could stay close to my family and friends and build a profile in my hometown of Perth.

But like all athletes I wanted to be successful and when the opportunity came to move to Sunshine Coast I saw that as my best chance of winning a title.

The next time I moved was for financial reasons, down to Sydney, where there was more commercial opportunities for me and a chance to work outside of sport as well, making the most of being the Australian Diamonds captain.

Then I left Sydney because I wasn’t happy and the club released me from my contract, but it was an awkward time for me.

In that sense I have done it all. You could argue they are the three biggest reasons for players shifting clubs.

Across that five-year period my motivations changed. People develop and priorities change as people get older and experience more in their career.

That’s what players are grappling with at this time of year and for some it will be a nervous wait.

Moving away from family is fine when you are young but when its time to raise children and settle down in life, having your support network close becomes very important.

Clubs also need to find the balance between signing interstate players on long contracts — with the risk they stiff-arm the club into leaving — or signing players to short deals hoping they make their new State home.

That’s what Fremantle did with Matthew Pavlich, Adelaide did with Rory Sloane and the Melbourne Storm did with their string of Queenslanders that formed their dynasty in the early part of last decade.

Clubs are doing things like creating opportunities outside of the sport to create a more attractive environment for players and help them hang around. That’s what West Coast need to do with Harley Reid.

For the players, there is risk and reward in signing long deals.

A long deal unlocks security, which can allow a player to get a mortgage to buy a house or lay roots in a city.

But there is risk attached to a 20-year-old player signing some of the megadeals we see in the AFL at the moment.

While they so often do — because having an unhappy player is no good for anyone — clubs aren’t obliged to trade players who want out.

That’s the risk for players like Port Adelaide’s Dan Houston, who is contracted until the end of 2027, but wants to return home to Victoria.

He is a dual All-Australian and one of the best running half-backs in the competition, so the Power aren’t going to let him walk unless they get a great deal.

This will likely happen, because three clubs — North Melbourne, Carlton and Collingwood — are locked in a bidding war.

But what happens if he has to walk back into Alberton for the first day of pre-season?

The trade period has become footy’s new hotbed for media, talkback and fans and keeps the AFL in the headlines after the grand final and before the draft.

Clubs are more open than they are at other times of the year and player movement has gone from behind-the-scenes dealings to a big-money television and radio product.

But behind every trade there is a decision that is shaping a player’s life and the lives of those around them.