Collingwood’s biggest trade bargains and busts
When it comes to trade time, the Magpies will never die wondering. Sometimes the trades pay off, and sometimes they really don’t.
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No club knows how trades can come back to bite you like Collingwood.
In 2013 the Pies completed one of those deals involving only draft picks that are hard to understand to anyone outside the two clubs involved. But the full impact became apparent five years later when Dom Sheed, the player the Eagles acquired with pick 11 — part of the package handed over by the Pies — slotted the goal that sank Collingwood’s Grand Final dream.
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One thing is for sure, when it comes to trades the Pies won’t die wondering.
There was no shortage of deals to choose from for this article but we’ve narrowed it down to their three biggest busts and bargains of (roughly) the past 20 years.
Note: We left out the deal that netted Jeremy Howe for Ben Kennedy — a big win — because it is just too complicated, involving three clubs, four players and eight draft picks!
BARGAINS
SHARROD WELLINGHAM FOR PICK 18 (BRODIE GRUNDY)
As with all trades involving draft picks, the deal is only as good as your recruiters - and they absolutely nailed this one. Wellingham had been a solid servant for the Pies (playing 92 games, including the 2010 premiership) when he was shipped to West Coast at the end of 2012, and he was handy there, too (playing 79 games). But the Pies are still reaping the benefits of Brodie Grundy sliding to pick 18 on draft night after being touted as a top-five selection for much of the year.
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JAMES CLEMENT AND BRODIE HOLLAND FOR PICKS 8 AND 39
After playing just eight games in 2000 at the Dockers, Clement became a star at Collingwood, winning two best-and-fairests and finishing top-three another two times. Holland was a handy acquisition as well, kicking 104 goals over eight seasons. Fremantle used the pick on Adam McPhee, who would play two seasons with the club before moving to Essendon for seven seasons only to return for three more years at the back-end of his career with the Dockers. Pick 8 ended up at North Melbourne, who used it on Daniel Motlop.
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JORDAN ROUGHEAD FOR PICK 75
After being part of the Bulldogs’ famed 2016 premiership, Roughead fell out of favour at Whitten Oval and was let go for a fourth-round draft pick at the end of 2019. He has since become a staple of the Magpies’ backline, playing 41 games in two seasons and banking a top-10 finish in the best-and-fairest. The Dogs used the pick to select Will Hayes (11 games).
Honourable mentions to recent deals for Travis Varcoe (the Pies were clearly the winner in a three-way swap with Melbourne and Geelong) and Taylor Adams — he was swapped for Heath Shaw so we’ll call that a win-win.
BUSTS
CHAD MORRISON DEAL
This 2004 multi-club bomb has several layers, and none of them look great for the Pies in hindsight, even though Collingwood didn’t seem to be giving up a lot when it dropped three spots down the draft order from pick 7 to pick 10 as part of a three-way swap with West Coast and Hawthorn.
The Pies received ex-Eagle Chad Morrison, who managed 21 games over three seasons, and used pick 10 on Chris Egan, who was delisted after 27 games in four seasons.
The Hawks, meanwhile, picked up Bo Nixon from the Pies (one game) and used that pick 7 on four-time premiership star Jordan Lewis. And in the final piece of the puzzle the Eagles ended up with pick 37 from the Hawks, which they used on Mark LeCras, who caused defenders headaches for 13 seasons, booting 441 goals and retiring after playing in a premiership in his last game — against Collingwood.
NICK DAVIS FOR PICK 21
Rewind a few years and things get even darker.
The Magpies had to do a last-minute deal with Sydney when exciting goalkicker Nick Davis asked for a trade after the 2002 season.
The Swans got a bargain, parting with pick 21 in a straight swap for a player who set up their drought-breaking 2005 premiership with one of the great individual finals performances in a semi-final against Geelong.
Collingwood used pick 21 on ... Bo Nixon, who played three games before being traded to Hawthorn as part of the Morrison/Lewis/LeCras deal.
RICKY OLARENSHAW FOR PICK 12
Olarenshaw was part of the “baby Bombers” team that claimed the 1993 premiership but by 1998 he wanted out of Windy Hill. He ended up at Collingwood but managed just five games in two seasons before being traded again to North Melbourne, where he added one more before retiring. The Bombers used pick 12 on Adam Ramanauskas, who played 134 games including the 2000 flag.
At least Collingwood got slightly more out of Olarenshaw than they did from Brad Hardie, who played just two games after arriving in a trade in 1992.
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Originally published as Collingwood’s biggest trade bargains and busts