THE TRADING CHRONICLES - PART THREE

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THE TRADING CHRONICLES 2011 by The Oracle

Part Three: PREDICTABLE

There were no surprises when proceedings opened on the first day of the trade period. Fremantle indicated that it was prepared to take Tom Mitchell with a first round selection and, as a result, the Swans who were prepared to match the Dockers' bid, nominated their first pick at 21 and young Tom became their player. Another quality youngster was on his way to Sydney even if this time the player did not fall into the clutches of Kevin Sheedy's evil empire in the city's western badlands.

Sydney coach John Longmire was grinning from ear to ear about snaring the hard at it inside midfielder who uses the ball well and has a strong work ethic. To be able to do so with a late first round pick under the father/son rule was a bonus.

The two remaining father/son nominations failed to draw any bids so Jed Bews goes to Geelong and Dylan Buckley to Carlton at minimal cost. They can be selected with their respective last picks in the draft.

The first completed trades were announced in mid afternoon and they too were as expected. West Adelaide's Steve Morris was taken by Richmond but not under the father/son rule for which he was eligible because he is the son of former Tiger Kevin Morris played 110 games for them in the 1970s. With Port Adelaide showing interest in the 22 year old, the Tigers would have been forced to use their second round draft on Morris so they sidestepped the father/son rules and did a deal with Sheedy's Giants whereby GWS swapped Morris and pick 15 in the draft for Richmond's first round selection of 14.

The second trade of 2011 was no surprise either as it had been foreshadowed at the weekend. It allowed Collingwood to re-list Irishman Martin Clarke, take Murray Bushranger Jamie Elliot and GWS pick 67 for which the Pies gave up their first round draft selection at number 25. As things now stand, Collingwood will take its first pick in the national draft at 47, by which time one of its former players, "Gubby" Allen who now heads up GWS' recruiting will have called out a dozen names.

What does surprise is the pronouncement by Allen that he remains strongly interested in collecting more draft picks at the expense of acquiring experienced players. The apparent obsession with youth even extends to planning a scheme whereby the GWS could exploit a loophole in the mini draft rules to allow it to secure 17 year old whiz kid Jaeger O'Meara.

The rules governing players included in the mini draft were explained by the AFL earlier in the year in GWS mini-draft explained. The article stated that the " Giants must trade the picks and cannot, for example, decide to use one to select O'Meara for themselves."

That was early in the year but now it seems to be a case of never mind the spirit of the rules or how they were intended to operate, the AFL's wunderkind can do as it pleases in its quest to assemble the next football play school at Rooty Hill.

Everywhere else, things went as predicted on the trades front with several clubs denying players rumoured to be moving on were actually up for exchange. Others were among the growing list of players who have asked to be traded to give them greater playing opportunities or a chance to come home. From a Melbourne perspective, three players - Matthew Bate, Addam Maric and Matthew Warnock - have been mentioned in this regard with the latter's manager indicating that he's heading interstate. We have yet to hear of any players whose names are being linked to the Demons.

Completed Trades after Day One:

1. Richmond get Steven Morris (West Adelaide) and first round draft selection (No. 15)

GWS Giants get first round draft selection (No. 14).

2. Collingwood get Marin Clarke (ex-Collingwood), Jamie Elliot (Murray Bushrangers) and fourth round draft selection (No. 67)

GWS GIANTS get first round draft selection (No. 25).

The Oracle is a Demonland regular during trade week.