Few clubs have copped more criticism over the past few years during trade period than Richmond, who have regularly thrown their hats into the ring when big name players come onto the market only to be knocked back time and time again.
Well, they’ve finally done it – it now seems all but certain that Dion Prestia, a former top ten draft pick and Gold Coast vice-captain, will be part of the yellow and black in 2017.
This rumour had been around for a little while but the news broke on Thursday night that Prestia’s other suitors – with a number of Victorian clubs among them but Hawthorn believed to be the closest – had been told they’ve missed out.
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It comes at something of an odd time for the Tigers. One would have thought that if they were to land a big name, it would’ve been a year or two ago, when they appeared to be destination club on the verge of sustained success.
Instead it comes now, after their most disappointing season in several years. But that situation may well have been the catalyst that allowed them to get a deal done.
An important aspect of these negotiations after all is the commitment a club makes to the player in question that they will get a trade done. And this can sometimes be difficult to pull off, especially when it comes to a big name player.
No players wants to be left stranded, having asked their club for a trade, only for their intended destination to fall short of getting a deal done. Mitch Clark, Daniel Gorringe, and of course Cam McCarthy are a few recent examples.
If the Tigers were in the finals race this year and looking at a pick in the teens, they might be a bit wary of going all out for a player like Prestia, knowing it could be difficult to seal the deal in October.
However, with a top ten pick an absolute certainty for the Tigers, they’ll know they’ve got enough capital to get a deal done with the Suns. While the Suns might initially demand a higher asking price, they’ll no doubt bend eventually, as they have in the past regarding players like Josh Caddy and Charlie Dixon.
A straight swap of Richmond’s first pick for Prestia seems the most likely result and while some might be wary, it’s a solid deal for the Tigers. Keeping their players on the park is one aspect of the game that they’ve done pretty well at in recent times and if they can fix up Prestia he’s more than worth that price and will provide their midfield with an immediate boost.
However, that would leave Richmond without any picks at all in the first two rounds of the draft, given they already gave up this year’s second to Gold Coast as part of a convoluted trade to land Chris Yarran.
That said, the Dion deal won’t be the only deal going down at Tigerland this year, with a few others believed to be on the boil.
The most notable of these is the rumours this week linking them to Travis Cloke, who only last week was reportedly being most sought-after by the Western Bulldogs.
Clearly this one’s a bit up in the air – exactly what kind of deal might be made between Richmond and Collingwood to get Cloke across isn’t very clear at this stage.
I can’t say it feels like a good move to me on the surface. I’m definitely in the camp that believes the vast majority of our game is played between the ears and that seems to be an aspect that both Cloke and Richmond struggle with in times.
Transplanting Cloke to a team where there’s a good mental vibe around – like the Bulldogs – might be just the trick to revive his career. But putting him in one where there is a lot of scrutiny and presure, like Richmond, just feels doomed to failure.
Cloke is already hounded by the media, as are Richmond. You can just imagine the reactions if he was to go goalless in a Round 1 debut for the Tigers as they cough up a loss to Carlton in the season-opener – the pressure and scrutiny that this kind of move would attract would make it almost impossible for it to succeed.
Besides, if you lose Ty Vickery and pick up Travis Cloke, haven’t you really just brought in an older Ty Vickery?
Speaking of Vickery, I’ve been fairly confident for a while that he is headed out of Richmond and the fact they have dropped him to the VFL this week seems only to skew the odds further in favour of that result.
He seems to be in more or less the same situation as Cloke – he would probably prefer to stay with his current club, but they’d prefer to move him on. That’s especially handy for Richmond because so long as someone coughs up a solid contract offer him, they probably get at least a second round pick as compo, which could be as high as pick 25.
And Hawthorn might be that club – there was a bit of a murmur during the week that the Hawks have shown interest. With Jarryd Roughead out for an indefinite amount of time, and no clear forward line partner for Jack Gunston in his absence, the move does make a small amount of sense for the Hawks, if they think they can turn around Vickery’s form struggles. I’m not sure if the rumours has legs, though.
One last Richmond related rumour for the week – it was suggested that Brett Deledio might be on the move, having reportedly met with North Melbourne. However, Deledio has since denied this pretty strongly, and given that he is contracted for 2017, rather than being available as a free agent, it just doesn’t add up.
Prestia’s not the only Sun on the move this trade period, as we all know, and as Gold Coast are finally admitting to themselves, Jaeger O’Meara wants out the door as well. Rodney Eade’s asking price? Two top ten draft picks. Good luck there Rocket.
It’s going to take a pretty brave club to put out the cash and trade value require to get O’Meara, and it’ll be a make-or-break trade for whoever does it.
Lastly, we can officially close the book on any Michael Hurley rumours after he re-signed with Essendon until the end of 2022 on a very lucrative contract yesterday.
It now looks like Jobe Watson and Michael Hibberd are the only key players Essendon risk losing from their banned 12 – but with Dyson Heppell, Cale Hooker and now Hurley locked up, they can proudly say they’ve gone three for three when it comes to the most important ones for their future.
Regarding Watson and Hibberd, it seems apparent that Watson isn’t weighing up offers from any other clubs but is instead grappling with the decision of whether or not to return to the AFL. Hibberd on the other hand looks likely to request a trade to Melbourne, though there is still time for him to change his mind.
Jack
Guest
Can you imagine our top 5 draft picks from last year plus cribbs dockerts Buckley and draft one and 4 all hitting straps in 2018... Could be a flag winning move. Gibbs is what 28?
Jack
Guest
As a blues fan we are a few years away. Could be extremely brave and chip bombers Gibbs for the number one draft pick. That way we would have a lot of high end talent blooming in 3 years when murthy and daisy (our big earners) come out of contract. Just a thought
Tricky
Guest
If I were a betting man my money would be on Cloke getting no offers, playing out his contract and then delisted
Mark
Guest
Getting belted every other week isn't punishment?
steve
Guest
Col, as far as next years draft is concerned, if Tom Mitchell is available from the Swans this season, as he hasn't re-signed yet, I would offer Sydney next years first round pick for him. As far as this year goes, Tomlinson seems almost assured of being a Blues player next year, and if SOS can weave some magic and package Marchbank and Jack Steele together, or a combination of two of the three players, Id be pretty happy. But I would think that would require us getting a second, first round pick somehow to offer up to GWS for them.
Col from Brissie
Roar Guru
Macca, understand the age difference, but a club in our position cannot be taking chances wasting early picks on a player with the injury history of O'Meara. A club with a good list could take the risk and not be disadvantaged if he did not get up but in our position it would be disastrous to have given up early picks and have him sit on the sidelines. Good luck to him though, I hope he can get his career back on track.
joe
Guest
Got to admit would have loved to see Hurley at the dogs
Paul D
Roar Guru
Lies, there's plenty of blokes loyal to the club there. Only problem is they're loyal because it's either that no-one else would give them a run (Bewick, Lester etc) or they're on that much bloody money to stay they'd be mad not to be loyal (Hanley, Zorko etc).
SportsFanGC
Roar Guru
O’Meara is an interesting one. I for one believe that he is definitely out the door at the Suns. He has been offered $700K for 2 years by the Suns, which is a good deal for both player and Club. He is a risk currently and after only playing 2.5 NEAFL games since Round 23 in 2014 and the Suns cannot be offering 3-5 year deals until he shows some continuity on the field. Keeping that in mind it appears he is driven by the position of wanting to live in Melbourne because he is only being shopped around for $700K down there so it is not a money thing, it is personal preference with the added benefit of living with his GF again who works in Melbourne. He can trot out all the lines about being a pretty loyal bloke as he did at the beginning of the year but we know in this era of Free Agency and players nominating the Club they want to go he will probably end up at Hawthorn, who he is most strongly linked with. It will take a brave Club to give him a 3-5 year deal for $700-$750K a year but someone (Hawthorn) will do it. It is unfortunate for fans of the Suns that they only got a glimpse of O’Meara and he arguably (prior to knee) could have been the figure of this club alongside Tom Lynch and Steven May. I think this past two years of injuries to Ablett, Prestia, O’Meara and Swallow exposed the very shallow depth the Suns have in the middle of the ground and it will take at least another 2 years for them to contend for a finals berth.
Macca
Guest
PD - I agree Morabito wasn't the player O'meara is but I would be much less worried about a player who has missed 2 years with 2 separate knee injuries than a player who has missed 2 years "an incredibly long time (for reasons not entirely clear" with 1 and who has just gone in for more surgery. But either way - you would have discounted Morabito's good form when trading because he missed 2 years - all I am suggesting is the same rationale (at least to some degree) applies to O'meara.
Paul D
Roar Guru
About the only good thing to come out of the WADA suspension has been that tosser sitting out 12 months. The season has been better for his absence.
Pumping Dougie
Roar Guru
Macca, I think O'Meara impressed as a once-in-a-generation type player and stands way above Morabito. Morabito's first season of footy in 2010 was very good and he looked like he would become a 200 game player, but he didn't look as brilliant as O'Meara's first two seasons. Morabito had two knee reconstructions by 2012 in just his third season. O'Meara has had one, but missed an incredibly long time (for reasons not entirely clear, but reportedly Gold Coast's medical rehabilitation division was overhauled at the end of 2015). So to answer your question - I don't know what I would have traded for Morabito 4 years ago, but I would have had bigger reservations about his injury issues than O'Meara and I wouldn't have rated him as highly in the first place.
Macca
Guest
Col Thomas and O'Meara are very different given their age but I agree we need to be cautious. I agree completely with our needs - get a high quality mid to compliment Cripps with our first pick and then try to get a bigger defender to take Rowes spot through either trading or our second pick.
Col from Brissie
Roar Guru
Steve, Macca, I would prefer the Blues not take the chance on O'Meara - surely we learnt our lesson with Thomas. Our 1st round pick this year needs to get us a quality young midfielder and there appears to be a good choice of midfielders in this year's draft. With Curnow, Silvagni and McKay hopefully filling our forward requirements for the future (Ben Silvagni already a 195cm forward will be available in 2018) we need to add a good sized defender to take over from Rowe - perhaps Tomlinson could play that role. I don't know what the 2017 draft intake looks like but considering we will still most likely be in the bottom 8 next year perhaps that pick may have good currency this year.
Slane
Guest
Hasn't worked for Brisbane...
Josh
Expert
Maybe the Dees will give Essendon Jake Melksham back.
The Original Buzz
Guest
Not being inside a club, I am not sure how it all works but most, if not all clubs do their due diligence by putting prospective players through all sorts of medical tests to determine their fitness for a trade. A club can't afford to pay big bickies for a player that will sit in rehab.
Dalgety Carrington
Roar Guru
The loyalty is good, but there'd be nothing like being under siege for a couple of years to create a bond between the club and the players. Stockholm Syndrome anybody?
Dalgety Carrington
Roar Guru
It's killer for me, it's almost like I can't see some bloopers until after I hit "Add Comment". The reason as to why I'm not sure. Maybe they're trying to get quicker times between posting something and it showing up for others on the page? Could be anything else I suppose, but if it is that I'd prefer to stick with longer delays myself, we were all pretty use to it I reckon (maybe it came as some feedback from those Sydney-based forums they were having?).
Macca
Guest
Could it be that by forcing people to repost rather than allowing them to correct it inflates the posting numbers which looks more attractive to advertisers? No other reason makes sense to me.