Former Swan Gary Rohan (right) has already proved a handy pick-up for Geelong this season. Photo: GETTY IMAGES

For the beaten brigade in AFL football there’s no more enjoyable time of the year than the trade period that immediately follows the season.

It’s a time of unbridled optimism with the past sins of any recruited player excused by their new club.

Whilst the premiership club and its supporters bask in the glory of completing the game’s primary (and only) objective, the rest of the football world is plotting their undoing. And the quickest way to surge up the ladder and unseat the titleholders is still seen to be to trade your way to a better team.

The trade period that followed the 2018 season was a particularly busy one. Free agency, now an established part of AFL club interaction, has ensured brisk traffic, either in and of itself or when used as a bargaining chip by still-contracted players.

But having already played a fair chunk of the current season, optimism can step aside and make room for honest analysis, so over the next two weeks I’ll be looking at how all 18 clubs’ fared during the last trade period.

ADELAIDE B+
The Crows kept away from investing in the trade period having burnt their fingers on Bryce Gibbs last year. The loss of Mitch McGovern looks a lot less damaging now than it did over summer.

BRISBANE A-
Read on and you will realise that the trade class of 2018 was more than a little disappointing. The loss of Beams was unavoidable, but adding Lachie Neale, Lincoln McCarthy and the bargain priced Jarryd Lyons to the list makes Brisbane one of the few clubs in line for Dux honours.

CARLTON C
Carlton rightly placed most of its faith in the national draft following the 2018 season, but the one major investment made during trade period, Mitch McGovern, has shown a disturbing lack of heart at his new home. Brendan Bolton would be making a simple request of the former Adelaide man. Would you mind just playing out the game till the final siren? After a promising start, Will Setterfield finds himself in the VF,L and unfortunately the Blues also lose a mark or two for re-homing Alex Fasolo

COLLINGWOOD A
Sure, “Boomerang” Beams fell into the Pies’ lap, but the less obvious pickup, Jordan Roughead, has been as effective as he was cheap. The Pies also get extra credits for duping traditional rivals Carlton into picking up Fasolo.

ESSENDON C-
The Bombers put all their eggs into one basket. It’s early days yet, but then now injured Dylan from the Giants, hasn’t provided the ‘Shiel be right mate’ moment his new club had been hoping for.

FREMANTLE D+
It was a busy period for the boys in purple, but so far the 2018 trade period hasn’t proved to be worth all the trouble. Jesse Hogan is now a bi-coastal source of frustration, and Rory Lobb is only marginally more relevant than he was for the Giants. Finally, little was expected of Reece Conca (or Travis Colyer), so they get a pass for just making the side. The loss of Lachie Neale sends Ross Lyon’s boys into the remedial class at the very least.

GEELONG A
Clever old pussies! They palmed off a few lame ducks, with the exception being Lincoln McCarthy. Dan Menzel remains plagued by a body that won’t play ball, George Horlin-Smith hasn’t been able to get on the track consistently, either, and Jackson Thurlow is another cast-off whose career has been stymied by injury. Whilst they were clearing the casualty ward, the Cats swooped on Luke Dalhaus and Gary Rohan, the former a premiership player, the latter a grand finalist, both going well enough to be repeating that in hoops.

GOLD COAST B
It’s hard to be too hard on the Suns. Tom Lynch and Steven May proved unworthy of the leadership honours bestowed upon them by the then fledgling club, and the main reason they are not now viewed as rats is because the ship they left, the HMAS Gold Coast, is certainly not sinking. The bits and bobs boys the Gold Coast picked up from other clubs haven’t done much, but all in all the Suns seem a happier place for the changes.

GWS B-
The doom and gloom predicted following the loss of Messrs Shiel, Scully and Lobb hasn’t eventuated, in fact the Giants now have a more balanced list. Most criticism was reserved for virtually giving away Scully, but the banged-up former Demon has done little as a Hawk. The outs weren’t as bad as predicted, and they could have got an even better mark if they were a little more pro-active themselves.

We’ll look at the other nine clubs next week.