Sydney excitement machine Tom Papley has confirmed his name was raised as a possible trade option for wantaway Carlton superstar Charlie Curnow.

7NEWS chief AFL reporter Mitch Cleary was first to reveal that Papley had been brought up as a possible swap for the power forward.

And now Papley, a 2021 All-Australian who grew up in Bunyip, Victoria, has explained exactly what happened and how it was shut down.

Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today

“My manager rang me just to be wary if something comes out in the media that your name’s going to be thrown around for the Curnow stuff because of previous years,” Papley said on The Early Crow podcast.

When Papley says “previous years”, he is referring to the end of 2019 when he pushed for a trade to Carlton while his father — who has bipolar — battled mental health issues.

The Blues have been desperate for a dynamic small forward for many years but the two clubs failed to come to an agreement, and the prospect was never raised again.

In 2022 Papley committed to Sydney with a new five-year contract that runs until the end of 2028.

The Swans have since taken steps to make sure Papley is comfortable and happy, and Papley says he is definitely not entertaining a move away from Sydney.

“(My manager) was pretty clear that it’s not the club that wanted to do that, it’s solely on their management, and they’re looking for someone to trade for Curnow,” he said.

“And I was pretty stern with him and said, ‘Man, I’m pretty happy at the Swans.’ But I’m definitely not leaving if Curnow is coming.

“I’d love for it to happen.

“Everyone knows he wants to get out of there and wants to come to the Swans or Gold Coast or wherever. But we’re going to have to give up a fair bit and that comes with you’re going to lose a couple of mates, which is tough as well.

“So, it’s got to work for both parties, and I’m sure we’ll be trying to do anything that we can to get him.”

Speaking about the Curnow situation on Thursday, Cox kept his cards close to his chest.

Cleary has also revealed that Cox has spoken to Curnow, but the first-year coach did not want confirm that.

“I think you know I won’t talk about anything that does or doesn’t happen,” Cox said.

“That’s one thing that I’ve always thought … if you do have meetings, or if you don’t even have them, everything is done behind closed doors and that’s the way we’ll keep it.’

But Cox did confirm that Sydney was out to improve their list anyway possible.

“I think any player where they’re out of contract or they’re open to a trade … we have to improve our list,” he said.

“We’re 12-11 (wins and losses this year), we’re not playing football this weekend, which is our ultimate goal.

“No matter who it is, we need to make sure we scour around the competition for players we think will benefit our football club.

“From there, the logistics that happen (are): is it attainable through trade, draft? And what we have to do through that process?

“There’s a lot of work but a lot of hypotheticals as well.”

Sydney obviously have form when it comes to poaching superstar forwards from their rivals.

The AFL’s best-ever goalkicker Tony Lockett joined them from St Kilda in 1995, then the Swans grabbed Barry Hall from the Saints, and then of course Lance Franklin joined them ahead of the 2014 season on a whopping nine-year deal.

All of those players featured in grand finals for Sydney, with Hall lifting the cup in 2005.