In the final of our trade period special episodes, Michael Gleeson, Jake Niall and Peter Ryan unpack the frantic finish to deadline day.
It took a circuit-breaker and a three-way deal to get Ollie Henry to Geelong, but it did get over the line. How do Collingwood feel about the trade?
Teams don’t win trade period, but it is troubling for the AFL that Geelong have done exceptionally well, and the Jack Bowes deal happened as it did. Will the rules around salary dumping be looked at? And another thing to have emerged as a talking point this year is the number of first- and second-year players dictating where they will go and forcing trades. Will it prompt a change from the AFL in terms of contract length for top picks?
Hawthorn made two stunning moves when they traded Tom Mitchell and Jaeger O’Meara on the same day. They didn’t have a fire sale, but they give up players they had previously invested a lot in, and are moving into a new era under Sam Mitchell. Were we conditioned to the Mitchell move in part already this season, given the way he had been used by the Hawks?
Plus, Melbourne’s replacement strategy, whether the Bulldogs let go of too much midfield talent, why Esava Ratugolea didn’t get to Port Adelaide and much more.
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