Every club’s most and least successful trade periods reviewed
EVERYTHING Richmond touched turned to gold this time last year but it doesn’t always work out so well. We review every club’s most successful trade period and the one that went pear-shaped.
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NAILING one trade period can win you a premiership — just ask Richmond.
The Tigers were involved in four trades last year, and aced all of them.
Dion Prestia, Josh Caddy and Toby Nankervis all arrived from other clubs, and all are now premiership players.
LIVE TRADE NEWS: EVERY DEAL AND WHISPER AS IT HAPPENS
TRADE BUZZ: WHY DEES PAID OVERS FOR LEVER
HISTORY: WHO WON THESE PLAYER FOR PLAYER TRADES?
The one departure was club champion Brett Deledio which seemed like a big blow at the time, but as it turned out he could manage only seven games in an injury-plagued year at GWS, while the Tigers will gain their reward with two extra picks in this year’s draft.
It doesn’t always go that well.
Carlton made a big trade splash in 2014 under new coach Mick Malthouse, landing Kristian Jaksch, Mark Whiley and Liam Jones and giving away Jeff Garlett for almost nothing. In hindsight, they weren’t the best moves.
Most years clubs get some right and some wrong, but sometimes the planets align completely — or everything goes pear-shaped. When did your club nail it, and which year would they rather forget?
ADELAIDE
Best: 1994
The Crows scored one of the biggest coups in trade history when they gave Chris Groom to Fremantle in exchange for the draft rights to future Hall of Famer Andrew McLeod. But it gets better. In the same trade period the Crows picked up Jason McCartney from Collingwood and Matt Connell from West Coast for pick 44. After playing three games at the Eagles, Connell won Adelaide’s best-and-fairest in 1995 and played in the 1997 and 98 flag teams.
Worst: 2015
Adelaide didn’t have much say in Patrick Dangerfield leaving to become a Cat. At least the Crows forced Geelong into a trade for the superstar free agent, but in the end it didn’t make much difference. The Crows received picks nine (fringe forward Wayne Milera) and 28 (swapped to Carlton as part of a trade for Troy Menzel, who was delisted last week), plus young midfielder Dean Gore, who was also cut after failing to play a game in two seasons. The Crows sent Sam Kerridge to the Blues as part of the Menzel deal and while he dropped out of the best 22 this year, Carlton won’t have lost too much sleep over the trade.
BRISBANE LIONS
Best: 1997
The Lions hit pay dirt by trading out established players for draft picks that became premiership stars. Adrian Fletcher was a solid servant for Fremantle but the pick five they handed over in exchange turned into Luke Power. Sydney made an even bigger blunder, swapping pick 31 for Simon Hawking and Brent Green. That became Simon Black, one of the most decorated players of all time. Getting Brad Scott from Hawthorn (in a swap for John Barker and Nathan Chapman) topped off a premiership standard trade week.
Worst: 2009
Trading for Brendan Fevola is one of the biggest trade regrets of recent times. Making it worse, the Lions handed over Lachie Henderson in the deal. And they didn’t cover themselves in glory in four other deals that trade period, with acquisitions Andrew Raines, Xavier Clarke, Brent Staker and Amon Buchanan combining for 132 games; among the wreckage the Lions parted with pick 28 which became Mitch Duncan.
CARLTON
Best: 2015
A very busy trade period cost the Blues key defender Lachie Henderson and midfielder Tom Bell. But they landed Giants Lachie Plowman, Andrew Phillips, Liam Sumner and Jed Lamb who could all be long-term players, won the Sam Kerridge/Troy Menzel swap and picked up another Crow Matthew Wright as a delisted free agent. They also offloaded Chris Yarran to Richmond and used a swag of draft picks acquired in trades to recruit players including Charlie Curnow, Harry McKay and David Cuningham. Wind the clock back to 1991 and Blues fans are still smiling from trade deals that delivered Greg Williams and Earl Spalding.
Worst: 2014
The Blues tried to pull a trade swiftie by handing pick seven to GWS in return for pick 19 and promising duo Kristian Jaksch and Mark Whiley. Three years on and both those players are gone from the AFL system and the player they got at pick 19, Blaine Boekhorst, is clinging to his AFL career. In the same trade period the Blues traded Jeff Garlett to Melbourne for two late draft picks, lost free agent Jarrad Waite to North Melbourne and delisted Mitch Robinson, who was picked up by Brisbane. At least Liam Jones (traded for pick 46) is finally showing something.
COLLINGWOOD
Best: 2000
The Magpies secured four players during trade week in 2000 and the deal with Fremantle for James Clement and Brodie Holland (in exchange for picks eight and 39) was one of the best in Collingwood history. Jarrod Molloy was a handy pick-up from Brisbane while the fourth trade recruit, Carl Steinfort, played 27 games. Pie fans wish they didn’t have to trade Paul Williams to Sydney but the picks received in the deal ended up at the Dockers for Clement and Holland, so we’ll count that as a win.
Worst: 2016
Will Hoskin-Elliott could be a good player but the Pies raised eyebrows with big deals for free agents Daniel Wells and Chris Mayne. There’s a bit of work to do for those moves to pay off. They also parted ways with Jarrod Witts and Marley Williams, who have both been handy at their new clubs, plus Travis Cloke, receiving only pick 76 in return for the former superstar. At least Lynden Dunn turned out to be a bargain.
ESSENDON
Best: 1994
The Bombers are making a big trade splash this year for the first time in a while but way back in 1994 they pulled off one of the best trades of all time. The Bombers handed over Tony Delaney and Todd Ridley to start-up Fremantle and got pick four and a compensation draft pick in return — which they used on Scott Lucas and Matthew Lloyd.
Worst: 2002
The Bombers’ turn of the century dominance came to a sad end with salary cap pressure forcing out premiership heroes Justin Blumfield, Blake Caracella and Chris Heffernan. A year earlier Damien Hardwick and Gary Moorcroft left, Joe Misiti came agonisingly close to a deal with Collingwood and James Hird and Mark Mercuri had to take substantial pay cuts.
FREMANTLE
Best: 2016
Tough to find a standout in possibly the worst trade history in the AFL. The Dockers picked up four players last year, with Brad Hill winning the best-and-fairest in his first season after arriving from Hawthorn. Cam McCarthy, Joel Hamling and Shane Kersten aren’t superstars but they were handy recruits.
Worst: 2001
Sadly for the Dockers there are a lot of contenders for this section. We have already panned their 1994 deal with Essendon (see above) and whoever came up with the idea of trading the No. 1 draft pick in the best draft ever has also copped plenty over the years. Freo handed Hawthorn the pick that became Luke Hodge and also effectively traded Sam Mitchell in the same deal, but at least Luke McPharlin became a club stalwward and they picked up Jeff Farmer in the same trade period. So we’ll go for 2013 when the Dockers traded in Scott Gumbleton (zero games) snared Colin Sylvia (six games) as a free agent.
GEELONG
Best: 2015
Landing Patrick Dangerfield, Scott Selwood, Lachie Henderson, Zac Smith in one trade period was a massive coup — possibly the best haul ever. To make it happen the Cats traded out Dean Gore, Josh Walker, Jarrad Jansen, Steve Johnson plus a handful of draft picks including No. 9 (Wayne Milera). They also lost Dawson Simpson as a free agent but ended up a long way ahead.
Worst: 2014
Not too many trade skeletons in Geelong’s closet but 2014 didn’t work out the way the Cats would have hoped. Mitch Clark is gone from the game but Travis Varcoe, traded out in that three-way deal, is thriving at Collingwood. Allen Christensen was effectively swapped for Rhys Stanley — the Cats might be slightly ahead on that deal but neither has been a big success. The Cats also delisted Joel Hamling, who went on to play in a premiership at the Bulldogs, recruited ex-Demon Sam Blease (one game) and traded to improve their position in the draft to get Nakia Cockatoo who has battled hamstring issues, failing to play more than 11 games in each of his three seasons.
GOLD COAST
Best: 2010
The Suns had a huge head start before their first season including rules that allowed them to poach one uncontracted player from every other team. But signing the best player in the comp is still a pretty good move. Things have turned sour with Gary Ablett but he won four B & Fs and a Brownlow as a Sun so that’s a pretty good result considering he didn’t cost anything. Unfortunately none of the other six signings got close to that output, with Jarrod Harbrow and Michael Rischitelli the best of the bunch.
Worst: 2011
Many would say 2016 and with good reason — losing Dion Prestia and Jaeger O’Meara in one trade period is bad news. But at least the Suns brought in Jarryd Lyons, Jarrod Witts and Pearce Hanley. In 2011 they traded for Matthew Warnock and a bunch of draft picks that didn’t amount to much, gave up pick four to get O’Meara and handed Brisbane access to a local Queensland footballer by the name of Dayne Zorko. Ouch.
GWS GIANTS
Best: 2011
Like the Suns it was hard to mess up a year when the club was gifted a raft of free hits by the AFL but the Giants did their homework and used smart trades to harvest draft picks that are still reaping rewards. Perhaps learning from Gold Coast’s experience, they raided other clubs for stars of the future including Phil Davis, Tom Scully and Callan Ward and picked up old heads Luke Power, Chad Cornes and Dean Brogan for basically nothing.
Worst: 2015
Trading out fringe and previously contracted players had worked a treat in the Giants’ first few seasons but this time some of those calls came back to bite them when they gave away names including Lachie Plowman, Tom Bugg and premiership Tiger Jacob Townsend (for pick 70).
HAWTHORN
Best: 2012
Trading Trent Croad and Luke McPharlin to Fremantle in 2001 for the draft picks that became Luke Hodge and Sam Mitchell will go down as one of the best single deals in trade history. But for a body of work we like a series of moves that brought in premiership heroes Brian Lake, Matt Spangher and Jonathan Simpkin all for almost nothing. Stephen Gilham, Tom Murphy and Clinton Young all joined other clubs but none came back to bite the Hawks.
Worst: 2009
Most other clubs would love to claim a trade period like this when the Hawks landed Shaun Burgoyne from Port Adelaide and Josh Gibson from North Melbourne. But we’re marking them down for giving away Ben McGlynn and Josh Kennedy to the Swans for a trio of late picks. That’s harsh but they generally ace this time of year so we were limited for options. Or we could just say losing Buddy in 2013.
MELBOURNE
Best: 2016
When your two trade acquisitions finish equal-third and sixth in the best-and-fairest, you’ve done OK. Especially when you get one of them for a swap of late picks. The Dees swooped when Al Clarkson suggested Jordan Lewis might want to play somewhere else and were all over rebounding star Michael Hibberd. They also picked up Pat McKenna, who we haven’t seen yet, and lost only Lynden Dunn — who, to be fair, was pretty useful for the Pies this year.
Worst: 2012
Trading Scott Thompson to Adelaide for pick 12 in 2004 was a huge bust after Thommo went on to play 269 games for the Crows and the Demons used the pick on Matthew Bate. Melbourne also traded out Darren Jolly (using that selection on Lynden Dunn) that year but we think the 2012 trade period gets the chocolates after the Demons traded pick 20 to Collingwood for Chris Dawes, lost Brent Moloney to Brisbane, Jared Rivers to Geelong and Stefan Martin also became a Lion for a couple of late draft picks. In a very active year Melbourne also traded out Cale Morton and brought in David Rodan, Shannon Byrnes, Tom Gillies and Dom Barry, which all amounted to not much. Getting Cam Pedersen for Gysberts was a win.
NORTH MELBOURNE
Best: 2014
Snaring Jarrad Waite and Shaun Higgins for nothing is a pretty good start. The Roos parted ways with Levi Greenwood, who finished second in the best-and-fairest but wanted a bigger contract. He has been solid at Collingwood but the Roos will hope to end up in front after using the pick secured in the trade to recruit Daniel Nielson.
Worst: 2005
North ended up with two ex-Hawks, giving up pick 18 for Jonathan Hay and picking up Jade Rawlings via the Bulldogs. Rawlings had wanted to get to North two years earlier but was nabbed by the Dogs in the pre-season draft after the infamous ‘Veale deal’. He eventually got his wish but played just three games at Arden St. That deal also reaped pick 43 (Andrew Swallow), but a trade to get Daniel McConnell involved giving away the draft selection West Coast used on Shannon Hurn. The Roos also did a deal with Sydney for Mark Powell, who quit during the following pre-season, which resulted in pick 61 landing at Geelong — the Cats used that to recruit Mathew Stokes.
PORT ADELAIDE
Best: 2014
One trade and it was a great one: Paddy Ryder in for picks 17 and 37. The Bombers used the first on Kyle Langford and the second ended up at Sydney, which used it on James Rose.
Worst: 2009
Hard to find one year where everything went wrong for Port so we’ll go with 2005 when they gave away pick 14 to Hawthorn to get their hands on wingman Nathan Lonie. Lonie played 40 games in three seasons at Port, and the player they traded — Shaun Burgoyne — has played 184 for the Hawks and counting. In the same trade period Port traded Norm Smith medallist Byron Pickett to Melbourne effectively for a draft pick used to recruit Nick Lower (20 games). Picking up Daniel Motlop from North Melbourne worked out a bit better.
RICHMOND
Best: 2016
Everything turned to gold for the Tigers during last year’s trade period when they snapped up premiership heroes Dion Prestia, Josh Caddy and Toby Nankervis. That overtakes the massive 1993 deal that sent Richmond captain Jeff Hogg to a battling Fitzroy in exchange for future Jack Dyer medallist Paul Broderick plus Michael Gale and Matthew Dundas.
Worst: 2004
The Tigers have had plenty of high-profile draft blunders over the years but their trade record is pretty good (at least since the disastrous player war with Collingwood in the 1980s) — even the decision to part with pick 19 for Chris Yarran two years ago was at least partially saved by picking up GWS reject Jacob Townsend for basically nothing in the same trade period. Richmond had a great hand to make deals in 2004 but in hindsight it wasn’t a great year to raid the top end of the draft. The Tigers traded Brad Ottens to Geelong for picks 12 and 16 which they used on Danny Meyer (26 games at Richmond and Port Adelaide) and Adam Pattinson (66 games at Richmond and St Kilda). Otten went on to play a key role in three flags for the Cats and it would surprise most to learn he played more games at Punt Rd. Also in 2004 the Tigers did a three-way trade that effectively swapped Aaron Fiora for Troy Simmonds, which we’ll count as a win.
ST KILDA
Best: 2007
This one is easy. The Saints figured they were entering the flag window — which proved a pretty accurate assessment — and gave up three draft picks to secure four players: little-known Swans Adam Schneider and Sean Dempster plus Cats Steven King and Charlie Gardiner (who both arrived for pick 90).
Worst: 2012
Giving Essendon pick 16 for Andrew Lovett in 2009 will go down as one of the biggest trade bloopers ever but for a body of work 2012 has it covered, despite the inspired pick-up of delisted Docker Dylan Roberton. The Saints lost Brendon Goddard to Essendon and Jamie Cripps to the Eagles, picked up Trent Dennis-Lane (10 games) from Sydney and swapped a bunch of draft picks that effectively landed ruckman Tom Hickey and mature-age Western Australian forward Tom Lee for pick 12. He played 17 matches before being delisted while Hickey is now a back-up for Billy Longer. The moves were designed to kickstart a rebuild but may have delayed it a year.
SYDNEY
Best: 2009
Points for landing Buddy in 2013 and Plugger in 1994 but when looking for a series of successful moves the 2009 trade period gets the gong. The biggest coup was giving Hawthorn a handful of late draft picks for Josh Kennedy and Ben McGlynn but Shane Mumford was a good get from Geelong as well. Mark Seaby didn’t have much impact at the Swans who got their timing right in moving on Barry Hall, Darren Jolly and Amon Buchanan.
Worst: 2016
The Swans had no salary cap room and no bargaining power when it had to let Tom Mitchell and Toby Nankervis go at the end of last year. Both proved brilliant recruits for their new clubs with Mitchell streeting the field to win Hawthorn’s best-and-fairest and Nankervis playing a key role in Richmond’s surprise premiership.
WEST COAST
Best: 2004
The Eagles had some good trade weeks early in their existence, nabbing Peter Wilson (117 games including 1992 and 1994 flags) from Richmond in 1989 for picks 18 (Robert Wren) and 32 (Shaun Slater), who didn’t play a game for the Tigers, and pick one (Drew Banfield) from Sydney in 1992 for Scott Watters and Tony Bogovich. More recently they nailed three of four deals in 2004, picking up premiership player Tyson Stenglein plus Matt Rosa and Mark LeCras while parting ways with Chad Morrison, Paul Johnson and some draft picks that didn’t amount to much — all up the Eagles finished 341 games ahead from those deals. The fourth — Brad Smith for Callum Chambers — was basically a nil-all draw.
Worst: 2007
Hats off, Eagles recruiters. A warning to rival clubs in trade negotiations — West Coast has broken even or come out ahead in just about every swap in its history. The one trade period that will be debated for years is 2007 when it traded future Hall of Famer Chris Judd to Carlton along with pick 46 (Dennis Armfield) for pick three (Chris Masten), pick 20 (Tony Notte) and Josh Kennedy. Masten fell out of the best 22 this year and Notte was a bust (two games), but Kennedy has won two Coleman Medals and shows few signs of slowing down at age 30.
WESTERN BULLDOGS
Best: 1999
The Dogs made six trades in ‘99 and while swapping Brett Montgomery to Port Adelaide for Nathan Eagleton worked out pretty well, the real gold was in a deal with the Tigers. Parting ways with Leon Cameron would have hurt but the Dogs landed picks 37 and 66 in return, which they turned into Mitch Hahn and Ryan Hargrave, who played a combined 384 games. The Bulldogs’ draft class that year also included Bob Murphy and Lindsay Gilbee, setting up an era that included three straight top-four finishes from 2008-10.
Worst: 2010
The burning desire to stay at the top fuelled one of the biggest trade week fails of recent times. The Dogs made three moves and they all flopped. Andrejs Everitt was traded to Sydney for Patrick Veszpremi (12 games), pick 57 (James Podsiadly) went to Geelong for Nathan Djerrkura (21 games) and a first-round compensation pick (Patrick Karnezis) was sent to Brisbane for Justin Sherman (24 games).
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