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As previously mentioned it was the aim of the MFC to trade for 2 A Grade Mids and also leave one top ten draft pick. (My apologies for suggesting pick 2 would stay, I later corrected this.) There were a number of A Grade players targeted but Dangerfield, Hannebery plus a couple of other A Grade Swans were the players MFC gained traction. Mitchell was also targeted as a Tyson style deal. Melbourne were prepared to trade virtually any player on the list for the right price to also help bring these trades to completion. MFC came very close to securing Danger, Danger had agreed to be traded to us on a massive contract but never asked to leave. Roos was never going to trade picks 2 and 3 for one player which was what Adelaide were asking. When the Adelaide administration were unable to get Danger to commit to a new contract last week, Pick 3 and a later first round pick became the asking price. The tigers had shown interest in Trengrove for pick 12. This deal was on the clasp of being done but unfortunately Trengrove failed his medico. MFC then went to look for a replacement and shopped Watts around. Several good teams were prepared to trade their first round pick 10 -20 for Watts, however Roos put an end to this. Roos values Watts much higher than a pick 10 - 20 but no teams were prepared to offer more. Roos wants to keep Watts. Other players were also suggested but no deal was done. On a side note I don't believe the rumour that Adelaide were prepared to offer pick 10 for Trengrove. Attention then moved back to Sydney, it was hoped that Sydney would have salary cap issues this would force them to off load one of their A Graders for pick 2. MFC were also hoping to trade out another player for a pick around 10 which they would have hoped to get Lever. Another option was to trade for Mitchell with pick 2 swapped for a later single digit pick that would have been used for Lever. Clearly no deal was done. It was difficult to get the targeted Swans players to agree to come to the Dees and Sydney are not yet in a position of being forced to reduce salary cap. This will be an issue for them next year, when they will be forced to let players go....... but they want to win the premiership first. We also made a play for Toby Greene. Roos is targeting Lever and Brayshaw in the draft. Brayshaw is a lock in, it will be interesting who Roos takes with the other low pick. MFC is now is a super strong position with massive salary cap space. It will be making big plays for FA next season and you can bet Danger and Sydney players are at the top of their list. So to the riddles...... if you care. Congratulations to Ignition who was closest to the pin, although many correctly solved the first one. "Our likely trading partner is black and white but not a little bird" Answer: Sydney. A Swan can come in black or white and is not a little bird. "Tick, tock, the black mouse has run up the electric clock. Lancelot lurks with feathers or fur to the command of his sir." The black mouse is Dangerfield, time was running out to complete this deal and Watts had been offered as part of the trade. Watts was later withdrawn. Lancelot is the "Jack of Clubs", Watts is the Jack of Clubs. Watts is Lancelot. There were several clubs interested in Watts and he would go where he was traded. Sir is Roos. Ok so they both ended up not happening, trade week is a moving beast. I am sorry to any that somehow feel offended. For god sake it was a rumour thread, lighten up!! I am sure I will cop some more abuse, please its a waste of your time, I simply don't care. The tread was boring, trade week was boring, I had been muted and thought I would add some fun. It did make me laugh.............. very hard. One more thing, Demonland deteriorates when its members start bickering. We once had a site called Demology. It was destroyed by its members bickering, lets not let Demonland go down that path.

October will be synonymous with the most difficult, frustrating and hope filled month for AFL fans as Trade Week becomes Trade & Free Agent Signing Month: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/get-ready-for-4-week-free-for-all/story-fn69a32t-1226167211053 We touched a little on this during The Saga © but the main effect I see from the introduction of Free Agency (albeit in a very restricted FA) is that those who qualify for restricted and unrestricted FA will wait until October to talk about their contracts. Contracts will be signed later and later and fans just need to get used to the new dynamic. That will be a draining month for many teams (and fans) I am sure, but on the plus side - Demonland's members will swell for entire month before going back down to normal...

THE LOW RENT PUB by Whispering Jack In the old days, long before the draft and salary caps, club recruiters would travel the length and breadth of the land trying to find players to enhance their club lists. Often they would have to use their wits to beat opponents to their man. Legendary club secretary Jim Cardwell mastered the recruiting art at Melbourne in the early 1950s when he skillfully assembled the side that was to win six premierships in the decade 1955-1964. In later years he maintained that much of his success depended on perseverance and sheer determination never to give in when chasing his targeted player. Until last week it was thought the Cardwell spirit had long departed the Melbourne Football Club. Others with a more professional approach and more money to spend took away Jim's mantle as the prince of recruiters and it was left to other clubs to score the major recruiting coups. More recently, those with the patronage of wealthy entrepreneurs or the power of the AFL bolstering new franchises prevailed when it came to snaring the prize signings of the competition. Things changed on the Wednesday of trade week when the Demons moved in cloak and dagger style to wrest Brisbane Lion ruckman/forward Mitch Clark away from his intended club Fremantle. The story was told this morning on radio station SEN by new Demons' coach Mark Neeld. The Melbourne recruiters were discussing how the Lions and the Dockers were unable to do a deal on Clark and a decision was made to go after him. Thanks to some of Chris Connolly's contacts, Clark's management was contacted and permission obtained from Brisbane to speak with their player. Following an initial telephone conversation it was decided to pursue him. Neeld, his new assistant coach Jade Rawlings and club CEO Cameron Schwab were off to Brisbane in hunt of their quarry on the 8 o'clock flight. When they arrived, there was no accommodation to be found and the trio settled on a shabby one roomer in a low rent pub near the airport. Here they were - a high power AFL club delegation of three trying to recruit a power forward. It was the Belgian Beer Festival and Schwab's personal assistant could find only room at $91.00 for the night in horrendous conditions. "When we got up in the morning we thought we can't meet Mitch Clark in this place so we got up and Jade Rawlings got us to the Stamford Plaza, we walked into the buffet breakfast and got a little room to the side. We acted as if we stayed there and no-one asked any questions," said Neeld. They met Mitch and his partner at the swank Stamford where they had the run of the place from 8 o'clock until well into the afternoon even using offices and going off at one stage to buy new clothes. The group finally left the Stamford at 3.30pm when they felt they had overstayed their welcome, finished up at the Marriott and caught up with Mitch again. At this stage they thought they were a real chance. The deputation met Clark again the following day and at one stage Fremantle's Chris Bond interrupted their meeting. They met their man again before returning to Melbourne on the Friday night feeling they were still in the running. It should be pointed out that by the Saturday morning, the football world believed that Clark was off to Dockerland having repeated his preference to return to his home town Perth. However, Melbourne persevered through phone contact with Mitch and then "at 10 o'clock, he said 'OK you won't leave me alone. You've persisted, you've done this and that, I'll come and play for you,'". Neeld says the result in the end was worth the effort. When he came to the club and went through the list, clearly a power forward was one of the gaps. "Mitch fitted the bill, his age (24) was critical and ... we're going to have him for that period of his career ... we did what we believe every Melbourne supporter would have wanted us to do." Neeld believes that Clark's presence will help the way the club is going to move the ball in the forward and there will be a ripple effect in that it will help the other forwards like Jack Watts and Liam Jurrah with the roles they will have to play and with the opponents who will have to go to them. "There are a whole range of options that we didn't have a week ago." Melbourne takes on the Brisbane Lions in round one next year at the MCG. For their return match, I suspect those extra options won't extend to the team's accommodation near the airport.

Austin's head wasn't in the right place this year as he mourned the loss of his father Matthew and of his mentor Maurice Rioli. He came back late in the season at Casey reserves and suffered an ankle injury that required surgery. Games MFC 2011 5 MFC Total 31 Goals MFC 2011 5 MFC Total 37 Games CSFC 2011 2 Goals CSFC 2011 0 Games CSFC Reserves 2011 1 Goals CSFC Reserves 2011 0

THE LOW RENT PUB by Whispering Jack In the old days, long before the draft and salary caps, club recruiters would travel the length and breadth of the land trying to find players to enhance their club lists. Often they would have to use their wits to beat opponents to their man. Legendary club secretary Jim Cardwell mastered the recruiting art at Melbourne in the early 1950s when he skillfully assembled the side that was to win six premierships in the decade 1955-1964. In later years he maintained that much of his success depended on perseverance and sheer determination never to give in when chasing his targeted player. Until last week it was thought the Cardwell spirit had long departed the Melbourne Football Club. Others with a more professional approach and more money to spend took away Jim's mantle as the prince of recruiters and it was left to other clubs to score the major recruiting coups. More recently, those with the patronage of wealthy entrepreneurs or the power of the AFL bolstering new franchises prevailed when it came to snaring the prize signings of the competition. Things changed on the Wednesday of trade week when the Demons moved in cloak and dagger style to wrest Brisbane Lion ruckman/forward Mitch Clark away from his intended club Fremantle. The story was told this morning on radio station SEN by new Demons' coach Mark Neeld. The Melbourne recruiters were discussing how the Lions and the Dockers were unable to do a deal on Clark and a decision was made to go after him. Thanks to some of Chris Connolly's contacts, Clark's management was contacted and permission obtained from Brisbane to speak with their player. Following an initial telephone conversation it was decided to pursue him. Neeld, his new assistant coach Jade Rawlings and club CEO Cameron Schwab were off to Brisbane in hunt of their quarry on the 8 o'clock flight. When they arrived, there was no accommodation to be found and the trio settled on a shabby one roomer in a low rent pub near the airport. Here they were - a high power AFL club delegation of three trying to recruit a power forward. It was the Belgian Beer Festival and Schwab's personal assistant could find only room at $91.00 for the night in horrendous conditions. "When we got up in the morning we thought we can't meet Mitch Clark in this place so we got up and Jade Rawlings got us to the Stamford Plaza, we walked into the buffet breakfast and got a little room to the side. We acted as if we stayed there and no-one asked any questions," said Neeld. They met Mitch and his partner at the swank Stamford where they had the run of the place from 8 o'clock until well into the afternoon even using offices and going off at one stage to buy new clothes. The group finally left the Stamford at 3.30pm when they felt they had overstayed their welcome, finished up at the Marriott and caught up with Mitch again. At this stage they thought they were a real chance. The deputation met Clark again the following day and at one stage Fremantle's Chris Bond interrupted their meeting. They met their man again before returning to Melbourne on the Friday night feeling they were still in the running. It should be pointed out that by the Saturday morning, the football world believed that Clark was off to Dockerland having repeated his preference to return to his home town Perth. However, Melbourne persevered through phone contact with Mitch and then "at 10 o'clock, he said 'OK you won't leave me alone. You've persisted, you've done this and that, I'll come and play for you,'". Neeld says the result in the end was worth the effort. When he came to the club and went through the list, clearly a power forward was one of the gaps. "Mitch fitted the bill, his age (24) was critical and ... we're going to have him for that period of his career ... we did what we believe every Melbourne supporter would have wanted us to do." Neeld believes that Clark's presence will help the way the club is going to move the ball in the forward and there will be a ripple effect in that it will help the other forwards like Jack Watts and Liam Jurrah with the roles they will have to play and with the opponents who will have to go to them. "There are a whole range of options that we didn't have a week ago." Melbourne takes on the Brisbane Lions in round one next year at the MCG. For their return match, I suspect those extra options won't extend to the team's accommodation near the airport.

Young gun Josh Caddy keen to help his dad. If we're not trying to get involved in attracting Caddy to the club, we bloody well should be. Will be a serious gun and wins his own footy.

Without wanting to criticize any of our players, who do you expect will be on the trade table/delisted over the next few weeks? (more interested in discussing who we think will be moved on, than any disrespectful pots at players we think deserve to go but we know will stay please) As and example, IMO I expect either Bate or Dunn are likely to be moved on, but not both. Both can fill similar roles, but neither are in our best 22. Keeping one for back up to Pettard, Jurrah, Watts, Green if injured is ideal, but the second would be superfluous. Bate played a few good games in early 2009 (or 10...it's a blur) before being injured, and would be great if could get that form back. Dunn showed some good passion this year, and some diversity in the roles he can play. Thoughts? Who else to we expect to see departing?

THE TRADING CHRONICLES 2011 by The Oracle Part Nine: TRADING ANGST The tweet from Trade Week Radio's Craig Hutchison announcing that it was a "... [M]assive day on @TradeWeekRadio from 8am ... " They promised us news of all the deals as they were happening and, while they did honour that promise, it was hardly a "massive" day. There were no real surprises and many of the moves contemplated in the lead up to exchange period simply failed to materialise. To be sure, almost twenty separate deals were concluded and posted on the AFL website but many of these were either small beer or worse still, "shandy" deals that involved the trading, not of players, but of draft picks. Some of these deals were convoluted and difficult to make sense of but someone out there thinks they were most probably worthwhile. The prime trade of the exchange period was the move of former Brisbane Lion Mitch Clark to Melbourne for its first round draft selection (No. 12). On the day that Mitch Clark was born (19 October, 1987), the world's financial markets were in turmoil. Almost 24 years later, it was Clark who was to throw the football world into turmoil with an about turn on his decision to knock back Melbourne's initial contract offer in favour of his original intended destination of Fremantle. The 200cm forward/ruckman started his football career with East Fremantle in the WAFL and was drafted at number 9 in the 2005 AFL Draft. The young Clark was given the Lions' number 1 guernsey and made his debut in the opening round of 2006 against Geelong but illness and injury plagued him until his breakthrough year in 2009. Clark was thrown into the first ruck out of necessity due to injuries to season-ending injuries to Matthew Leuenberger and Jamie Charman. He played in all 24 games for the Lions and had a stellar season narrowly missing out on All Australian honours. Subsequently, he returned to mainly forward line duties with occasional runs in the ruck and was his team's leading goalkicker with 27 goals. He has played 81 goals resulting in 61 goals. While he might not yet be regarded as a noted goalkicker, Clark fulfills a major need on the Demons' list, filling one of those "gaps" in the team's line up of which new coach, Mark Neeld spoke when his appointment was announced last month. Moreover, his recruitment demonstrates a new form of determination and resolve on the part of Melbourne's hierarchy to get things done. The Demons went out and got their man and, in doing so, trumped others and caught the public and the media by surprise. This evoked some positive responses such as former champion key forward, David Schwarz's pronouncement that Clark was "more valuable to the club than departed Tom Scully," because he would have an immediate impact in his position and the signing was proof "the Demons were no longer push-overs." However, others in the media were not so gracious and, indeed, showed some angst that Melbourne had the temerity not to turn over and accept things when first told that Clark simply wanted to be with the Dockers. Some were questioning his cost even though the contract figure was purely speculative. The Herald Sun's Jay Clark tweeted that all this might mean is that his namesake (no relation) is on more money than the number 1 at either Collingwood or Geelong. Sure thing. Also on twitter, Sportal questioned Clark's statement that money wasn't behind his move to the Dees (which was not quite an accurate interpretation of Clark's words in the first place) and asked its readers: "What do you reckon?" Very few were interested into analysing why Clark's recruitment was so important to Melbourne, to the team's structure and to its style of play as to warrant being given such a strong contract offer but really, some of these blokes couldn't analyse some of those weird draft pick swaps or decipher the meaning of the Giants' recruiting if they tried (come to think of it, neither could some of the people at GWS). In other Demon developments, Matthew Warnock's trade to the Suns got across the line for pick number 52 which will become Melbourne's second selection overall in next month's national draft. The club now has picks 36, 52, 54 and the possibility of 72 or a relatively early pre season pick depending on how many players it decides to delist. One of those delistments seems certain to be Addam Maric who was unable to find a new home at North Melbourne. The good news for the Demons is that they are well placed in terms of draft picks and salary cap space to face the advent next year of free agency and the post new franchise era and more importantly, appear to have navigated safely beyond the angst and the odium of the Scully departure and the debacle of 2011's coach sacking drama. And a decent footballer might well be carrying the red and blue's famous number 11 out onto the field of play once again. Completed Trades: 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). 3. Adelaide get first round draft selection (No. 24), second round draft selection (No. 46) and third round draft selection (No. 64). Hawthorn get Jack Gunston (Adelaide), third round draft selection (No. 53) and fourth round draft selection (No. 71). 4. Gold Coast Suns get first pick in the "mini draft". GWS GIANTS get first round draft selection (No. 4) and a mid first round compensation draft selection for future use. 5. St. Kilda get Terry Milera (Port Adelaide, SA), Ahmed Saad (Northern Bullants) and first round draft selection (No. 25) GWS GIANTS get first round draft selection (No. 20). 6. Fremantle get first round draft selection (No. 20). GWS GIANTS get an end of first round compensation draft selection for future use. 7. Adelaide get second pick in the "mini draft" and Luke Brown (Norwood). GWS GIANTS get first round draft selection (No. 10) and a late first round compensation draft selection for future use. 8. North Melbourne gets Will Sierakowski (Hawthorn rookie) Hawthorn get third round draft selection (No. 58). 9. Richmond get Ivan Maric (Adelaide) Adelaide get second round draft selection (No. 37). 10. Adelaide get Tom Lynch (St Kilda) St Kilda get on traded second round draft selection (No. 37). 11. Port Adelaide get Brent Renouf (Hawthorn) Hawthorn get second round draft selection (No. 33). 12. Brisbane Lions get Jordan Lisle (Hawthorn) Hawthorn get second round draft selection (29). 13. Fremantle get on traded second round draft selection (No. 29), third round draft selection (No. 58) and fourth round draft selection (No. 71) Hawthorn get second round draft selection (No. 38) and third round selection (No. 56). 14. GWS Giants get on traded third round draft selection (No. 56) Hawthorn get Jarrad Boumann (GWS Giants). 15. GWS Giants get Chad Cornes, Dean Brogan (Port Adelaide) and fourth round draft selection (No. 69) Port Adelaide get third round draft selection (No. 49). 16. Port Adelaide get Brad Ebert and second round draft selection (No. 45) West Coast get second round draft selection (No. 28) and on traded third round selection (No. 49) 17. Melbourne get Mitch Clark (Brisbane Lions) Brisbane Lions get first round draft selection (No. 12). 18. Collingwood get Peter Yagmoor (Cairns) and third round draft selection (No. 50) GC Suns get second round draft selection (No. 47) 19. Sydney Swans get Mitch Morton (Richmond) Richmond get fourth round draft selection (No. 79). 20. Brisbane Lions get fourth round draft selection (No. 69) GWS Giants get Luke Power (Brisbane Lions). 21. West Coast get Josh Hill (Western Bulldogs) Western Bulldogs get third round draft selection (No. 49). 22. Brisbane Lions get Dayne Zorko (Queensland) and second round draft selection (No. 47) GC Suns get Matthew Warnock (Melbourne) and second round draft selection (No. 34) Melbourne get third round draft selection (No. 52). 23. Brisbane Lions get Ben Hudson (W Bulldogs) W Bulldogs get fourth round draft selection (No. 70). 24. GC Suns get first round draft selection (No. 26) Geelong Cats get second round draft selection (No. 32) and on traded second round draft selection (No. 34). 25. Adelaide get first round draft selection (No. 27), second round draft selection (No. 31) and fourth round selection (No. 68). GC Suns get first round draft selection (No. 24). 26. Adelaide get Lewis Johnston (Sydney Swans) Sydney Swans get Tony Armstong, second round draft selection (No. 35) and fourth round draft selection (No. 68). 27. Sydney Swans get Tom Walsh (St. Kilda) St. Kilda get second round draft selection (No. 35) and fourth round draft selection (No. 68). 28. Adelaide get Josh Jenkins (Essendon) and second round draft selection (No. 41) Essendon get second round draft selection (No. 31). 29. GC Suns get 2010 end of round 1 compensation pick (Richmond) Richmond get 2010 round 2 compensation pick and on traded first round draft selection (No. 26). Demonland thanks The Oracle for his analysis and insights into the trade period.

THE TRADING CHRONICLES 2011 by The Oracle Part Eight: THE BIG BANG The housewarming started late and it happened amid the chaos of an apartment that hadn't quite been moved into yet but this chaos was nothing compared to that which erupted later in the evening. Although it was two weeks after the AFL Grand Final and a few of the blokes were into the second round of their cricket seasons, there was no guessing as to the main topic of conversation among the menfolk. One of the first guests, a smug Collingwood supporter who didn't appear to have been taken down a peg or two as a result of the Pies' last performance, was baiting me when he asked: "How do you reckon you'll go next year? Any better than this year?" When I mumbled something about us improving on our performance against the Cats in late July, he chuckled and went on about us stealing their coaches and trying (but failing) to pinch Chris Dawes away from them but added patronisingly that we still couldn't and wouldn't get any decent players in trade week. So we were onto Mitch Clark. I threw back the story about the Lion forward being homesick and for good measure recited the same words I had come up with the night before to rationalise how we'd apparently been rejected by Clark. "... perhaps the recruiting of big names isn't all that it's cracked up to be." As we were speaking, my neighbour entered shakily with six packs under both arms. He'd been to the races and was already pretty well blotto but managed to get out the fact that he just heard it reported that the Lions had signed Hawthorn's Jordan Lisle and this was going to somehow going to help Mitch Clark get to his preferred destination. "Great", I thought. Dawes was gone. Clark was gone and now, our next fallback tall forward was gone too. And to make matters worse, Lisle had been nabbed by the Brisbane Lions who were supposed to be our allies on the Clark issue. Stabbed in the back again. It was a week ago that Gerard Whateley described the exchange period on the ABC's Offsiders programme as "the greatest waste of oxygen on the sporting landscape". I was tending to agree with this when one of my guests hit me fair square in the face with his iPhone and showed me the latest tweet that had just exploded onto his screen. The sporting landscape had just been fed a large dose of oxygen and trade week's big bang was happening! Completed Trades after Day Six*: 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). 3. Adelaide get first round draft selection (No. 24), second round draft selection (No. 46) and third round draft selection (No. 64). Hawthorn get Jack Gunston (Adelaide), third round draft selection (No. 53) and fourth round draft selection (No. 71). 4. Gold Coast Suns get first pick in the "mini draft". GWS GIANTS get first round draft selection (No. 4) and a mid first round compensation draft selection for future use. 5. St. Kilda get Terry Milera (Port Adelaide, SA), Ahmed Saad (Northern Bullants) and first round draft selection (No. 25) GWS GIANTS get first round draft selection (No. 20). 6. Fremantle get first round draft selection (No. 20). GWS GIANTS get an end of first round compensation draft selection for future use. 7. Adelaide get second pick in the "mini draft" and Luke Brown (Norwood). GWS GIANTS get first round draft selection (No. 10) and a late first round compensation draft selection for future use. 8. North Melbourne gets Will Sierakowski (Hawthorn rookie) Hawthorn get third round draft selection (No. 58). 9. Richmond get Ivan Maric (Adelaide) Adelaide get second round draft selection (No. 37). 10. Adelaide get Tom Lynch (St Kilda) St Kilda get on traded second round draft selection (No. 37). 11. Port Adelaide get Brent Renouf (Hawthorn) Hawthorn get second round draft selection (No. 33). * no official trades have been lodged over the weekend. The Oracle will spend most of today cleaning up the mess at his new home but will be back.

https://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/124620/default.aspx O'Meara also sounds like he has no problems leaving Perth. I think our priority during trade week should be using our compo picks to acquire the pick for either O'Meara or Crouch. Along will filling the holes in our list, of course.

THE TRADING CHRONICLES 2011 by The Oracle Part Seven: IN ANOTHER PLACE I spent most of yesterday moving house so I missed the bulk of the action as the week's AFL trade activity came to a close. When I eventually took the time to pause and reflect on how things were going, I discovered how underwhelming this week is in the scheme of things. When the first of just four completed trades of the day involves the transfer of a hitherto unknown rookie in exchange of a draft pick on the wrong side of fifty, then you know that it's time to return to the task of moving that drawing room cabinet across to a spot near the window. But then the thought came to me that it was a big deal at least for left-footed wing/half-back Will Sierakowski who goes immediately from Hawthorn's rookie list to a senior list position at North Melbourne. It's another case of the Kangaroos doing things on the cheap because it only cost them pick 58. This is a club that survives by scrimping and saving and it does it well because it simply can't compete financially with the big boys. Sierakowski will probably have lots of time to ponder about this at a choice of VFL destinations - North Ballarat or Werribee. This relatively minor trade explains why North Melbourne football manager Donald McDonald was on the front foot earlier in the day denying his club was still interested in Demon Addam Maric. Despite testing him medically, the Roos had gone for someone cheaper. Good luck to them and, as for Maric, he will have to find another place - just like me! At least one Maric found a new home when Adelaide's Ivan Maric turned up at Tigerland for a second round draft selection (37). That pick was then immediately on traded for the Saint's Tom Lynch who becomes a Crow. The dismantling of Hawthorn's 2008 premiership ruck line up was completed when Brent Renouf was shipped off to Port Adelaide for its second round draft selection (33). I'm now beginning to realise the significance of the "national" part of our competition. The past week of wheeler dealing has seen a preponderance of completed trades involving players crossing state borders to find new homes (in one case, it's a national border). The introduction of two new franchises will make this phenomenon even more commonplace. And that brings me to Brisbane's Mitch Clark. Like me, he's been looking for another place for some time and yesterday, he told Melbourne that, despite its generous offer, he was determined to rejoin his family in WA and it's Fremantle or bust for him. It's also possible that the Dockers increased their offer to him but you can be sure that next time he lands at Perth airport, it won't be just to have a look around as some tourists do but rather because he will have long ago made a lifestyle decision to move to that other place - and good luck to him too! It was late in the day when the doorbell rang and my neighbour came over to invite me for a drink or two. In the end, we watched the A League blockbuster between Melbourne Victory and Adelaide. It's early days I know but the Victory has invested a lot of coin on star recruit Harry Kewell who I thought might have been lucky not to cop a red card and get away only with yellow in his team's shock 1-0 defeat. They have earned just one of a possible six points so far and have yet to manage a goal. The thought came to me that perhaps the recruiting of big names isn't all that it's cracked up to be. Completed Trades after Day Five: 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). 3. Adelaide get first round draft selection (No. 24), second round draft selection (No. 46) and third round draft selection (No. 64). Hawthorn get Jack Gunston (Adelaide), third round draft selection (No. 53) and fourth round draft selection (No. 71). 4. Gold Coast Suns get first pick in the "mini draft". GWS GIANTS get first round draft selection (No. 4) and a mid first round compensation draft selection for future use. 5. St. Kilda get Terry Milera (Port Adelaide, SA), Ahmed Saad (Northern Bullants) and first round draft selection (No. 25) GWS GIANTS get first round draft selection (No. 20). 6. Fremantle get first round draft selection (No. 20). GWS GIANTS get an end of first round compensation draft selection for future use. 7. Adelaide get second pick in the "mini draft" and Luke Brown (Norwood). GWS GIANTS get first round draft selection (No. 10) and a late first round compensation draft selection for future use. 8. North Melbourne gets Will Sierakowski (Hawthorn rookie) Hawthorn get third round draft selection (No. 58). 9. Richmond get Ivan Maric (Adelaide) Adelaide get second round draft selection (No. 37). 10. Adelaide get Tom Lynch (St Kilda) St Kilda get on traded second round draft selection (No. 37). 11. Port Adelaide get Brent Renouf (Hawthorn) Hawthorn get second round draft selection (No. 33). The Oracle will spend most of the time rearranging the furniture at his new home but has promised to come back to us soon with his take on the weekend's trade news. This thread will merge with Trade Week Discussion at some time over the weekend.

THE TRADING CHRONICLES 2011 by The Oracle Part Six: ACTION!!! Melbourne took centre stage yesterday when it made its play for Brisbane's Mitch Clark who has been desperate to return home to Western Australia and to play for the Dockers who have been unable to come to terms on a trade with the Lions. In an audacious move, the Demons offered big money for the homesick ruckman/forward but the indications are that Clark's mindset is one of returning to WA and the go home factor will be a difficult one to trump although Melbourne has been assured that its offer will receive serious consideration. While the odds still strongly favour the 195cm ruckman/forward finding his way home, from the Demons' point of view it is an exercise that has been worth employing. Even if they fail to get their man, the football world knows the Dees mean business and have the money and the wherewithal to spend on recruiting the right player. This alone might stand the club in good stead in trade calculations. Perhaps it might even help it to ferret out a player or two before the exchange period ends next Monday. Elsewhere, GWS continued to control the wheeling and dealing with other clubs. Three "faux" trade deals were completed, all of them involving the Giants. One was a trade of a compensatory future draft pick for another in this year's draft to Fremantle which the Dockers might be planning to use in their bid to snare Clark. The others involved trading under the rule that enables it to keep or trade up to ten players previously on an AFL list, or nominated for a previous draft. Norwood's Luke Brown went to Adelaide under this rule along with pick two in the "mini draft" which the Crows will use on Brad Crouch. St. Kilda took two small forwards in Terry Milera (Port Adelaide) and Northern Bullant Ahmed Saad for their first round pick which was the one on traded by the Giants to the Dockers. Three more players - Martin Clarke, Jamie Elliott (Collingwood) and Steve Morris - had been traded under the rule earlier in the week and the Giants are expected to keep Adam Kennedy (Western Jets), Tim Mohr (Casey Scorpions) and two picks for later on. The result is that while Sheedy's Giants are likely to be the competition's dwarves for some time, they will dominate this year's national draft and have a big say in future drafts with the number of compensatory selections they are accumulating. They already hold 11 of the first 14 picks, including the first five, in next month's national draft and are right in the centre of another deal being concocted that will see them gain a fifth uncontracted player, little known Bulldog Sam Reid who has been at the club for four years and achieved very little. With that sort of background, he should be right at home with Sheedy and his merry men at Blacktown. Completed Trades after Day Four: 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). 3. Adelaide get first round draft selection (No. 24), second round draft selection (No. 46) and third round draft selection (No. 64). Hawthorn get Jack Gunston (Adelaide), third round draft selection (No. 53) and fourth round draft selection (No. 71). 4. Gold Coast Suns get first pick in the "mini draft". GWS GIANTS get first round draft selection (No. 4) and a mid first round compensation draft selection for future use. 5. St. Kilda get Terry Milera (Port Adelaide, SA), Ahmed Saad (Northern Bullants) and first round draft selection (No. 25) GWS GIANTS get first round draft selection (No. 20). 6. Fremantle get first round draft selection (No. 20). GWS GIANTS get an end of first round compensation draft selection for future use. 7. Adelaide get second pick in the "mini draft" and Luke Brown (Norwood). GWS GIANTS get first round draft selection (No. 10) and a late first round compensation draft selection for future use. The Oracle spent today in a padded cell and is moving house today. He still expects to have plenty of time to continue to bring you the trade action over the weekend.

THE TRADING CHRONICLES 2011 by The Oracle Part Five: FLIM FLAM MEN It took until half way through the third day of the exchange period for its first genuine trade to be completed but if you think the story behind the first of the year's truly done trade deals was either spectacular or unexpected then please don't hold your breath. It involved Jack Gunston, a fourteen game forward with the Crows, returning home to Victoria after two years in the City of Churches. He landed in the Hawks' nest at Waverley around lunchtime yesterday along with picks 53 and 71. In return, Adelaide said "thank you very much" and received picks 24, 46 and 64 which is not bad when you consider that until a month or so ago, the name Gunston was only known to those on the wrong side of 40 who associated it with a television character known as "the little Aussie bleeder". The modern day Gunston must have done something extraordinary to create the impression among the media deserving of the hype surrounding him after only a handful of games. It turns out that he kicked five goals in a losing effort against Richmond in Round 23. That's his only claim to fame but you could have been forgiven for believing that Buddy himself was changing clubs the way some of the media pundits were carrying on. I had been led to believe that the winning bids for the GWS compensation ''mini-draft'' were to be announced late today with the actual selections to be determined at the close of trade proceedings next Monday but let's face it - this shambolic farce that we call the trade week has long lost any shred of structure or integrity for that matter. Where the GWS is involved, it's virtually a case of anything goes and therefore it came as no surprise that the next "trade" to be announced was actually the revelation of a deal done by GWS in exchange for pick 1 in the ''mini-draft'' more than a full day in advance. For the record, Jaeger O'Meara is going to the Gold Coast Suns, for pick No. 4 in this year's national draft and the mid first-round compensation pick the Suns received from Geelong during last year's trade period. Now, I am completely lost because I thought it was the Cats who received a mid first round selection as part of the compo for Ablett Junior and not the other way around but I'm sure someone will explain it to me some day soon. The second of the "mini draft" deals is also virtually done and dusted with Brad Crouch going to Adelaide and the Giants are being so nice about it that they're throwing in a handy SANFL player, Luke Brown, to seal the deal. What seems strange is that GWS is accepting offers now when they could have waited another 24 hours to perhaps get improved deals for these players but I won't waste time trying to make sense out of anything GWS does because, after all, these blokes are paying a 20 year old kid with a wonky knee $2m to play next year. The most interesting insight in the process was obtained from listening to O'Meara's manager. It seems the AFL have moved the mini draft goalposts on more than one occasion and one gets the distinct impression that the kid wouldn't have nominated at all if he thought he might end up at Blacktown. Perhaps this was the reason why the AFL was forced to intervene two days ago? My admiration for O'Meara grew as a result of hearing the interview with his manager and, from that moment on, I found myself wishing Melbourne had tried harder to secure him. But there's a price for everything, the Giants wanted draft picks and pick 4 will always trump pick 12. Sheedy now has cornered the field in this year's national draft and, if there are no further changes at the top of the list, the Demons will, at pick 12, hold the third highest non GWS selection! And what of the Demon recruiters? Apparently they were in there fighting against a few other clubs to win over St. Kilda's Irish recruit Tom Walsh, who has yet to make his AFL debut, in the race to get the second genuine trade of the week across the line. Fascinating. Completed Trades after Day Three: 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). 3. Adelaide get first round draft selection (No. 24), second round draft selection (No. 46) and third round draft selection (No. 64). Hawthorn get Jack Gunston (Adelaide), third round draft selection (No. 53) and fourth round draft selection (No. 71). 4. Gold Coast Sun get first pick in the "mini draft". GWS GIANTS get first round draft selection (No. 4) and a mid first round compensation draft selection for future use. The Oracle is spending today in a padded cell.

THE TRADING CHRONICLES 2011 by The Oracle Part Four: TEDIUM If memory serves me well, the past few exchange periods have lasted a week and that at least half of each of those weeks turned out to be so uneventful that many were calling for the events to be shortened by perhaps a day or two. In response, some genius at the AFL decided to extend the whole thing into a second week ensuring that there would be days like day two when the various clubs would sit back and take their own good time doing little else but to posture and to allow things to degenerate into a festival of tedium. To emphasise this point I tuned into Trade Week Radio on the official AFL site and discovered a new media form that was not only embarrassing but also bordering on the meaningless. For starters, these guys seem obsessed with Magpie defender Alan Toovey and whether his manager, Jim Marinis who sent an email to all clubs explaining that talks for a new contract for his company's client had broken down, is an accredited agent. Really, who cares? All we want to see is some action but instead, there were no trades done yesterday and there's nothing really worth reporting on this morning except that the AFL appears to have put the kibosh on the prospect of a deal that would have allowed Greater Western Sydney to recruit 17-year-old star Jaeger O'Meara. This move seems to have scuppered numerous deals that were all dependent upon the plot to subvert the spirit and intent of everything that lay behind the GWS mini draft rules. I don't know if it was a question of conscience or of the other clubs howling "enough already" but AFL football operations manager Adrian Anderson told the Age: "There was a proposed deal put forward today which involved two of the 17-year-old picks returning to GWS. We weren't satisfied that the proposed trade was a genuine on-trade, as required by the AFL rules. "We also weren't satisfied that it fit within the spirit and intention of the rule, which gave GWS these picks with the requirement that they be on-traded. We weren't satisfied that the deal put to us today met those requirements." The reality of the opening two days is that only two deals have been completed and even those are not what you would describe as traditional trades because they flow more from the special concessional rules applying to the GWS. To be sure, there are lots of things happening behind the scenes and there are lots of others that are simply not happening. In the latter category: • For the 273rd time someone involved with North Melbourne announced that ruckman Hamish McIntosh was definitely off the trade table; • Brendon Goddard is not going to Carlton (at least not this year); • Nathan Foley is not a Greater Western Sydney Giant; • Daniel Motlop would like to head west but isn't able to find interest from West Coast or Fremantle; and • Brendan Fevola isn't going anywhere but north to the Kokoda Track or to the NTFL team, the Waratahs. On the Melbourne Football Club side of things, it's all pretty quiet but the latest news is that: • the interstate club looking at defender Matthew Warnock is the Gold Coast Suns; • Matthew Bate is said to be attracting some attention from the Western Bulldogs; and • North Melbourne is interested in Melbourne's Addam Maric, having already interviewed and medically examined him. It seems that things won't really start happening till later in trade week and in the meantime, the proceedings to date can be summed up in one four letter word. Yawn. Completed Trades after Day Two: 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 spent most of yesterday snoozing.

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.

THE TRADING CHRONICLES 2011 by The Oracle Part Two: LOOKING FOR BLACK CAVIAR The story goes that Greater Western Sydney Giants coach Kevin Sheedy was at last week's Draft Combine watching the 20m sprints when he received a call from Peter Moody who trains the champion mare Black Caviar. "I'm just at the draft camp," Sheedy said. "We're looking for the next Black Caviar." Sheeds had every reason to be lording it up at Etihad Stadium for the Draft Combine testing as he currently holds most of the aces for the 2011 AFL Draft. His club has nine of the first fifteen selections which means he has a virtual smorgasbord of youthful football talent at his disposal but whether this year's offering can produce a Black Caviar equivalent remains questionable. The good judges argue that, while there might be some potential stars in the field, there are no world beaters of the Black Caviar variety. Moreover, the depth in this year's field is not all that strong. For the record, the best performers at Etihad Stadium last week are shown in the 2011 Draft Combine Results but, interestingly, some of the biggest names of the upcoming draft were "no shows" in testing because of injury. With the draft over a month away there's plenty of time to consider the merits of the prospective draftees and their Combine performances but, in the meantime, Sheedy continues to hold court in the shadows of tomorrow's AFL's trade week opening and the AFL's 18th club will be pulling the strings for the entire seven and a half days because the Giants are pivotal in respect of so many aspects of this trade week. Apart from the plethora of early draft picks awarded to them, there are two rules that give the Giants substantial bargaining power. The new franchise has the right to list or trade any player who has been on a club list or has been overlooked in previous drafts. Last year, this rule applied to the Gold Coast Suns who listed Andrew Krakouer and on-traded him and another player to Collingwood. A number of other trades were also completed in the same manner. According to this report in the Age, the rule is about to be used to enable the first trade of 2011 whereby Collingwood will give up its first draft choice (# 25) for its former player Martin Clarke from Ireland and Murray Bushrangers' over age player Jamie Elliott as well as a late pick. In a separate deal, Richmond will acquire Steve Morris, the son of Sheedy's former teammate at the Tigers in Kevin Morris via a swap of first-round picks with GWS getting pick No. 14 for it's number 15 selection. There will also be interest in whether the Giants will, under the same rule, list and retain or on-trade the likes of Casey's Tim Mohr and the Northern Bullants' Ahmed Saad who both stood out in testing at the Draft Combine. Saad's story is unusual. He played soccer in Egypt as a youngster and only took up our game when he was sixteen to help make up numbers in a local junior team. Much has already been said of the Mini Draft for 17 year olds which GWS will no doubt use to parlay into a combination of established players and future draft picks. It will also be interesting to see how much strength the clubs place on recruiting players who are ineligible to play for another 18 months and whether clubs will, for tactical reasons, delay their bidding until the last moment on Thursday. The timing of the Mini Draft could have the effect of stalling many of the exchanges until later in the week but there will always be one or two trades that will be done independently. We can expect some action with players like Brisbane's Mitch Clark and Eagle Brad Ebert who have asked to be traded to enable them to return home and others such as those mentioned in speculation and referred to in this trade talk article. Another feature of the trade week will be the father/son selections of which there are three nominations - Jed Bews, the son of former Geelong captain Andrew Bews, Dylan Buckley, son of former Carlton champion Jimmy Buckley and Tom Mitchell, son of Barry Mitchell, who could have been claimed by Carlton or Sydney but has opted for the latter and will, in all likelihood, cost the Swans their first pick in the national draft. What it all boils down to is that the essence of trade week is the incessant speculation, rumours and innuendo that attend it but the final result is mostly disappointing. A great deal of the hype surrounding the week will end up being of little or no substance and the odds are strong that we will not witness a Black Caviar changing colours over the course of the next eight days. The Oracle will be back from time to time over coming days to bring his spin on the unfolding events of trade week.