Sydney went where Geelong and Hawthorn didn’t in the trade period — and it might show the way
It was a similar philosophy that saw the Cats and Hawks miss out on a big fish. Josh Barnes looks at the delicate balance of chasing stars while maintaining a strong locker room culture.
The ruthless Sydney call to push Will Hayward into the trade for Charlie Curnow not only nudged Geelong out of the way but may show the way forward for the future of blockbuster deals.
Where the Cats made the early call that they could only offer three first-round picks for the superstar Blue and would not make any awkward phone calls to players to entice them to the exit, the Swans added Hayward in the deal and got it done.
It was a similar philosophical split that meant Hawthorn missed on its wish of getting Zach Merrett from Essendon.
The Bombers eventually asked for four first rounders because the only player the Hawks would put in the deal was fringe midfielder Henry Hustwaite, who was already open to a move if it meant more opportunity.
Hustwaite has promise but clearly he wasn’t enough to turn Essendon’s head and Hawthorn was unwilling to dig deeper into its list to give up a better player.
Like Geelong, Hawthorn was not willing to break up a winning side and slash at a strong locker room culture by dragging players out the door.
As Hayward told CODE Sports on the eve of the trade period, he wasn’t interested in leaving Sydney unless the club told him to pack his bags.
In the end, the Swans made that call.
Like NFTs, first-round draft picks are declining in value and the market reset this month means you need three firsts to get a superstar.
And with seemingly more contracted stars wanting a trade, the price on those players looms higher, so the circuit breaker now is to include a decent player in a trade.
That kind of ruthless manoeuvring to give up a player to get one had died out in the years since Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson called Ryan Burton while on holiday in the United States in 2018 to tell him he was going to be part of the deal to get Chad Wingard from Port Adelaide.
Players can’t be traded without their agreement but once it is made clear to them their futures are limited unless they adhere to the trade plans, they usually go.
Sydney got Hayward and Ollie Florent out this trade period, while James Rowbottom stood firm, with list boss Chris Keane keen to make clear the Swans never wanted to move Rowbottom.
Keane described those chats as “very tricky conversations” but when his club prioritised getting Curnow, the Swans had to get to work putting players into the market.
“It’s a balance. Clearly we are really sympathetic towards Will and Ollie in this, they have been huge for our footy club over the journey and for a long time,” he said.
“Those decisions are never easy but we are trying to make the best decisions for our footy club in totality and that is what we have done.”
Geelong has a club philosophy of not shoving players into deals unless the player was first to put his hand up and go for the door.
“We are really excited about the group of players we have and they love the environment they get to work in every day,” Cats footy boss Andrew Mackie said.
“We didn’t want to get any of our guys that we really rate and understand they have a great working environment they come to every day. We didn’t want to disrupt that.”
When players are put on the trade table – willingly or not – it can disrupt team chemistry but Keane was confident the Swans wouldn’t suffer after players were nudged out.
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Originally published as Sydney went where Geelong and Hawthorn didn’t in the trade period — and it might show the way
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