With the AFL Grand Final still fresh in the football memory, List Managers across the league now face their own season pinnacle next week as NAB AFL Trade Period opens.

While other clubs have been more vocal in their trade objectives, McCartney indicated a lack of noise from the Kennel shouldn’t be misconstrued as a lack of backroom activity by the Dogs.

“We’re really open minded, and have got some things in place for this trade period, and we’re really excited about the opportunities that it could present.”

“They’re not things that we want to play out publicly, but you can rest assured that we’re trying to get the best outcomes for our football club.”

While the Bulldogs have been thorough assessing potential incoming trade prospects, McCartney and his team have also been diligent in re-signing a raft of the Kennel’s young talent to prevent forays by rival clubs.

Marcus Bontempelli, Jack Macrae, Jake Stringer, NathanHrovat, and Lachie Hunter are just a handful of the Dogs’ top-end talent that have re-committed long term to the Club in the past 12-months.

“What it’s shown is their commitment to the club,” said McCartney.

“These guys have been recommitting and recontracting well ahead of when their contract expiry date is due.

“We think we’re heading in the right direction [with our young talent], but we know we need to be active and look to add to this group.”

The Bulldogs List Manager also confirmed that Liam Jones and Jason Tutt, had both expressed their desire to pursue opportunities elsewhere, however was adamant that the Club wouldn’t be forced into accepting an imbalanced deal. 

“We’ll be trying to work with the Club where [Jones and Tutt] have expressed they’d like to go, but also sourcing other opportunities at other clubs,” McCartney said.

“What we want to do is get a fair and equitable outcome for the footy club and try and put us in a good position moving forward.”