(From left:) Jeremy Cameron, Adam Treloar and Ben Brown all found new homes on the last day of the AFL trade period.
The 2020 AFL trade period has come to an end with the customary amount of high drama synonymous with the final day.
A total of 11 players found new homes on a frantic Thursday before the 7.30pm deadline expired (well, some of them changed clubs slightly afterwards due to the logjam of late submissions).
But despite all of the mayhem, which included big names such as Jeremy Cameron and Ben Brown getting to their desired destinations of Geelong and Melbourne respectively, Collingwood stole all the headlines – and for the wrong reasons, too.
Essendon and North Melbourne probably headed into the annual exchange period as the clubs most in turmoil, but the Magpies have put up their hand to form the top three because they are now a club swimming in questions that need to be answered.
On day nine of the trade period, Collingwood off-loaded star midfielder Adam Treloar (Western Bulldogs), 2018 Rising Star winner Jaidyn Stephenson (North Melbourne) and the consistent Tom Phillips (Hawthorn) – three players who all played in the 2018 grand final which the Magpies narrowly lost – as well as the promising Atu Bosenavulagi (North Melbourne).
It’s all amounted to a massive salary dump which has seemingly been precipitated by salary cap mismanagement.
How did it get to this for the Magpies? Well, on top of the inflated contracts that Treloar, Stephenson and Phillips were given, the disastrous Dayne Beams deal, which was due to expire in 2022, has also been hanging over Collingwood’s head in recent years.
The alarming situation at the Holden Centre is reminiscent of what happened at Essendon back in 2001-02 when it was forced to part ways with premiership favourite sons Damien Hardwick, Blake Caracella, Chris Heffernan and Justin Blumfield. Those moves pretty much ripped the guts out of the club and suffice to say, it hasn’t recovered.
Collingwood fans have been in uproar on talkback radio and social media over the trades which have taken place, and they no doubt feel anxious as to what kind of long-lasting impact this fateful day will have on their beloved club.
On the other side of the spectrum, the Bulldogs are smiling like Cheshire cats because not only did they hang onto the contracted Josh Dunkley, who requested a trade to Essendon, but also managed to bring in Treloar as they so boldly said they’d attempt to do. It’s a stunning achievement, and all it cost them essentially was pick 14 in this year’s draft.
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For that price, the Dogs now have Marcus Bontempelli, Treloar, Jack Macrae, Lachie Hunter, Bailey Smith, Tom Liberatore and Dunkley rotating through their midfield – that goes close to being the best on-ball division in the AFL and surely catapults them into top-four contention, especially now that Stefan Martin is at the club to help Tim English in the ruck.
The Hawks got an absolute steal by taking the hard-running Phillips off Collingwood’s hands for the measly price of pick 65.
The 24-year-old is coming off a season-ending hamstring injury, but before that he had been a mainstay in the Magpies’ line-up for four years. He is sure to be a great pick-up for the Hawks and will help cover the loss of pace from Isaac Smith who joined Geelong.
And the Kangaroos will also be happy to have something to smile about after a disastrous 2020 with Stephenson joining their ranks. At his best he has shown that he is a classy ball user and an accurate shot for goal and at just 21 years of age, could provide a decade of great memories for the North faithful. Although it was definitely a bittersweet day for the Kangas with star full forward Ben Brown joining Melbourne.
The fact the Demons only had to part ways with pick 26 for a guy who booted 60-plus goals three years in a row (2017-19) added salt to North fans’ wounds.
Brown is just what the Melbourne doctor ordered, because as talented as Bayley Fritsch and Sam Weideman are, they desperately need more help than what Christian Petracca can provide (as good as he has become) because he doesn’t play as a key forward like Brown does.
And in a roundabout kind of way, this could actually save Tom McDonald’s career, because after struggling up forward the last two years, he might now be able to return to defence and link up with Steven May and Jake Lever.
The Cats officially ensured that their premiership window is still wide open in 2021 by securing the services of Cameron in addition to the signatures of Smith and Shaun Higgins. And while it cost them three first-round draft picks (well played by GWS, which matched Cameron’s bid in order to get better compensation than what the AFL’s free agency secret herbs and spices would offer up), they were able to secure a pair of future second-rounders in return.
Good luck to opposition defences next year trying to stop Cameron, Tom Hawkins and Patrick Dangerfield!
In other last-day moves, Essendon goalsneak Orazio Fantasia finally made it home to Port Adelaide, St Kilda snared Richmond fan favourite Jack Higgins, West Coast picked up handy Brisbane defender Alex Witherden and the Bombers got their man in young GWS midfielder Jye Caldwell, plus got another back in former VFL player Nick Hind, drafted by St Kilda two years ago.
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.
16. Lachie Fogarty (Geelong) and pick 38 (Geelong) traded to Carlton in exchange for picks 30 and 51.
17. Nakia Cockatoo (Geelong) traded to Brisbane Lions in exchange for future third-round pick.
18. Adam Saad (Essendon), pick 48 (Essendon) and pick 78 (Essendon) traded to Carlton in exchange for picks 8 and 87.
19. Aliir Aliir (Sydney) traded to Port Adelaide in exchange for future second-round pick.
20. Shaun Higgins (North Melbourne) traded to Geelong in exchange for pick 30.
21. Tom Hickey (West Coast), pick 34 (West Coast) and pick 60 (West Coast) traded to Sydney in exchange for future second-round pick, future third-round pick, pick 58 and pick 62.
*Pick 25 (Sydney) traded to Melbourne in exchange for picks 31 and 43.
22. Ben Brown (North Melbourne), pick 28 (North Melbourne) and future fourth-round pick (North Melbourne) traded to Melbourne in exchange for pick 26, 33 and future-fourth round pick.
23. Jack Higgins (Richmond), pick 21 (Richmond) and future fourth-round pick (Richmond) traded to St Kilda in exchange for pick 17 and future second-round pick.
24. Alex Witherden (Brisbane) and pick 86 (Brisbane) traded to West Coast in exchange for pick 58 and future third-round pick.
25. Jaidyn Stephenson (Collingwood), Atu Bosenavulagi (Collingwood) and pick 39 (Collingwood) traded to North Melbourne in exchange for pick 26, pick 33 and pick 70.
*Pick 18 (Brisbane), Pick 19 (Brisbane) and future second-round pick (Brisbane) traded to Melbourne in exchange for future first-round pick, pick 25, pick 68 and pick 69.
26. Orazio Fantasia (Essendon) and pick 73 (Essendon) traded to Port Adelaide in exchange for pick 29 and future third-round pick.
27. Tom Phillips (Collingwood) traded to Hawthorn in exchange for pick 65.
28. Jye Caldwell (GWS), pick 44 (GWS) and pick 74 (GWS) traded to Essendon in exchange for pick 29 and future second-round pick.
29. Adam Treloar (Collingwood), pick 26 (Collingwood), pick 33 (Collingwood) and pick 42 (Collingwood) traded to Western Bulldogs in exchange for pick 14 and future second-round pick.
30. Jeremy Cameron (GWS), future second-round pick (GWS) and future second-round pick (GWS) traded to Geelong in exchange for pick 13, pick 15, pick 20 and future fourth-round pick.
31. Nick Hind (St Kilda) and pick 77 (St Kilda) traded to Essendon for pick 67 and pick 74.
