Geelong prepares for draft assault after building huge war chest through Tim Kelly trade
They might have given up Tim Kelly, but the last time Geelong had a draft hand like this, it scored Jimmy Bartel, James Kelly, Steve Johnson and Gary Ablett. Can the Cats unearth the next generation of premiership heroes?
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Geelong will take its strongest hand in almost two decades to next month’s national draft after pulling off a monster deal for Tim Kelly.
The Cats will be armed with at least four picks inside the top-40 for the first time since the club set up its golden era, when it drafted premiership heroes Jimmy Bartel (8), James Kelly (17), Charlie Gardiner (23), Steve Johnson (24) and Gary Ablett (40) in 2001.
In one of the biggest deals in trade history, Geelong received picks No. 14, 24, 37 and a future first-round pick from West Coast to send Kelly home to WA.
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However, the Cats’ hopes of securing St Kilda veteran Jack Steven with pick No. 37 have begun to fade after making little progress in talks with the Saints.
The Saints want an earlier pick for Steven, but Geelong seems unlikely to improve its offer for the 30-year-old who played only seven games this season amid a mental health issue.
While the Cats wanted to keep Kelly, the mega suite of draft picks will allow Geelong to add another wave of gun youngsters to help eventually take over from greats Joel Selwood, Harry Taylor and Tom Hawkins.
Geelong gave up two third-round picks — No. 52 this year and a future selection from next year’s draft — to seal the Kelly deal.
After two outstanding years at Geelong, Kelly signed a six-year deal worth almost $5 million with the Eagles.
His arrival will mean the 2018 premiers will have arguably the best midfield in the competition next season.
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The Cats already have pick No. 17 and are open to packaging multiple selections together to help move up the order in a swap with a club such as Carlton.
Geelong list manager Stephen Wells said the club was excited to bolster its draft position and facilitate Kelly’s trade request.
“We have got five draft picks inside 37 and we are considering now what we do with those, whether we use four or five of them at the draft,” Wells said.
“It may mean putting a couple of them together to trade up the order or even trade down the order. We will work through all of that.
“We are as happy as we can be under the circumstances.
“We are losing an outstanding player but receiving these draft picks does give us an opportunity to look at our list in a different way over the next couple of years.”
Essendon played a minor role in the Kelly deal, moving up from pick No. 37 to 33 and dropping back from pick 52 to 57.
Geelong had the sixth-oldest list in the competition this season and, while it has parted ways with Scott Selwood, veterans Harry Taylor, 33, and Gary Ablett, 35, will play again next year.
Geelong snapped up Kelly two years ago with pick No. 24, in what will go down as one of the most shrewd draft calls of the past decade.
West Coast football boss Craig Vozzo said the club was thrilled to add Kelly to the engine room after missing out on him last year.
The Eagles immediately shortened from $7 to $6.50 for the premiership (TAB) after the trade.
“I cannot recall in recent time a player having so much impact in his first two years. It has been extraordinary,” Vozzo said.
“If you asked if we would rather have the draft picks, or have Tim Kelly … I think the answer is Tim Kelly.”
Originally published as Geelong prepares for draft assault after building huge war chest through Tim Kelly trade