Top left: Stefan Martin now a Bulldog along with (bottom) Mitch Hannan. Right: Suns big man Peter Wright now a Bomber.
After a quiet couple of days, the 2020 AFL trade period exploded into life on Tuesday with five deals completed and five players finding new homes.
Forgotten Gold Coast key forward Peter Wright joined Essendon, Melbourne goalsneak Mitch Hannan returned to the Western Bulldogs – a club with which he won a VFL premiership – veteran Brisbane ruckman Stefan Martin also made his way to the Dogs, Melbourne back-up ruckman Braydon Preuss headed north to Greater Western Sydney, and Bulldogs youngster Lachie Young was traded to North Melbourne.
The most consequential of those player movements was that of Wright joining Essendon.
It’s no secret that the Bombers are crying out for goalscoring power, with Joe Daniher, Shaun McKernan and Mitch Brown all having departed in the last 12 months while Orazio Fantasia wants out as well.
But more specifically, Essendon desperately needs another key forward/ruckman option, because in attack they really only have James Stewart, while in the middle the green Sam Draper has been thrust into the main ruck spot with Tom Bellchambers retiring, McKernan delisted (and subsequently picked up by St Kilda) and Andrew Phillips reportedly being sounded out by Melbourne.
So the Bombers will be hoping that Wright can solve a few of their glaring on-field problems.
It’s been a terrible year for Essendon, but it finally has some good news from the perspective that it only parted ways with a future fourth-round pick for Wright, while the Suns will also pay some of his wages with two years still to run on his contract with them. On top of that, he is still only 24, a slight upgrade in age on Daniher who is 26.
Wright obviously isn’t as naturally gifted as the All-Australian Daniher, but he definitely is capable.
Before being pushed out of Gold Coast’s line-up this year by Ben King and Sam Day, Wright showed in his 66 games that he’s not only a beautiful kick for goal (a tag you couldn’t really apply to Daniher), but was also able to take a big pack mark.
PLEASE HELP US CONTINUE TO THRIVE BY BECOMING AN OFFICIAL FOOTYOLOGY PATRON. JUST CLICK THIS LINK.
He kicked 58 goals from 39 games in 2016-17 in a bottom-four side as a 19-20-year-old. He took 121 marks in 2017, and a team-high 28 contested marks – one more than future Richmond premiership star Tom Lynch.
There’s no doubt Wright is far from the total package, but after failing to play a game for the Suns in 2020, he has been given a huge opportunity by the Bombers to fulfil his potential and make their forward line his own.
The Bulldogs will be happy with how they ended day seven of the trade period, too, by netting Martin and Hannan.
Martin will provide invaluable support to raw ruckman Tim English, who has been outmuscled on too many occasions by his larger opponents, while Hannan has the ability to provide some spark up forward, as his first couple of years at the Demons demonstrated with 44 goals from 35 games.
Meanwhile, speaking of being given the chance to really shine at the elite level, Preuss will finally get that opportunity with the Giants. With Sam Jacobs having retired and Shane Mumford surely not far behind, the No.1 ruck role at GWS is the former Melbourne man mountain’s for the taking.
At 25, 206 centimetres and 114 kilograms, the time seems right for him to break the shackles after only 18 games at North Melbourne and Melbourne in the past six years.
Elsewhere, “The Age” is reporting that star Collingwood midfielder Adam Treloar has undergone a physical with the Western Bulldogs, and that his Magpie counterpart Jaidyn Stephenson has spoken to North Melbourne.
COMPLETED DEALS
1. Rory Atkins (Adelaide) joined Gold Coast as an unrestricted free agent. Adelaide received pick 36 as compensation.
2. Isaac Smith (Hawthorn) joined Geelong as an unrestricted free agent. Hawthorn received pick 42 as compensation.
3. Joe Daniher (Essendon) joined Brisbane as a restricted free agent. Essendon received pick 7 as compensation.
4. Zac Williams (GWS) joined Carlton as a restricted free agent. GWS received pick 10 as compensation.
5. Aidan Corr (GWS) joined North Melbourne as a restricted free agent. GWS received pick 30 as compensation.
6. Zac Langdon (GWS) traded to West Coast in exchange for pick 54.
7. Oleg Markov (Richmond) traded to Gold Coast in exchange for future third-round pick.
8. Jesse Hogan (Fremantle) traded to GWS in exchange for pick 54.
9. Brad Crouch (Adelaide) joined St Kilda as a restricted free agent. Adelaide received pick 23 as compensation.
10. Kyle Hartigan (Adelaide) traded to Hawthorn in exchange for future fourth-round pick.
11. Shaun McKernan (Essendon) joined St Kilda as a delisted free agent.
*Pick 43 (Brisbane) and future fourth-round pick (Brisbane) trade to Melbourne in exchange for pick 53 and future third-round pick.
12. Peter Wright (Gold Coast) trade to Essendon in exchange for future fourth-round pick.
*Pick 33 (Adelaide) and Pick 50 (Adelaide) traded to Melbourne in exchange for future second-round pick and future fourth-round pick.
13. Mitch Hannan (Melbourne) traded to Western Bulldogs in exchange for future third-round pick.
14. Braydon Preuss (Melbourne) traded to GWS in exchange for pick 31.
15. Stefan Martin (Brisbane) traded to Western Bulldogs, Lachie Young (Western Bulldogs) and pick 70 (Brisbane) traded to North Melbourne, Pick 63 (North Melbourne) traded to Brisbane
