THE TRADING CHRONICLES 2007: DAY ONE

THE TRADING CHRONICLES 2007: DAY ONE by the Oracle

BEHIND THE SCENES

Who said nothing ever happens on the first day of trade week?

Well, er … I did.

It's true that there were no deals done on the opening day of proceedings and it may well be that the number of trades finalised by the end of the week will fail to reach double figures again but there was certainly a lot going on behind the scenes at Telstra Dome yesterday.

Apart from the wheeling and dealing that always transpires when club recruiting officers meet formally for the first time in trade week, you could also get a feel of the direction some of the clubs are about to take in the future. Some will remain constant in their approach while others will change dramatically.

The Swans, for instance, are still travelling along the old road that they have comfortably travelled upon throughout the Paul Roos years – the building up of their side through the recruitment of mature players. They offered their third-round draft pick for Crows defender Martin Mattner and naturally, Adelaide wants more for the player they didn't have sufficient faith in to select in their team when the finals came along this year. That's good old fashioned horse trading at its best!

But the winds of change are also blowing. Essendon is intent on accumulating draft picks to allow new coach Matthew Knights to concentrate on redeveloping with youth. The Bombers kicked off with the drafting of key position prospect Darcy Daniher under the AFL's new father/son bidding system after they trumped a bid by the Kangaroos. Daniher will go to the Bombers for their third round national draft pick, number 39 overall.

We learned a lot about Melbourne and the direction it is intent on taking under new coach Dean Bailey. When he arrived on the scene, we were promised an interesting ride and a new emphasis on youth and on the group of mainly under 23 players upon whose shoulders the new coach hopes to pin the club's future.

The mooted change of direction was sharply pushed into focus with the news that contracted players Travis Johnstone and Nathan Carroll have both been put up for trade. Yesterday recruiting manager Craig Cameron said that 27 year old Johnstone, the Demons' 2005 best-and-fairest winner, has not yet attracted much interest from the other clubs but it is reported this morning that at least two clubs have made enquiries. Football manager Chris Connolly said,

"There's been a lot of interest. Solid interest."

Connolly would not name clubs, but it is understood Sydney is one of them.

Key defender Carroll, who turns 27 next week and was in contention for All Australian honours last year, has not yet sparked significant interest but now that his name's out there, the wheels are sure to start turning. Brad Miller is also attracting interest from … who else? Sydney.

Meanwhile, it was revealed that Melbourne offered its third round-selection, pick number 37, for Adelaide ruckman John Meesen. The offer was refused by the Crows who want a second-round selection for the player chosen with pick eight in the 2004 national draft. Since then Meesen has played two AFL games. With a record like that, he'll go for a third rounder or something thereabouts or be picked up for nothing in the pre season draft.

The influence of Bailey was clearly seen in the vision of his body language and the confident manner in which he strode into the Telstra Dome to herald the start of trade week. He exuded confidence and it's clear that he is taking over the team with a definite purpose and direction. His position on the silky skilled Johnstone is one that suggests he will follow through with his intentions. He has "spoken to him clearly", Connolly indicated. If Johnstone does stay, he will be a different player to the talented footballer who has largely underachieved in the decade since he was selected with the number one draft pick in 1997. If he goes, his new club will have to pay the right price.

I couldn't help but contrast Bailey's demeanour with that of Blues coach Brett Ratten who seemed a little out of place and remained very much in the background as his club's chief executive Greg Swann revealed that negotiations with West Coast over Chris Judd would be kept simple and that the trade week's biggest deal would be done with minimal fuss. The Blues last night were asking Josh Kennedy to move back home to Perth along with picks number 3 and 20 for the Eagles to make way for the man with the golden groin. Carlton has also shown an interest in Brisbane's Richard Hadley, who is out of contract.

In other news:-

In addition to Darcy Daniher going to Essendon, two other players will also be heading to the clubs where their fathers played. Jaxson Barham, son of Ricky, will go to Collingwood and Adam Donohue, son of Larry, is bound for Geelong. Both clubs will get their players in return for their final selections in the national draft as no other clubs bid for them in yesterday's pre trade week auction of father/sons.

West Coast is also well down the track on trading out-of-contract forward Mitch Morton to Richmond in a deal involving the Tigers giving the Eagles selection number 18 in return for pick number 30.

The Crows want a second round draft pick for out-of-contract ruckman Ben Hudson, who wants to join the Western Bulldogs who are offering Sam Power and Jordan McMahon up for trade - to Brisbane and Port respectively - to get draft picks to appease Adelaide.

Hawk key forward Tim Boyle drew the interest of many clubs and could be on his way to Adelaide while Port Adelaide's Damon White also drew the attention of several clubs.

The most sought after group of players are the ruckmen with Geelong's Mark Blake and Steven King, Brisbane's Cameron Wood joining Hudson and Meesen as players of interest.

There's still a long way to go and club recruiting people were showing no sign of tiredness as the week's activities opened. If you're still not tired of the trade news, you can follow the trade action from Monday of Trade Week with Peter Donegan and Graeme Bond here - AFL TRADE WEEK NEWSDESK - PART ONE

That is, if you have another twenty minutes or so to spare!