THE TRADING CHRONICLES: DAY ONE

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THE TRADING CHRONICLES: DAY ONE by The Oracle

GONE FISHING

Predictably, the opening day of the AFL's trade week resulted in a rush of player exchanges: seven in total, most of them small fish in the scheme of things. The figure exceeded by one the total number of players traded in the entire week last year.

The bigger names up for discussion in the trades, Brendan Fevola, Shaun Burgoyne, Darren Jolly, Barry Hall and Andrew Lovett were all still waiting for confirmation of new playing destinations and by the end of the day Luke Ball had joined them after declaring he wanted out of St. Kilda. Like Jolly, he has nominated Collingwood as his preferred new home. With the Swans demanding at least a first round draft pick for their homesick ruckman, this means the Pies need to trade players to get Ball and this would also effectively dash the possibility of the club luring Fevola to the Lexus Centre. But more on that later.

The number of big names being seriously discussed in the trades prompted Demons CEO Cameron Schwab to state on Twitter:

"Has there ever been a trade week where better credentialed players have sought a change of scene? This is going to be complex."

True, and the opening day's activity has already set the tone.

Last year the lowest draft pick to change hands was 24 as part of a final day deal that saw Robert Warnock move from Fremantle to Carlton. Yesterday, the Blues gave selection 11 away to Melbourne for Brock McLean in the day's biggest "name" trade.

First cab off the rank was Roo defender Josh Gibson who, along with pick 69, was shipped off to Hawthorn in return for picks 25 and 41, the Hawks' second and third round selections in the national draft. The anticipated Andrew Raines to Brisbane for pick 45 trade went off without a hitch while the McLean deal went through after earlier concerns about the Blues wanting to "sweeten" the already announced handshake deal. In the end, they were held to their bargain, giving the Demons four top 20 picks - 1, 2, 11 and 18. List manager Tim Harrington has vowed to keep them all!

The most convoluted deal was one chiselled out by three clubs. It saw Mark Seaby and pick 28 off to Sydney. The Eagles receive Brisbane onballer Brad Dalziell and selection 22 while the Lions gain crumbing forward Amon Buchanan and Eagle utility Brent Staker. For what it's worth, they also gain pick 39.

So, at the end of the day, all the big fish were still left in the water. The body language of Carlton CEO Greg Swann indicated that his club's quest to offload its shamed full forward was going nowhere fast when he tersely announced to enquiring reporters "it's a long day. There's not much point to be honest to be standing here speculating ... we'll see what happens as the week unfolds." In other words, "they all laughed at me when I mentioned his name." It's tue - I saw one of the Adelaide people struggling to suppress a giggling fit when asked by a reporter if the Crows were interested in the Fev!

Swann's best bet might still be Sydney but not before the deadlock between that club and the Western Bulldogs over Barry Hall is broken. According to Sydney coach Paul Roos, "the ball is in the Dog's court." There is a feeling however, that if the Hall and Jolly deals are consummated then Roos might be tempted to abandon the "no dickheads" policy given that he would then have sufficient salary cap room to allow the Fev to make a clean break and move to the Harbour City with his growing family.

Roos won the poker face award hands down. He maintained that Sydney would help Jolly move to Collingwood but the Swans would need more than the pick 14 on offer. That's helping?

Roos said Jolly was now a much better player than when he first joined Sydney from Melbourne several years ago for a first-round pick. True, but he's much older and has a shorter shelf life than he did when traded by Melbourne as a 22 year old.

The Hawks General Manager Player Personnel and Strategy Chris Pelchen looked pretty smug about the prospects of picking up Burgoyne for pick 9 and change. He also justified his club's 360 degree trading and drafting turn around by saying that " ...[H]aving selected three 17 year olds in last year's draft has meant in essence, we've already taken three players out of this year's draft pool."

This didn't stop Port Adelaide football manager Peter Rohde from trying to sound tough when he suggested his club would field offers from elsewhere to get what they wanted. Fat chance. Burgoyne is going to the Hawks and a deal will be done soon. Rohde told the cameras,

"We'll be meeting again with Hawthorn in the next 24 hours and if it progresses, it progresses - if it doesn't, we're going to have to go elsewhere."

But Burgoyne is firmly committed to the Hawks and, as long as they hold a lower draft pick than the Bombers who also remain interested, they are expected to win the day.

Speaking of winners, I nominate the Magpies as the big winners for the day. They look like scoring two of the big fish of this year's draft in Jolly and Ball and they appear to have avoided taking the bait with Fevola. Having convinced two quality players who suit some of their most urgent requirements to join the fold, one can sense they are positioning themselves for an assault on the flag in 2010.

Completed Trades on Day One:

Trade 1 Josh Gibson (North Melbourne) and round five draft pick (No. 69) to Hawthorn; and

Round two draft pick (No. 25) and round three draft pick (No. 41) to North Melbourne

Trade 2 Andrew Raines (Richmond) to Brisbane Lions; and

Round three draft pick (No. 44) to Richmond.

Trade 3 Brock McLean (Melbourne) to Carlton; and

Round one draft pick (No. 11) to Melbourne.

Trade 4. Brent Staker (West Coast Eagles) and Amon Buchanan (Sydney) and Round three draft pick (No.39) to Brisbane Lions;

Mark Seaby (West Coast Eagles) and Round two draft pick (No.28) to Sydney; and

Bradd Dalziell (Brisbane Lions) and Round two draft pick (No.22) to West Coast.