The management of former GWS midfielder Jacob Hopper advised him of their plan to call the Giants’ bluff and get their man to Richmond in one of the highest-profile moves of this year’s AFL trade period.
The conversation is revealed in the new season of a documentary that goes behind the scenes of several key deals, including the one that prised the contracted Hopper away from the Giants to Punt Rd and the four-club mega-deal that delivered No.1 pick Jason Horne-Francis to Port Adelaide.
Experienced manager Paul Connors in the documentary.
In a scene of Show Me The Money II featuring Hopper, influential player manager Paul Connors and his business partner Robbie D’Orazio, Connors tells the midfielder: “You’re 95 per cent getting traded. We’ve got clubs who want you, we’ve got you who’s in, now we just need the third party and that’s the Giants.”
D’Orazio then explains that the Giants’ general manager of football, Jason McCartney, holds the key.
“This one is a little bit interesting because he is contracted and the player’s the one requesting the trade, rather than the club pushing the player out,” said D’Orazio.
“Jason McCartney and the club holds all the power here.”
Former Giant Jacob Hopper was traded to the Tigers.Credit:Getty Images
Connors adds: “If I put Jase’s hat on, Jase is a really good game of bluff, so I feel like they’d like to start afresh, but if you’re GWS, you’re not telling us that. You’re holding that information close”.
Hopper interjects: “Yeah, I feel like it’s the worst kept secret ever though”.
Connors says the deal could go down to the wire despite the Giants needing to free up salary cap space and wanting to attack the draft under new coach Adam Kingsley.
“Because you’re in contract, we’ve got to make sure they can do the deal. I think you’re in a really lovely situation, and I do think, bottom of my heart, that the Giants will trade you but remember they’re not going to declare that to you,” Connors says. “They are going to play their cards close.”
Hopper was traded to the Tigers with picks 53 and 63 in exchange for Richmond’s future first-round selection and pick No. 31 at this year’s draft.
The 25-year-old, who was the No.7 pick in the 2015 national draft, signed a seven-year deal with his new club, tying him to the Tigers until the end of 2029. He followed former GWS teammate Tim Taranto, who was nabbed by the Tigers on the opening day of the trade period.
The documentary will premiere on Stan, owned by Nine Entertainment Co, which also owns The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald, in February.
The latest instalment goes behind the scenes of the Jason Horne-Francis mega-trade, one of the biggest trades in VFL/AFL history, and features three prominent player agencies Connors Sports Management, Corporate Sports Australia and Hemisphere Management Group.
The complicated monster deal, explained above, sent the No.1 pick to the Giants, which they have since invested in key forward Aaron Cadman, and the No.3 pick to North Melbourne, with the Kangaroos picking Harry Sheezel at this week’s draft.
The trade period also featured high-profile deals including Brodie Grundy from Collingwood to Melbourne and Luke Jackson from the Demons to Fremantle.
The 2022 trade period was a particularly frenetic and action-packed one, with salary dumps, surprise late moves and plenty of wheeling and dealing.
JAM TV chief executive officer Cos Cardone said the documentary goes to another level in 2023 “by virtue of the incredible trade period we witnessed”.
“The sheer volume of trades, the big names, the big deals and last minute chaos has given us something compelling for footy fans, sports fans and non-sports fans,” said JAM TV chief executive Cos Cardone.
“Not to mention, it was the year that gave us the ‘mega trade’.”
