AFL Trades: Brisbane midfielder Deven Robertson tells Lions he wants to explore his options this year

Brisbane midfielder Deven Robertson has told the club he’d like to explore his options as he looks for more senior opportunities. Robertson, 23, considered a trade to West Coast last year on a multi-year contract before re-signing with the Lions for two seasons. The midfielder struggled for a regular berth in the side this year because of injury and the return of father-son star Will Ashcroft and was restricted to only two games as the Lions went on to win the premiership. STAY UP TO DATE WITH ALL THE LATEST TRADE NEWS FROM DAY ONE IN OUR LIVE BLOG It is only going to get harder for Robertson to break into Brisbane’s superstar midfield, with the club to draft Will’s brother Levi Ashcroft who is considered the best player in this year’s draft. Last week, The West Australian reported that Robertson would be a player to watch in this year’s trade period after a stellar season in the VFL when he averaged 26.5 disposals, 7.3 score involvements and 7.2 clearances to help them to a preliminary final berth. Brisbane list boss Dom Ambrogio confirmed the Perth-product had told the club he was keen to explore his options this trade period. “He’s expressed the fact that he’d like to explore his options. He’s happy at the Lions but he’d like more opportunity,” Ambrogio told Trade Radio. “He hasn’t indicated where he would like to go but he certainly wants to have a look. He wants to look around and see what’s available for him. “If it benefits all parties involved we’ll be open to it.” West Coast have again been linked to Robertson, while several other clubs could also look at the inside midfielder. Eagles list boss Matt Clarke was coy on their interest when asked. “We’ve talked about a number of players who might be able to help us in a particular area of the ground and obviously he’s one that’s of the right age and the right profile,” Clarke said. “We’ve discussed those boys, we’ve got a couple (of trades) that are priorities at the moment so we’ll see what that looks like hopefully in the next 24 hours once we get a bit of a notification of where they sit.” Robertson has played 43 games in five seasons since joining the Lions with pick No.22 in the 2019 National Draft, including the 2023 grand final loss to Collingwood. The 23-year-old is the nephew of former West Coast captain and premiership defender Darren Glass. Robertson also polled 17 votes in the J.J. Liston Trophy to finish equal fifth alongside teammate Jarryd Lyons in a strong season.