The rumours are flying thick and fast and day two of trade week has only just commenced. Today's newspapers mention Mark Mercuri, Joe Misiti, Justin Blumfield and Blake Caracella as possible trade bait. More names are likely to follow and the frenzied media will throw in players from every club at some stage. Essendon chief executive Peter Jackson said it is a difficult week for both club and player. ""If an opposition club wants to talk about a player you will listen. But just because we are prepared to listen doesn't mean we are trying to offload them as some sections of the media would have you believe,"" Jackson said.

""It is an unfortunate part of the football season for both clubs and players but that is where modern-day football is at - you either run it that way or run the risk of falling off the pace,"" Jackson said.

""I would imagine almost every player going around in the AFL will be mentioned in one form or another and there will be a lot of mis-information flowing as a result. And of course the newspaper headlines will follow. It would be interesting to see how many stories are published in the next seven days that end up being correct.""