Welcome to trade week, the time in the football calendar when the wheeling and dealing takes place, where the one time superstars are exchanged for a set of steak knives and to then sweeten the deal, a bonus knife sharpener.

Trade week officially gets underway next Monday but actually kicks off in Canberra today as club recruiters and football managers gather for the start of the AFL's Draft Camp, which takes place at the AIS.

Lots of quiet discussions take place while watching the beep tests and the vertical leaps at the AIS and then it cranks into action officially from 9am Monday.

Trade week has been a waste of time in recent years, particularly last year when just six trades went through. But this year is shaping as a beauty, with some in the industry predicting that upwards of 20 trades taking place.

Early evidence suggests that a busy few days are ahead. Melbourne and Carlton have already agreed to a deal that will send Brock McLean to Visy Park for the no.11 overall selection. Port Adelaide and Hawthorn are also trying to get the Shaun Burgoyne deal done quickly, which if they do, should be the impetus for much more activity.

With Gold Coast and West Sydney joining the competition over the next three years, this is the last uncompromised draft for some time, at least as far as 18 year olds are concerned. Some clubs, such as Melbourne, are happy to load up at the draft one last time. Others, such as the Hawks, stockpiled 17 year olds last year and are happy to offload draft picks in favour of established players who can help them return to the finals next year.

It's a crazy time of year and the first rule of thumb is not to believe everything, in fact almost anything you read. Various fan sites will float all sorts of wild and woolly rumours, but this really is a time of year where the footy media are the most trusted source of all the gossip.

It's an interesting time for the footy media, as well. The well-documented growth of Twitter, facebook and sports websites represents a challenge to the likes of Jake Niall, Jon Ralph, Steve Rielly, Damien Barrett and Greg Denham. How long do they sit on their mail? Do they punt on holding off a possible trade to the next day's paper or do they go online with what they know?

The thing about this trade week is that there are too many big names - Burgoyne, Brendan Fevola, Luke Ball, Brian Lake, Andrew Lovett and Chris Tarrant among them - for too much to stay too quiet for too long.

Let the bidding begin.