Geelong is on the verge of securing Brad Ottens by trading a top-line player and first-round draft pick, as the first domino fell in AFL trade week.

In the first completed trade, Hawthorn delivered Nathan Thompson to the Kangaroos in exchange for draft picks 10 and 26.

The Roos were forced to move for the troubled ruckman/forward after being told Ottens was not willing to shift to Arden Street.

Thompson, who was diagnosed with clinical depression in 2004, had requested a trade and Kangaroos coach Dean Laidley was a long-time admirer who felt the club would be the right place for the player to shake off his mental demons.

"It's fantastic, we have chased Nathan pretty hard over the past week or so," Laidley said.

"We are absolutely delighted to get an A-grade player to the footy club.

"We have the right people around the footy club to make it a very homely, inviting environment."

The Kangaroos' scratching from the Ottens race left Geelong and Sydney as the only realistic suitors.

But unless Richmond is shifted from its long-stated target of getting two first-round draft selections for Ottens, Geelong must trade away a top-liner to get such a pick to on-trade to the Tigers.

The first six picks are monopolised by Richmond, Hawthorn and the Western Bulldogs, Adelaide said it would only swap its pick eight under exceptional circumstances and Carlton is likely to cling to pick nine.

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