THE TRADING CHRONICLES 2009: DAY THREE

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THE TRADING CHRONICLES 2009: DAY THREE by The Oracle

INTERLUDE

For a while, things seemed to be coming to a halt. It was the middle day of the AFL exchange period and not a single deal made it across the line. This gave us the perfect opportunity to reflect on the whole phenomenon of player trading and to make some interesting discoveries.

The machinations and drama of the week's activities generate extensive interest within the football community. We've again seen emotions run high among fans of some clubs even at the mere mention of the possibility of the defection of a player favourite.

There have been times during this period when irate supporters dominated radio talk programmes and internet sites and, at one club, they even demonstrated in the streets. The usual band of hotheads were threatening to burn their membership cards and thanks to the intervention of one club president, we managed to avoid the stage where effigies of club officials were being burnt outside club headquarters.

The reality of this week however, is that most of those changing clubs are the "not quite rights". The truth is that most of what goes on this week will be totally underwhelming in the scheme of things.

The players who are changing clubs are the misfits, the troublemakers, those with on and off field issues, the aging, the injured and injury prone and the fringe dwellers and list-cloggers that, with few exceptions, clubs are only too willing to offload. Sometimes, they are a combination of one or more of the above.

Take a look at the done deals and you'll find them there - the Halls, McLeans and Lovetts and soon they will be joined by the likes of Brendan Fevola with his alcohol-fuelled problems and Shaun Burgoyne with his knee and recent poor form. There's Andrew Raines who has hardly been sighted recently and Shane Tuck who is looking for a new home fell off Richmond's radar after Terry Wallace's departure. Poor old Jesse W. Smith of North Melbourne hasn't had a game outside the VFL ressies for a couple of seasons. There are a few exceptions here and there but for the most part, this week is in danger of becoming the NQR trade period. The real winners from the week might well be those who have cleaned house or those who come out with early draft selections in hand.

My next discovery from this week is the twitter thing. I'm not sold on the innovation but it proved to me yesterday that despite the lack of any movement in terms of completed trades, there was plenty still happening as clubs, players and managers manoeuvred through the day.

Here's a selection of excerpts from various Twitter sites that caught my eye:-

* Western Bulldogs utility Andrejs Everitt looks set to leave Whitten Oval despite the Dogs claiming he is a required player.

* Carlton release statement saying there's been no movement on Fev trade.

* Brown rejects Port: Hawthorn's Campbell Brown has declined an approach by Port Adelaide.

* North Melbourne has been linked to Brisbane's Joel Macdonald after it has been made clear he wants to play at another club.

* Melbourne has officially signed Mark Jamar and Brad Miller to new one-year deals.

* Speculation Fevola may head to Brisbane in exchange for Bradshaw and Rischitelli.

Now, that last item is interesting. The "speculation" is likely to become fact as the two Brisbane players are due to meet with Carlton today and it's odds on they will be joining the Blues in what will be the week's biggest trade, an outcome that will leave these journalists red faced:

Brisbane never made start line in Fevola race

Greg Denham and Patrick Smith | October 03, 2009

Article from: The Australian

BRISBANE yesterday denied it has ever been in the hunt for Carlton bad boy Brendan Fevola, who still remains at large, with Collingwood weighing up its options this weekend.

The Lions quashed media reports yesterday that they were the frontrunners for the Coleman medallist. "He's never been in our plans

and it won't be happening," a club spokesman said about the potential trade next week of the Blues' seven-time leading goal kicker to Brisbane.

...

Speculation about Fevola relocating to Brisbane was largely based on wrong assumptions that veteran Lions full-forward Daniel Bradshaw was keen to finish his career with a Melbourne-based club. That won't be happening as Bradshaw, who turns 31 next month, has agreed to a contract extension that will secure him to Brisbane until the end of 2011.

Another discovery. Don't always believe what you read in the newspapers.

Of course, every trade week seems to be dominated by two constants - Collingwood's stubbornness and the frustrating manner in which most deals involving Port Adelaide seem to linger on aimlessly.

The Pies have two major irons in the fire. Sydney ruckman Darren Jolly and St. Kilda midfielder Luke Ball are both intent on crossing to the Lexus Centre but, until late in the day, Collingwood was refusing to play ball (excuse the pithy pun but it's marginally better than St. Kilda's "the ball's in their court) by trading its first selection for either player. Finally, it appears to have settled on picks 14 and 46 for Jolly leaving a fair bit of work to be done to secure the Saints midfielder.

Port Adelaide and Hawthorn continued to have trouble stitching up a deal which would enable Burgoyne to become a Hawk. The danger is that the failure to come to terms on deals such as this one tends to hold up and even stymie the possibility of some other of smaller trades from coming to fruition. Free agency is fast approaching.

One smaller deal that was close to being sealed last night was the trade that will see the Saints secure Fremantle's Brett Peake for a third round pick (48).

There are signs that the failure of the clubs to finalise any trades on the middle day of the week was only a brief interlude and there's still more action to come.

Completed Trades on Day Three: Nil