AFL trade rumours: O'Meara chooses Hawthorn, hooray for equalisation

Well, here we are. The Hawthorn Hawks, currently the three-time reigning premiers and still in the race – if up against the odds – to win it again in 2016, are Jaeger O’Meara’s preferred destination as he seeks a trade.

The Hawks put out a statement on Tuesday, officially confirming that O’Meara had asked to be traded to them this October:

Jaeger O’Meara has nominated Hawthorn Football Club as his preferred destination in the upcoming trade period.

Hawthorn Recruiting and List Manager Graham Wright said:

“Jaeger has indicated he wants to be at Hawthorn in 2017 and we are keen to make this happen.

“We fully respect that Jaeger is a Gold Coast player and we will work closely with the Suns in the lead up to the trade period to ensure we can get an appropriate deal done.”

The club will make no further comment at this time.

Gold Coast released a statement as well shortly after, acknowledging O’Meara’s decision but remaining consistent with their message that they will put him “on the market” to any club who can offer them a good deal.

General Manager – Football Operations, Marcus Ashcroft, today told listeners on Gold Coast SUNS podcast, Shining Blight, that Hawthorn would need to offer the club compensation the SUNS would accept if they are to secure Jaeger O’Meara during the trade period.

“Today we were advised from the Hawthorn Football Club and Jaeger’s management that the Hawks is Jaeger’s club of choice,” Ashcroft said.

“As has been previously stated, Jaeger is on the market to a club that can provide us compensation we are prepared to accept.”

The club will make no further comment in regards to this matter.

The last time news came through related to O’Meara, I talked a bit about how it was set to be a trade that would be remembered for a long time, due to the confluence of his excellent talent, the risks associated with his injury, and the situation developing at Gold Coast.

However the fact that O’Meara wants to join the Hawks adds yet another layer to the deal, which is the questions it raises over equalisation in the AFL and what changes – if any – need to be made to the existing trade and free agency rules. (Click to Tweet)

Hawthorn are also seen as the leading contenders to acquire Tom Mitchell from Sydney this off-season and will likely sign Tyrone Vickery as a free agent from Richmond as well.

It’s reminiscent of Geelong in the last year’s trade period – picking up a wealth of talented players in one big hit that will likely lead to significant improvement.

Like the Cats, you’d think Hawthorn will have to sell themselves out of this year’s draft and part of next in order to get the deals done.

Because they took two first-round draft picks last year, they can trade away both their 2016 and 2017 first rounders this season without consequence. One of those will each likely go to Sydney and Gold Coast, with maybe a second-round pick going to the Suns this season as well.

The Suns would certainly prefer ready-made, mature players if that’s possible, the Hawks don’t really have any clear candidates to move north.

What’s really concerning though is the question of what a trade like this means for equality competition-wide.(Click to Tweet)

The Cats looked to be finally regressing back to the pack in 2014 after a dominant era, only to shoot back into premiership contention thanks the strength of the talent wanting to move to them.

If Hawthorn do the same, the question has to be asked whether or not this is a good thing? Do we risk becoming like the English Premier League, where the same set of big teams dominate the competition year after year, and anything that goes against the grain is a Leicester City-like miracle?

As someone who supports one of the league’s smallest clubs, that’s a concerning prospect. Every new AFL player should have a reasonable chance of success in their career. Every AFL fan should expect they’ll see a flag or two at least in their lifetime.

You can’t blame the Hawks for being well-run and you can’t blame O’Meara for making a decision in his best interests, I’d make the same call in his situation too.

Perhaps it’s time to seriously consider taking away a player’s ability to refuse to accept a trade, if two clubs are able to come to a deal. This is a topic I wrote a bit about earlier in the season.

At the moment we have free agency, where players are able to dictate where they move, and we have trades, which are supposed to be something significantly distinct from that.

But so long as players can dictate where they will and will not play, then trades are really just free agency with a slightly more complicated process.

That landscape where players can simply decide where they want to go and refuse anything else is really only a few layers removed from an EPL-style free-for-all.

What makes this so concerning is the under-the-table handshakes that occur to get a player from one club to another, with no regard for how the trading market is meant to operate.

Simply watch the leaked video of Adam Treloar signing his contract with Collingwood last year – wearing a Pies polo, before a trade between the Magpies and Greater Western Sydney had even been agreed – for a reminder of how these deals really get done.

The AFL’s new collective bargaining agreement is still being negotiated, so if changes are to be made, now is the time.

The players are pushing for a new pay model based on receiving a percentage of the league’s revenue, mimicking the way things work in many US sports.

If I was the AFL, I’d agree to that on the basis that trading also becomes more like US sports, where players must go where first the draft and then the clubs send them – until they qualify as free agents and can make the choice for themselves.

Essentially, tell them to put the work in and pay their dues before they get the chance to dictate where they play.

It might sound harsh but if we want to avoid a league where all the best young talent on the market funnels through to the clubs who are already at the top, it might be the best way to make that happen.

Another piece of interesting news is the stand-off developing between North Melbourne and Daniel Wells over the two-time best-and-fairest winner’s future.

He was offered a one-year contract extension earlier in the year, which has now been upped to a two-year deal, but reportedly has a three-year contract on the table from Collingwood.

That’s a significant offer for a 31-year-old who has had a lot of injuries in recent times, but there’s no doubt Wells’s class would be a great boost to Collingwood’s midfield – or any team, for that matter.

If he does decide to join the Pies then as an unrestricted free agent, he’ll be able to move without any need to work out a trade, and North will have to accept whatever compensation draft pick they get.

One could hardly blame him if he does decide to make the move. An extra year’s security is a big sweetener for a player in the twilight of their career, especially given the Roos’ stated focus on a ‘reset’, focused around developing their young talent.

Of the four players North decided to move on this season, Michael Firrito has announced he will officially retire, but the other three could all potentially continue their careers at new clubs in 2017.

Nick Dal Santo looks the most likely to continue, with Collingwood and another unnamed club interested.

Brent Harvey has said that his form tells him he should be playing on and that he disagrees with the Kangaroos’ decision that his time was up. Whether that will materialise into a genuine desire to seek offers from another club or not, the door is certainly ajar.

Drew Petrie reportedly has interest from West Coast, where good mate Adam Simpson is the coach. Petrie would likely be used as depth for the Eagles’ ruck and tall forward positions, as they explore their options to cover for Nic Naitanui’s ACL injury.

Michael Barlow is seeming more and more certain to take a trade back to Victoria this off-season, but a likely destination is still yet to emerge.

Some rumours have gone around about Geelong looking at Brett Deledio, but my gut feel is that there isn’t really much to this.

One player who definitely is out of Richmond though is Reece Conca, a former No.6 draft pick, who will probably look to move to a club in his home state of Western Australia.

Collingwood have said they will do what they can to get Travis Cloke a trade, most likely to the Western Bulldogs. While they’re acting as if they’d like to keep him and will only take a great deal, they’d be happy to see the back of him and will move him on.

The Pies look set to be a busy club again this season. They’re reportedly looking at Ivan Maric as a back-up option in the ruck, given that Jarrod Witts is expected to leave. There’s also a chance they’ll be losing key defender Jack Frost to the Brisbane Lions.

Jarryd Lyons is still yet to sign a deal with the Adelaide Crows beyond 2016, despite having a breakout season.

Tayte Pears has officially announced his retirement from the game, to move into a fire-fighting career, leaving Jobe Watson as the only one of the banned Bombers yet to confirm his intentions for 2017.

Watson is back in Australia after spending much of the year in New York, but my bet is we won’t hear from him until we know the results of the Essendon players’ appeal of the Court for Arbitration of Sport, and the AFL’s decision following that regarding Watson’s 2012 Brownlow Medal.