Essendon’s biggest trade bargains and busts
The 2020 trade period looms as a crucial one for Essendon. But how have the Bombers fared in previous off-seasons? We look at their silly season wins and losses.
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Will Essendon win the Joe Daniher deal?
We’ll have to get back to you on that one, but we can look in the rear-view mirror at the Bombers’ biggest hits and misses of trade periods past.
Essendon has a reputation as being one of the toughest teams to bargain with and that means it hasn’t made as many deals as some other clubs, but there are still some standouts — on both sides of the ledger.
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BARGAINS
MATTHEW LLOYD AND SCOTT LUCAS
The Bombers will probably never top the deal with Fremantle that landed teenagers Matthew Lloyd (via a pre-draft compensation selection) and Scott Lucas (via pick 4) in 1994 in return for four players: Tony Delaney, Todd Ridley, Dale Kickett and Russell Williams. Lloyd and Llucas delivered about 1400 goals in red and black while the new Dockers played a combined 184 games in purple.
RELATED: RICHMOND’S BIGGEST TRADE BUSTS AND BARGAINS
DEVON SMITH FOR PICK 11
If a player wins the best-and-fairest in his first year at his new club you would always call that trade a win, but a closer look at the deal reveals even better news for the Bombers. They also received pick 25 — which they used to get Jake Stringer from the Bulldogs — and a future second-round selection, which snared Irving Mosquito. They had to hand over something significant but the Giants didn’t make them pay, using pick 11 on Aiden Bonar, who played just six games before being traded to North Melbourne.
ADAM SAAD FOR FUTURE A SECOND-ROUND PICK
Saad arrived in the same period as Smith for a much lower cost and has arguably delivered more bang for his buck, finishing fourth, third and third in the best-and-fairest in his three years at the Bombers. Sadly, the Dons are now negotiating a fair price for him to head to a third club. The Suns, meanwhile, traded the selection they received in the deal to West Coast in a pick swap. The Eagles used it to select young ruckman Bailey Williams.
BUSTS
MARK WILLIAMS FOR PICK 16
“The Rifleman” was one deal that definitely backfired for the Bombers. Williams had kicked 242 goals in eight seasons at Hawthorn including two 60-plus seasons before he was shipped to Windy Hill in 2009 in a complex trade involving four clubs (it also paved the way for Shaun Burgoyne’s move to Hawthorn). Essendon gave up pick 16 which was eventually used on Jasper Pittard. Williams’ career highlight at the Bombers was kicking a goal after the siren to tie a NAB Cup match against St Kilda. He played just four home-and-away games for his new club (for five goals) before retiring at the end of 2011.
RICHARD COLE FOR PICK 23
A first-round draft pick by Collingwood in the 2001 super draft, Cole finished sixth in the Magpies’ best-and-fairest in 2004 — enough to convince Essendon to hand over pick 23 at the end of the next season. He never fired in black and red, playing just seven games before being delisted at the end of 2007.
TED RICHARDS FOR PICKS 19 AND 50
The Bombers selected Richards with pick 27 in the 2000 national draft but he was gone after 33 games in a trade to Sydney. Essendon recruited two handy players with the draft picks they received in the deal — Courtenay Dempsey (133 games) and Sam Lonergan (79 games) — but the Swans clearly won the exchange with Richards going to play 228 games for the Swans over a decade. His best season came in 2012 when he was named in the All-Australian side and helped Sydney win the premiership.
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