Demonland

THE TRADING CHRONICLES by The Oracle Part One: The Cure It could be coincidental but since the AFL Free Agency and Trade Period began, the State of Victoria has recorded eight consecutive days of no new active cases and no deaths from Covid19. It might be a little early to announce that a cure for this dreaded virus has been discovered but one thing can be said with some certainty after following the ins and outs of the free agency and trading process — mankind is still a long way off finding a cure for boredom. That statement is definitely applicable to Melbourne fans who waited until the dying moments of yesterday, three days into the trade period and already a week after free trading began to discover that their club had actually consummated a deal. It came like a bolt out of the blue in the form of the year’s first swap of draft picks which effectively gave the Demons an upgrade of ten places in the national draft from 53 to 43 and a swap of future picks (which don’t really count in the age of pandemics and asteroids venturing so close to our planet that they might obliterate the future altogether). The good news for Melbourne was that it has received a commitment from North Melbourne full forward Ben Brown to join the club leaving it the respective clubs to negotiate a trade. The Demons will no doubt argue that Brown’s not that good a player until a deal’s done and at that point in time he will revert back to the champion goal kicker he was from 2016 to 2019. The bad news was that the club missed out on Hawthorn’s Isaac Smith (who would have cost nothing in terms of draft picks) when that player chose to move down the highway into aged care at Kardinia Park. The three year deal proposed by the Demons to a 32 year old seemed like a stretch for mine and I’m thinking that, as fine a player as Smith might have been in the past, a bullet might well have been dodged. Melbourne also sought delisted free agent Shaun McKernan as a back up ruckman for Max but was gezumped by the stars of this and last year’s trading, St. Kilda. The Saints just keep on identifying and capturing all of their targets unfazed by such trifling matters as salary caps. We’ve now turned our attention to another Essendon big man Andrew Phillips who managed one game at his third club this year. I’m not entirely sure of my mail but the rumour mill is telling me that Adrian Dodoro’s opening gambit in the bidding was for Melbourne’s first pick this year and next year’s first rounder. Dodoro has other fish to fry as well so it might take a while for the details of a final trade to be thrashed out. Otherwise, the Demons could hold out until Phillips becomes a delisted free agent. The interest in the days to come, apart from the Brown trade, will be on which players find a home elsewhere, whether Josh Mahoney can snaffle another player or two and whether the club’s draft position can be improved further. It’s well documented that the draft this year is compromised by the number of academy and father/son selections at play and the fact that the under 18 competition in Victoria was abandoned leaving recruiters without a sight in 2020 of potentially more than half of the draft pool. Away from Melbourne, it’s a case of the good, the bad and the ugly. There’s an element of schadenfreude in watching the mortal enemy in Collingwood as it struggles to deal with its salary cap excesses, especially its back ended deal with Adam Treloar. Anything that silences and humiliates an arrogant foe is good (although not as good as the 56 point win in Round 12 this year) but it’s bad for Treloar who has been treated so shabbily through this whole affair. It’s also a bad look for Essendon as it writhes in pain under the loss of some handy players wanting away to other destinations. At least the Bombers are fighting back in their own fashion by trying to steal a player with two years left on his contract. The ugly is what is happening at North Melbourne with the loss of a coach and the departure of so many players. One hopes that they’re not forced by circumstance and the AFL powers that be to migrate interstate. There’s still another six days of this madness to go so let’s hope they find a cure to Covid19 and the boredom within that time (and let’s also hope the AFL sorts out the matter of list sizes going forward, an issue that’s not helping clubs or players with recruiting and planning for the future). This is the full list of free agency and trade movement after the free agency period and three days into the trade period * :- • Gold Coast signs Rory Atkins as an unrestricted free agent. Adelaide receives an end-of-second-round compensation pick (No.36). • Geelong signs Isaac Smith as an unrestricted free agent. Hawthorn receives a third-round compensation pick (No.42). • Brisbane signs Joe Daniher as a restricted free agent. Essendon receives a first-round compensation pick (No.7). • Carlton signs Zac Williams as a restricted free agent. Greater Western Sydney receives a first-round compensation pick (No.10). • North Melbourne signs Aidan Corr as a restricted free agent. Greater Western Sydney receives a second-round compensation pick (No.30). • Zac Langdon traded to West Coast. Greater Western Sydney receives a third-round pick (No.54). • Oleg Markov traded to Gold Coast. Richmond receives a future third-round selection. • Jesse Hogan traded to Greater Western Sydney. Fremantle receives a third-round pick (No.54). • St Kilda signs Brad Crouch as a restricted free agent. Adelaide receives a second-round compensation pick (No.23). • Kyle Hartigan traded to Hawthorn. Adelaide receives a future fourth-round selection. • Geelong signs Jeremy Cameron as a restricted free agent. Greater Western matches offer. Trade discussions pending. • St Kilda signs Shaun McKernan as a delisted free agent • Brisbane receives a third-round pick (No.53) and a future third-round selection from Melbourne and Melbourne receives a third-round pick (No.43) and a future fourth-round selection from Brisbane. * draft pick positions can change from time to time during the free agency, trade and draft period.

Audio here (also added to OP)

Destination Saints.

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2020 Player Reviews: #27 Aaron Nietschke Hasn’t really gotten onto the park since he was drafted two years ago due to two ACL operations since that time. Looks like getting another chance via the rookie list. Date of Birth: May 26, 2000 Height: 184cm Weight: 82kg Games MFC 2020: 0 Career Total: 0 Goals MFC 2020: 0 Career Total: 0

2020 Player Reviews: #28 Oscar McDonald The tall key defender struggled to maintain consistency and was in and out of the side. His position on the club list was in question at year’s end. Date of Birth: 18 March 1996 Height: 196cm Weight: 100kg Games MFC 2020: 7 Career Total: 81 Goals MFC 2020: 0 Career Total: 1