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Geelong’s closest rivals went to the AFL draft, as they did in trade week, smelling a potential premiership.
Most clubs spent the final draft before Gold Coast and Western Sydney dominate the early picks over the next two years, stocking up with talented youngsters to survive the drought to come.
But a select few, most notably this year’s grand final losers St Kilda, continued where they left off at the trade table – loading up on experienced players to prepare for a greater assault next year.
Hawthorn, the 2008 premiers, also continued down that path, as did this year’s preliminary finalists Collingwood and semi-finalists Brisbane.
In fact, of the 29 players to switch AFL homes through either trades or the national draft, 16 went to one of those four clubs.
It sets the scene for a fascinating 2010 – the last time the AFL will be a 16-club competition – with the Cats making an interesting contrast to their challengers.
Geelong, who last year were forced to trade away promising midfielder Brent Prismall, this year had to do the same with emerging ruckman Shane Mumford, while skipper Tom Harley retired.
They did add one player with AFL experience – ex-Fremantle defender Marcus Drum during trade week – but went solely for youth in the draft.
The Saints, meanwhile, grabbed ready-to-go talent after being pipped by the Cats in this year’s decider.
First, they traded for Essendon’s Andrew Lovett and Fremantle’s Brett Peake.
In the draft they added North Melbourne’s Jesse Smith and Richmond discard Adam Pattison, although on the flipside they ended up losing Luke Ball for nothing, after their failure to trade him to Collingwood.
Their recruiting model continues a successful recycling strategy – ruckmen Steven King and Michael Gardiner, defender Zac Dawson, midfielder Farren Ray and half-forward Adam Schneider notable recent success stories.
Gardiner’s resurgence this year, after arriving at the club dogged by injury, is noteworthy given highly-rated 23-year-old Smith’s struggles to take the field were a key factor in his leaving the Kangaroos.
Pattison adds important ruck depth, given the age of King and Gardiner.
Losing preliminary finalists Collingwood are also building for a big 2010 challenge.
The Magpies, who picked up experienced Sydney ruckman Darren Jolly in a trade, achieved their main draft aim of snaring former Saints’ skipper Ball.
His courage and midfield grunt will be important, with the `Pies’ ball-winning ability shown up when Scott Pendlebury was out injured for their big preliminary final loss to the Cats.
Collingwood also added some run, drafting former Melbourne youngster Simon Buckley.
Losing semi-finalists Brisbane loaded up as much as any club and provided the biggest draft surprise in former Saint Matt Maguire.
The 99-game defender is another whose career tailed off due to frequent injuries but, at age 25 and having played much of this season in the VFL, he could prove handy to a Lions side whose lack of tall defensive depth was shown up at stages this year.
The Lions had already grabbed a host of experienced players in trades, most notably former Carlton Coleman Medallist Brendan Fevola.
The Hawks also showed they are out to quickly rebound from this year’s finals miss, adding pacy half-forward Rhan Hooper in the draft to their trade gains of Port Adelaide midfield gun Shaun Burgoyne and North defender Josh Gibson.
They are also likely to grab an experienced ruckman as a mature-aged rookie in December.
With losing preliminary finalists the Western Bulldogs having already grabbed former Sydney spearhead Barry Hall in a trade, the Cats’ challengers have made significant short-term gains.
At the other end of the table, clubs are laying the groundwork for the long haul.
Wooden spooners Melbourne are obviously in that bracket, using their six picks on youngsters, despite speculation they might pounce on Ball.
They bolstered their running stocks with their first four choices, with No.1 and No.2 picks Tom Scully and Jack Trengove standouts, before spending their final two choices on big men.
Richmond, Fremantle and North Melbourne were other clubs busy bolstering their youth stocks.
The Tigers took seven players, the most of any team, including two key forward prospects in their first three picks, after snaring highly skilled midfielder Dustin Martin with their first.
The Dockers, who spent much of this year blooding youngsters, used their six selections mostly to build their running brigade, with their first choice, agile 190cm wingman Anthony Morabito tipped to provide plenty of excitement.
Essendon – who lost experienced players Matthew Lloyd, Scott Lucas, Adam McPhee and Andrew Lovett – and Sydney – who farewelled Hall, Michael O’Loughlin, Leo Barry, Jared Crouch and Jolly – both resisted the urge to punt on Ball or another experienced hand for a short-term fix, although the Swans have declared they will grab former Lion Daniel Bradshaw in the pre-season draft.
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