THE TRADING CHRONICLES 2007: ZERO HOUR

THE TRADING CHRONICLES 2007: ZERO HOUR by the Oracle

FATHERS, SONS AND OTHER DISTRACTIONS

"Representatives of the 16 AFL clubs will all meet at Telstra Dome on Monday, 8 October 2007 to discuss their options for the Exchange Period, which concludes at 2.00pm on Friday 12 October 2007.

The clubs will meet from 10.30am-2.45pm at Telstra Dome" - AFL Exchange Period Rules and Regulations.

To observe the opening of trade week is akin to watching grass grow. The usual scenario on this day is that nothing much happens apart from the normal introductory discussions and some huffing and puffing in small doses. Generally, we have to wait until the third day comes along before the first trade is done but most of the action takes place in a whirlwind final half hour on Friday afternoon.

The problem is that every year there are usually one or two big trades going down that require intricate arrangements to be completed between a number of clubs. Until the larger dominoes fall, everything else must wait. As a result, the whole process almost grinds to a halt in the early part of the week, boredom sets in among those who watch the events closely and the action only hots up towards the final day.

Last year the problem was the closing of two separate big deals that involved Jason Akermanis and Peter Everitt respectively. The latter was finalised in the last few minutes before the Friday 2.00 pm deadline.

This year's worry is the possibility that, despite his manager's insistence that it be resolved by tomorrow, the Judd Saga might continue until deep into the week causing everything else to go into lockdown. In the past, player managers have complained that this presents a major barrier to consumating the lesser deals. Some never make it across the line; careers can be made or broken as a result. One of these days the AFL will wake up and do something.

One thing the AFL has done is that it has introduced an interesting adaptation to the father/son rule.

"Any clubs wishing to nominate eligible players as a father/son selection for this year's 2007 NAB AFL Draft must do so by 2.00pm Friday, 5 October 2007.

The bidding meeting for any nominated players will be at 10.00am on Monday, 8 October 2007.

Each other club in the competition has the option to bid, in reverse ladder order, for that nominated player. If a bid is made, the club that nominated the father/son player must use its next available selection if it wishes to retain hold on that player.

If the club nominating the father/son player declines to match the selection nominated, the club with the successful bid must use that selection at the Draft.

Any club that makes a successful bid on a father/son selection is bound to the pick they nominate. If no bid is made by another club, the club that nominated the father/son eligible player will forfeit its last selection in the draft to select the player" - AFL Exchange Period Rules and Regulations.

This year the sons of Ricky Barham (Jaxson to Collingwood), Larry Donohue (Adam to Geelong) and Anthony Daniher (Darcy to Essendon) have nominated under the rule. Previously clubs could use a third-round pick on their father/son selections but now, other clubs can bid for the players.

The new system is obviously in its embryonic stage and we don't yet know how things will pan out when put into practice. The main interest today will centre on Darcy Daniher, a tall key position player who starred for the Calder Cannons in the recent TAC Cup Under 18 Grand Final victory.

Once the father/son issue is out of the way, proceedings will start in earnest. The key rules to note in the trading/drafting process are

• A club may exchange a player or players on its primary list for a player or players on the primary list of another club;

• A club may exchange a player or players on its primary list for the draft selection or draft selections of another club;

• A club may exchange a player or players on its primary list for a combination of a player, players, draft selection or draft selection of another club;

• A club may exchange a draft selection or draft selections for a draft selection or draft selections of another club;

• No more than five players shall be exchanged by any one club.

• No more than three players shall be exchanged by any one club in any one transaction, or series of related or interdependent transactions.

• A club cannot on-trade a player received in any exchange until the following year.

• A club may exchange a draft selection it has received from another club, provided that the selection is not traded directly back to that club.

• Where the exchange of a player(s) and draft selection(s) involves more than two clubs, it is not a requirement that each club involved in the transaction make an exchange between each other.

• Any draft selection received in an exchange does not need to be exercised. However, any club that passes on a draft selection shall be excluded from exercising any remaining selections at that same meeting.

Melbourne's General manager recruiting and list manager Craig Cameron puts his aspirations for the week this way -

"We'll probably have a fairly low key approach and we'll look to trade, but we'll think we can build our team around our 23 and under players. We've still got a number of older players that we think can be really good contributors as well. We'd like to get some more draft picks in if we could – second- or third-round picks – and if we could trade in a player who is in that 23 or under age bracket that helps us in a specific area, then we'd like to do that too. Overall we'd like to get some more picks for November."

That position reflects the fact that Cameron has been building a list over the past four or five drafts and some of the youngsters selected are now closing in on their prime but have yet to reach their peak. At the same time, new coach Dean Bailey, has promised supporters that the emphasis will swing towards development of the club's youth stocks. The introduction of the right chemistry could see a massive improvement among this group as a whole in 2008.

Getting back to the trades and numerous players have already been mentioned in despatches for possible player swaps. Some are named because they happen to be out of contract, others because they may not be wanted by their own clubs or because they are wanted by others. Some are perennials in trade talk while others are speculative at best. Among the names that have come up are -

Adelaide - Matthew Bode, John Hinge, Ben Hudson, Luke Jericho, John Meeson, Luke Perrie.

Brisbane – Jed Adcock, Robert Copeland, Anthony Corrie, Richard Hadley, Beau McDonald, Troy Selwood, Justin Sherman, Cameron Wood,

Carlton – Adam Bentick, Paul Bower, Brendan Fevola, Adam Hartlett, Ryan Jackson, Josh Kennedy, Lance Whitnall.

Collingwood – Chris Bryan, Ben Davies, Alan Didak, Chris Egan, Josh Fraser, Guy Richards.

Essendon – Kepler Bradley, Ricky Dyson, Courtney Johns, Mark Johnson.

Fremantle – Ryley Dunn, Justin Longmuir, Ryan Murphy, Byron Schammer, James Walker, Robert Warnock.

Geelong – Mark Blake, Tim Callan, Steven King, Henry Playfair, Brent Prismall, Kane Tenace.

Hawthorn – Michael Osborne, Mark Williams.

Kangaroos – Leigh Brown, Matt Campbell, Brad Moran, David Trotter, Shannon Watt.

Melbourne – Aaron Davey, Ryan Ferguson, Chris Johnson, Travis Johnstone, Brad Miller.

Port Adelaide – Brad Symes, Damon White.

Richmond – Andrew Krakouer, Richard Tambling.

St. Kilda – Andrew McQualter, Steven Milne, Fergus Watts.

Sydney – Paul Bevan, Darren Jolly, Luke Vogels.

West Coast – Chris Judd, Ben McKinley, Mitch Morton, Mark Nicoski.

Western Bulldogs – Farren Ray, Jordan McMahon, Sam Power, Wayde Skipper.

You can bet that most of these names will come up for discussion during the week along with many others but only a small percentage will change clubs. That's the way of trade week.

Last year, the number of trades done across the board didn't even make double figures. That may have been partly due to the perception that the 2006 draft pool was strong. Conventional wisdom this year is that it's not as deep as last year.

Draft picks are the other bargaining chips of trade week. This is how they line up before the exchange period starts –

Priority –

1 Carlton

Round One:

2 Richmond 3 Carlton 4 Melbourne 5 Western Bulldogs 6 Essendon 7 Fremantle 8 Brisbane 9 St. Kilda 10 Adelaide 11 Sydney 12 Hawthorn 13 West Coast 14 Collingwood 15 Kangaroos 16 Port Adelaide 17 Geelong

Priority -

18 Richmond

Round Two -

19 Richmond 20 Carlton 21 Melbourne 22 Western Bulldogs 23 Essendon 24 Fremantle 25 Brisbane 26 St. Kilda 27 Adelaide 28 Sydney 29 Hawthorn 30 West Coast 31 Collingwood 32 Kangaroos 33 Port Adelaide 34 Geelong

Round Three -

35 Richmond 36 Carlton 37 Melbourne 38 Western Bulldogs 39 Essendon 40 Fremantle 41 Brisbane 42 St. Kilda 43 Adelaide 44 Sydney 45 Hawthorn 46 West Coast 47 Collingwood 48 Kangaroos 49 Port Adelaide 50 Geelong

Round Four -

51 Richmond 52 Carlton 53 Melbourne 54 Western Bulldogs 55 Essendon 56 Fremantle 57 Brisbane 58 St. Kilda 59 Adelaide 60 Sydney 61 Hawthorn 62 West Coast 63 Collingwood 64 Kangaroos 65 Port Adelaide 66 Geelong

Round Five -

67 Richmond 68 Carlton 69 Melbourne 70 Western Bulldogs 71 Essendon 72 Fremantle 73 Brisbane 74 St. Kilda 75 Adelaide 76 Sydney 77 Hawthorn 78 West Coast 79 Collingwood 80 Kangaroos 81 Port Adelaide 82 Geelong

The draft will go to further rounds as required to fulfil each club's quota of players.

And so the week begins ...