THE TRADING CHRONICLES - INDIFFERENCE

[Demonland 64,416]

INDIFFERENCE by The Oracle

The emotional roller coaster that is the trade period has ground to a halt and the pundits are already carrying out their post mortems and arguing among themselves about who were the winners and losers.

The fact is that we will not be in a position to assess the outcome for some time to come as the process that began a fortnight ago is ongoing. The free agency period now extends to the delisted free agents giving second chances for some the lesser lights who weren't part of the main free agency and including some who weren't considered "tradeable". Then comes next month's main draft, followed by the preseason and rookie drafts. After that, comes the reckoning.

The day brought to a head the frustrations of a laborious week or so of what was mainly inaction. With deals dependent on others being finalised first, it had been a time of frayed tempers and hard work by recruiting teams, while others barely bothered the scorer. Hello Fremantle and West Coast (it was all quiet on the western front).

We saw more high profile players put their hands up to leave than ever before - including a club captain and a recent number 1 pick making for some interesting times ahead for a few of the AFL's clubs.

The Bulldogs situation is curious. They have lost some very experienced players (on top of their coach) but have gained Tom Boyd who is costing them an arm and a leg. All of their eggs are now in one basket and one must question what will happen in time as Bontempelli, Liberatore, Macrae and Stringer all mature and put their hands up for more money?

How does one assess the situation at this point? The Giants off loaded players and set a huge precedent with regard to those of their number who aren't particularly fond of living in the wasteland of western Sydney. They do have plenty of draft picks and apparently endless funds to drag more of those types into that part of the world. On the other hand, many of the experts claim that Port Adelaide is the winner but its first choice in the draft will be at number 57.

From Melbourne's perspective, the Demons should be happy with their performance. They have jettisoned a key defender who has underperformed for four seasons after winning All Australian honours and gained a younger version who is keen to make a mark for himself who, at 194cm can play key back or key forward.

They have swapped a player who has given them few games and retired due to illness during the year and replaced him with a 199 gamer who plays with flair and was fourth in his club's best and fairest (albeit a somewhat left of centre personality). And they gained an exciting crumbing forward who kicks goals and can also move down the ground who fell from grace at his club for personal reasons and was desperate for a second chance.

Their remaining losses were retirements and delistings, of which there are sure to be a few more in the coming weeks. And they will bring in two youngsters ranked by their recruiters as being in the top three or four (they did after all bid for Sydney academy player Isaac Heeney) from the national talent pool to go with All Australian Under 18 father/son selection Billy Stretch at the bonus rate of a third round draft selection.

The club did miss out on the alleged big fish that was supposed to be "around the corner" for the past fortnight and possibly the failure to complete a trade for Jack Trengove had something to do with that but it was never going to be easy to reel in the big one. The club is said to have ample room to accommodate one of the many free agents coming into play next year and, as long as it can bed down a deal with its skipper and improves its on field performance, it could well get its big opportunity at last to reap some benefit from the free agency system.

Still, after the highs and the lows and much of the hype that surrounded the past fortnight, one can't help but look back on it all with a touch of indifference.

The moves:

ADELAIDE

What they got: Luke Lowden (Hawthorn), Kyle Cheney (Hawthorn), pick No.14, pick No.35, pick No.43, pick No.59

What they lost: Pick No.10, pick No. 31, pick No.50, pick No.68

Draft selections: 14, 35, 43, 59, 86, 104, 122

BRISBANE LIONS

What they got: Dayne Beams (Collingwood) and Allen Christensen (Geelong), pick No.67

What they lost: Joel Patfull, Jack Crisp, pick No.5, pick No.25

Draft selections: 44 (Liam Dawson), 63 (Harris Andrews), 67, 81, 99, 101, 117 (Josh Clayton)

CARLTON

What they got: Kristian Jaksch (GWS), Mark Whiley (GWS), Liam Jones (Western Bulldogs), pick No.19, pick No. 61, pick No.79

What they lost: Jarrad Waite (free agency, no compensation),Jeff Garlett, pick No.7, pick No.46, pick No.83

Draft selections: 19, 28, 61, 65, 79, 119

COLLINGWOOD

What they got: Levi Greenwood (North Melbourne), Travis Varcoe (Geelong), Jack Crisp (Brisbane), pick No.5

What they lost: Dayne Beams, Heritier Lumumba, pick No.67

Draft selections: 5, 9 (Darcy Moore), 30, 48, 85, 103, 121

ESSENDON

What they got: Adam Cooney (Western Bulldogs), Jonathan Giles (GWS), pick No.17, pick No.62

What they lost: Paddy Ryder, pick No. 53

Draft selections: 17, 20, 62, 71, 89, 107,

FREMANTLE

What they got: Nil

What they lost: Nil

Draft selections: 13, 34, 54, 72, 90, 108, 126

GEELONG

What they got: Mitch Clark (Melbourne), Rhys Stanley (St Kilda), pick No.10, pick No.47, pick No.60

What they lost: Allen Christensen, Travis Varcoe, pick No.14, pick No.35

Draft selections: 10, 47, 55, 60, 73, 91, 109, 127

GOLD COAST

What they got: Nick Malceski (Sydney, free agency), Mitch Hallahan (Hawthorn)

What they lost: pick No.47, pick No.49

Draft selections: 8, 15, 29, 66, 84, 102, 120

GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY

What they got: Ryan Griffen (Western Bulldogs), Joel Patfull (Brisbane), pick No.6, pick No.7, pick No.23, pick No.53

What they lost: Tom Boyd, Jonathan Giles, Jono O'Rourke, Kristian Jaksch, Mark Whiley, Sam Frost, pick No.21, No.43, pick No.62

Draft selections: 4, 6, 7, 23 24 (Jack Steele), 80, 98, 116 (Jeremy Finlayson)

HAWTHORN

What they got: James Frawley (Melbourne, free agency) Jono O'Rourke (GWS), pick No. 31, pick No.49, pick No.50, pick No.68

What they lost: Mitch Hallahan, Luke Lowden, Kyle Cheney, pick No.19, pick No.40, pick No. 59

Draft selections: 31, 49, 50, 68, 77, 95, 113, 131

MELBOURNE

What they got: Heritier Lumumba (Collingwood), Jeff Garlett (Carlton), Sam Frost, pick No.3 (free agency compensation, James Frawley), pick No.40, pick No.53, pick No.83

What they lost: Mitch Clark, James Frawley, pick No.23, pick No.61, pick No.79

Draft selections: 2, 3, 40, 42 (Billy Stretch), 53, 83, 97, 115

NORTH MELBOURNE

What they got: Shaun Higgins (Western Bulldogs, free agency), Jarrad Waite (Carlton, free agency), pick No.25

What they lost: Levi Greenwood

Draft selections: 16, 25, 36, 56, 74, 92, 110, 128

PORT ADELAIDE

What they got: Paddy Ryder

What they lost: pick No.17, pick No.37

Draft selections: 57, 75, 93, 111, 129

RICHMOND

What they got: Nil

What they lost: Nil

Draft selections: 12, 33, 52, 70, 88, 106, 124

ST. KILDA

What they got: pick No.21

What they lost: Rhys Stanley, pick No.60

Draft selections: 1, 21, 22, 41, 78, 96, 114

SYDNEY

What they got: pick No.37

What they lost: Nick Malceski, Shane Biggs, pick No.39 (free agency compensation, Nick Malceski)

Draft selections: 18 (Isaac Heeney), 37, 38 (Jack Hiscox), 58, 76 (Abe Davis), 94, 112, 130

WEST COAST

What they got: Nil

What they lost: Nil

Draft selections: 11, 32, 51, 69, 87, 105, 123 (Alec Waterman)

WESTERN BULLDOGS

What they got: Tom Boyd (GWS), Shane Biggs, pick No.27 (free agency compensation, Shaun Higgins), pick No.39, pick No.46

What they lost: Ryan Griffen, Adam Cooney, Shaun Higgins, Liam Jones, pick No.6, pick No.37 (free agency compensation, Adam Cooney)

Draft selections: 26, 27, 39, 45, 46 64 (Zaine Cordy), 82, 100, 118