James Aish has finally reached his preferred destination of Collingwood via a three-team trade that also saw Ryan Bastinac join the Brisbane Lions.
In return for Bastinac’s departure, the deal sees North Melbourne return to the first round of the draft, gaining pick 17, as well as some other shuffling of later draft picks.
To simplify it, here’s the ins and outs:
Brisbane
IN: Ryan Bastinac, picks 38, 40, 2016 second-round pick (St Kilda), 2016 third-round pick (North Melbourne)
OUT: James Aish, pick 17
Collingwood
IN: James Aish, picks 34 and 53
OUT: Picks 26, 28, 47 and 2016 second-round pick (St Kilda)
North Melbourne
IN: Picks 17, 26, 28, 47
OUT: Ryan Bastinac, picks 34, 38, 40, 53, 2016 third-round pick
The deal sees Collingwood complete their trio of signings, joining trades made for Jeremy Howe and Adam Treloar earlier in the trade period.
“James is a very skilled young player who uses the ball extremely well on both sides of his body and makes good decisions in heavy traffic,” said Collingwood list manager Derek Hine.
“At the age of 19, we see James as a long-term player with huge room for growth.
” The deal caps off a successful trade period that saw the acquisition of Jeremy Howe, Treloar and Aish. We’re really pleased with the good, young talent we have been able to inject into our list.”
The Lions originally refused to trade Aish, but eventually relented when the opportunity to acquire some mature players presented itself. They were happy to land Bastinac, who finishes his time at North Melbourne with 121 games to his name.
“This is a strong result for our footy club – Ryan is a ready-made replacement for James, with more experience and he adds to our midfield depth and run,” said list manager Peter Schwab.
“Ryan can play inside and outside, has great endurance, is a good decision maker and uses the ball well, and we are really pleased to have him as a Lion.
“As a club, we were determined to avoid a situation where we just got another 18-year-old to replace James. We wanted more than that, and we got it.
“The deal has also allowed us to stock up on the draft points we need to get the elite Queensland talent coming out of our Academy this year and into the future.
“We think the addition of Ryan combined with our other signings Tom Bell, Josh Walker and Jarrad Jansen, has strengthened our list considerably in the areas that needed attention, as well as placing us in a strong position heading into the draft.”
The Lions lost 131 bidding points in this year’s draft through this trade, but the future picks they obtained will more than make up for that deficit. Holding holding five picks in a row from pick 38 to 42, they should comfortably be able to afford academy draftees Eric Hipwood and Ben Keays.
North Melbourne didn’t gain a player in the deal but did managed to get back into the first round after trading out their initial first round pick to secure Jed Anderson last week.
“Receiving these picks is certainly a good deal for us, and further strengthens our position in this year’s draft,” said North’s list manager Cameron Joyce.
“In this trade period, we’ve been able to secure Jed Anderson, picks 17, 26, 28 and 47, which is a great position for the club to be in.”
Another one rides the bus.
Welcome aboard, @JamesAish
#gopies pic.twitter.com/BwC3QBt8aa
— Collingwood FC (@CollingwoodFC) October 22, 2015
“This is a strong result for our Footy Club – Ryan is a ready-made replacement for James” ? https://t.co/32vkKC1NEJ pic.twitter.com/15m8W6fsOf
— Brisbane Lions (@brisbanelions) October 22, 2015
We have received picks 17, 26, 28 and 47 in a trade for Ryan Bastinac.
Full details: https://t.co/IHyjGS12ma #NMFC pic.twitter.com/h42kKhB8J8
— North Melbourne (@NMFCOfficial) October 22, 2015
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