Mick Malthouse gives his rules for how clubs can avoid being involved in a trade disaster
DID the Dees pay too much for Jake Lever and which unheralded Magpie could be even better value for half the price? Coaching great MICK MALTHOUSE gives his rules for striking gold during the trade period.
AFL News
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
EVERYONE loves a bargain, but sometimes you just have to pay more to get what you really want.
To get what you really need.
The dilemma is, when should you be prepared to outlay more, and when should you shop around for a lower price and a better fit?
I’m talking football here of course ... football players with a price tag.
Lynden Dunn is an absolute gem for Collingwood. A gem at half the price of a diamond.
LOOKING AHEAD: MICK PREDICTS THE TOP 8
MICK’S CALL: WHY THE PIES CAN PLAY FINALS IN 2018
BIG GAMES: MICK ON WHY STEELE IS A REAL STAR
As a veteran Demon, he probably hadn’t entered the minds of Collingwood recruiters until the club suffered injuries to its key backs and lost Nathan Brown to St Kilda, and needed an experienced player who could slot straight into the backline to fill the gap.
He is playing that role with aplomb and his test on Sunday will be against Jack Riewoldt.
At almost 31, he can continue this way for two or three more years.
His career has been salvaged and the Magpies are reaping the rewards of a hardworking defender, traded for as little as draft pick No.46 to Melbourne.
Bargain.
Jake Lever cost Melbourne two first-round draft picks — No.10 last year and the Demons’ first pick this year — on top of his big salary.
After three years at Adelaide, young Lever had become an excellent intercept defender.
But I question his trade to the Demons, where they paid a fortune for what is essentially a third tall back.
In the red and blue he is missing the back-up of former teammate Daniel Talia, who plays in tight and hard and allowed Lever to play as a fall off player/interceptor.
He doesn’t have the same luxury at Melbourne — and it’s showing.
Perhaps that will change when Tom McDonald returns from injury, but right now it looks like a case of overpaying for a wrong fit.
Expensive.
So what are the dos and don’ts of the trade period?
DO think about what your club needs.
Stephen Wells is a genius at this.
The Geelong national recruiting manager is a master at staying ahead of a club’s list and filling the holes that retiring players leave.
Zach Tuohy, Sam Menegola and Lachie Henderson are three of the best trades completed in recent years.
With the retirements of champion backmen Corey Enright, Andrew Mackie and Tom Lonergan, and Harry Taylor in the twilight of his career, Geelong targeted one of the best back flankers in the competition in Tuohy.
They established his true value and he has lived up to every cent of it, as a reliable, steadfast defender with plenty of run and a booming kick.
DON’T take on a player just to top up his super fund.
By this, I mean if an older player from a top club is being forced to consider retirement, is one final run around for him going to provide you with a finals berth?
Sam Mitchell was a champion for Hawthorn — a four-time premiership player, a leader and a Brownlow medallist — but what value did he really provide to West Coast other than to extend his career for a year?
Sure he played 22 games and averaged 27 disposals per match, but he didn’t set the world alight and the Eagles were knocked out in the semis.
How did his presence affect youngster Liam Duggan, who played across half-back and only now, in his fourth season, finally gets to spend more time in the midfield?
I do question Luke Hodge’s move to the Brisbane Lions. If he’s there to teach, well good, OK.
If he’s there to move them off the bottom of the ladder because he was once a brilliantly tough midfielder/defender at Hawthorn, then I’m not sure it’s worth the relocation expense.
DO look for genuine talls.
There is rarely less than five talls in a team on game day, but generally never more than seven.
That’s a third of the team, so they come at a premium.
This is where you would possibly pay over the odds for the right player.
Smart forwards are matchwinners, versatile backmen are gold.
Jake Carlisle, with his ability to play at either end, is one of St Kilda’s shining lights this season.
With a strong mark and a straight kick, he tightened up the Saints’ backline last season alongside another valuable tall, Nathan Brown.
This year I’d like to see him move forward to provide a more reliable target inside attacking 50.
He could be brilliant.
Tom Boyd arrived at the Western Bulldogs with lots of fanfare and criticism for the exorbitant price it cost to secure him.
It paid off in a big way in the 2016 premiership win, where he starred.
You’d give your arm and leg for a player who can win you the cup.
But the pressure stemming from that performance, and his big salary, seems to have had a detrimental effect on him, and until Round 5 this season he wasn’t even considered to be in the Bulldogs’ best 22.
Perhaps now that will change.
Picking a tall isn’t an exact science — some will take longer to bear fruit.
Sydney can’t do without Lance Franklin. Port Adelaide can’t do without Paddy Ryder; and is still waiting on Charlie Dixon to give a more consistent performance.
Mind you he’s not getting any shorter!
It’s the players who get the ball to the forwards, in my book, that are the most important.
DO get young mids, or good mids in general.
It’s where it starts and finishes. To be a successful club, you must have a good midfield.
Hawthorn identified the need for quick, young, talented midfielders after its 2016 semi-final defeat.
With the departure of Sam Mitchell and Jordan Lewis, they filled the gaps with Tom Mitchell, Jaeger O’Meara and Jonathan O’Rourke.
Former Swan Mitchell is a revelation, and a big part of the Hawks’ resurrection this season.
Like Bryce Gibbs (Carlton to Adelaide), Dion Prestia (Gold Coast to Richmond), Dayne Beams (Collingwood to Brisbane Lions), Adam Treloar (Greater Western Sydney to Collingwood) and Devon Smith (GWS to Essendon), Mitchell’s performance in the midfield is worth his weight in gold.
The jury, however, is still out on O’Meara, who entered the club carrying a long-term injury, and O’Rourke, whose chronic hamstring problems eventually required surgery.
O’Meara has bounced back this season and looks impressive, but will his body hold out?
DON’T think your club is better equipped to rehabilitate an injured player than another club.
Hawthorn did well targeting Tom Mitchell, but it was always going to be a risk paying a hefty price for O’Meara, who once was considered a potential Brownlow medallist but had missed two seasons through injury.
Only time will tell if the move pays off for both parties.
First-round draft pick Nathan Freeman could hardly make it on the ground for Collingwood due to hamstring injuries, poor kid, but St Kilda thought it had a special elixir to alleviate the problem.
It didn’t and Freeman is still to make his senior debut.
Gary Ablett returning to Geelong for a second-round draft pick might be a great emotional get, but for it to be a great love story, his body, which has been constantly dogged by injury in recent times, has to withstand the challenge. I’m sceptical it can.
The salary cap and draft order puts a limit on a club’s ability to add a star player to its list every year, but when you can, especially without paying over the odds, it’s sensational.
For the 2010 season we targeted a big-bodied ruckman.
Darren Jolly became Collingwood’s missing link and we won the premiership.
Some deals are priceless.
Some are costly.
Originally published as Mick Malthouse gives his rules for how clubs can avoid being involved in a trade disaster