the Demons\u2019 Anzac Day Eve clash against Richmond last Friday,<\/a> the South Australian was ranked as the sixth-best forward in the AFL \u2014 with teammates Bayley Fritsch and Harry Sharp closely following him ranked 11th and 23rd respectively.<\/p>\nChandler fends off Richmond player Tom Brown during the 2026 AFL Round 7 match between the Richmond Tigers and the Melbourne Demons at the MCG on April 24, 2026 in Melbourne, Australia (Photo by James Wiltshire via Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been pleasing. I\u2019m always looking to improve week-in, week-out. I understand my role and my place in the team; the coaches and teammates back me in,\u201d Chandler said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got good confidence in my game after putting the work over the last eight years. I\u2019m starting to understand what it takes to be a consistent AFL player week-in, week-out.\u201d<\/p>\n
On top of his own purple patch of form, Melbourne\u2019s early-season success has only strengthened Chandler\u2019s external value. The Norwood product will be closely monitored by both Adelaide and Port Adelaide from his home state.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re definitely externally exceeding expectations, but internally, we knew from day one of pre-season with Kingy\u2019s messaging around the direction we\u2019re going to head as a club,\u201d Chandler added.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur pre-season was fantastic from day one. How the young guys went about their preparation during pre-season … when the young guys are pushing the old guys, I think that\u2019s the sign of a good team.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since being selected with pick No. 15 in the 2018 Rookie Draft, Chandler has played 86 games across seven seasons, including a current streak of 61 consecutive appearances.<\/p>\n
Max Holmes of the Cats celebrates a goal during the Round 3 AFL match between Geelong Cats and Adelaide Crows at GMHBA Stadium on March 26, 2026, in Geelong, Australia (Photo by Morgan Hancock\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
CATS EAGER TO LOCK AWAY ANOTHER STAR LONG-TERM<\/p>\n
Despite being contracted until the end of 2028, Geelong are keen to extend star midfielder Max Holmes on a long-term deal.<\/p>\n
Foxfooty.com.au understands the Cats have every intention of signing the dashing 23-year-old well before his current contract expires, as they have done with fellow teammates of late.<\/p>\n
Holmes signed a four-year extension in 2024 and has since won back-to-back Carji Greeves Medal awards as the club\u2019s best and fairest. He has also earned league-wide recognition with consecutive All-Australian selection honours.<\/p>\n
Taken with pick No.20 in the 2020 National Draft, the Prahran product has played 109 AFL games since his league debut in 2021. <\/p>\n
Teammate and key forward Shannon Neale \u2014 who, like Holmes, was also contracted until 2028 \u2014 signed a two-year extension on Monday, locking him away until the end of 2030.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kade Chandler says he\u2019s unfazed about his contract situation as discussions loom later this year, with the Melbourne…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":723,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[404,1441,124,23,133,1429,408,1424,1431,1422,1428,1426,520,1416,1427,368,1439,1425,1423,1421,1437,1435,260,262,119,135,120,563,1434,1433,524,1440,1420,1432,121,576,1436,117,68,1438,1430],"class_list":["post-722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-melbourne","tag-adelaide-crows","tag-agent-status","tag-america","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-bayley-fritsch","tag-brisbane-lions","tag-chandler-fends","tag-contract-extension","tag-contract-situation","tag-contract-stuff-starts","tag-discussions-loom","tag-garry-lyon","tag-geelong","tag-geelong-cats","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-harry-sharp","tag-home-state","tag-james-wiltshire","tag-jonathan-dimaggio","tag-kade-chandler","tag-max-holmes","tag-melbourne","tag-melbourne-demons","tag-north-america","tag-northern-america","tag-oceania","tag-paul-guerra","tag-player-movement","tag-player-week-in","tag-port-adelaide","tag-richmond","tag-richmond-tigers","tag-selection-honours","tag-south-australia","tag-steven-king","tag-tom-brown","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-victoria","tag-virginia","tag-young-guys"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=722"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/722\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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