Trade Daily: Live reaction to the stunning 2018 AFL trade period, Thursday, October 18, 2018

DYLAN Shiel has revealed he didn't know if he would make it to Essendon until just before the trade deadline, and GWS tried to talk him out of the move. Plus does Collingwood now have the best midfield in history? TRADE FALLOUT

ESSENDON recruit Dylan Shiel says he wasn't sure he was going to make it to the Bombers until just before last night's trade deadline.

Shiel nominated the Bombers 10 days ago but it took until 8.20pm last night – 10 minutes before the cutoff – for Essendon to sign off on a deal that sent its first-round picks in this year's and next year's drafts to GWS in exchange for Shiel and a future second-round pick.

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"Certainly towards the later stages of the trade it was getting a little bit nervous," Shiel said on Channel 9's The Trade Table.

"Obviously, I'm not working behind the scenes, so I was unsure about sort of the situation of the deal getting done … I tried to stay out of it and let the managers take care of it.

"I'm not sure how close Carlton were in the negotiations. Obviously, informing them a week or so ago that I would prefer to go to Essendon over Carlton was a hard call to make and probably the footy club thought that they may still be able to get hold of me if Essendon wasn't able to come through."

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Shiel revealed the Giants had asked him to change his mind after other trades freed up salary cap room, but he repeated his desire to join the Bombers.

His decision came down to a choice between Essendon and Carlton, with other suitors St Kilda and Hawthorn out of the running early. The Bombers' immediate on-field prospects were the final tipping point.

"I was really excited by the state of their list and what they can produce on field. Their second half of the year they showed some fantastic signs to take into next year and I believe that we can contend in finals next year," Shiel said.

"It was – it came down to a football decision for me and I felt that just with the timing of where Essendon were, through their journey, and the timing of my journey, we just seemed to come together at the right time."

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