Melbourne AFLW premiership pair Casey Sherriff and Eliza West have sealed trades to Hawthorn and star defender Libby Birch is expected to follow the pair out the door.
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The fall-out from Melbourne's straight-sets finals exit after they were red-hot favourites to go back-to-back, has spilled into the trade period with Birch requesting a trade to grand finalists North Melbourne.
The Demons have historically been able to avoid losing players to other clubs, with retiring great Daisy Pearce the only member of last season's premiership team to depart last year.
But that changed on Friday when West, who was dropped for Melbourne's qualifying-final loss to North Melbourne, moved to Hawthorn with Sherriff.
The Hawks sent picks No.5 and No.26 to Melbourne in exchange for Sherriff, West and pick No.16.
"Not only will Casey and Eliza's playing abilities enhance our young and developing squad, but so too will their knowledge of what it takes to win an AFLW flag," Hawthorn AFLW list manager Mitchell Cashion said.
Sherriff, a utility, was originally signed as a replacement player when Pearce was pregnant in 2018 but became a key Demon, while West has been a key part of their midfield.
Birch was also linked to the Hawks before North Melbourne, whose grand-final loss to Brisbane included a purple patch from Lions key forward Dakota Davidson, swooped.
The Kangaroos announced on Friday that skipper Emma Kearney had signed a two-year deal.
Melbourne skipper and league leading goalkicker Kate Hore and vice-captain and star midfielder Tyla Hanks have signed a four-year extension until the end of 2027.
"It's a tremendous show of faith in the direction our program is going, the growth they still see and a real signal of intent from them as to the level of competitiveness we forecast for this group moving forward," list boss Todd Patterson said.
Earlier on Friday, Brisbane youngster Zimmorlei Farquharson, who was on the Lions' inactive list this season, joined wooden spooners Western Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs gave up their third-round pick (pick No.41) in the upcoming draft for the 21-year-old, who has booted 12 goals in 17 games.
Australian Associated Press
