Revisit the deals that were finalised during the 2012 AFL Trade Period
THE LEAD-UP
As was outlined in my article prior to the exchange process, we were very keen on addressing some of the deficiencies in our team. While we were happy with the progress of our list towards the back end of the year, a couple of key areas of need had been identified. They were as follows:
• A key forward
• Midfield depth
• A versatile support ruckman
We also had a strong preference to add at least one mature-age player who could walk into our best 22. With 27 players on our list under 24 years of age, coupled with the retirements of Josh Drummond and Amon Buchanan, we were comfortable with the notion of adding a more mature body.
With respect to the key forward, it is a fact that quality key forwards are rare beasts. As one of our recruiters outlined, there are about 12 genuinely good ones in the world, and the rest are either hopefuls developing or are not going to make it. To test this theory, supporters should list the number of quality key forwards in the AFL. Hence our interest in Kurt Tippett, which I will discuss shortly.
Recognising the paucity of quality forwards, we were also prepared to look at a key defender if we thought that player could be a regular member of the senior team who might give our coaches the option of playing Daniel Merrett forward. The coaches’ preference is to leave Daniel in defence, but if moving him forward improves our prospects of winning, they are prepared to do so. Nevertheless, we also recognise that Brent Staker and Matthew Leuenberger come back into the team next year, and those two players give us options that were not available for the bulk of 2012.
As far as our midfield goes, our younger brigade are now getting to the stage where they should be ready to step up and take the lead; however we do feel we still need to add some depth to the group. While Simon Black is a champion of the Club, he can no longer be expected to continue to shoulder the midfield load and there is clearly an age gap between Simon and the next tier of midfielders.
In terms of the support ruck role - Ben Hudson was added to our list prior to the drafting of Billy Longer in order to provide support for what were quite thin ruck stocks at that stage. As all supporters know, Ben ended up with the Herculian role of carrying our ruck division throughout the bulk of the year and he performed magnificently. Going into the trade period, Ben was considering his future and we were also mindful of the possible changes occurring with the rules governing ruck contests. To this end, we had an interest in finding a younger ruckman who had the capacity to play more than one position.
Ideally, Michael Voss would like to play two ruckmen, however that option is limiting if the ruckman can only play in the ruck. While forwards pinch-hitting in the ruck is the current trend, this is a very demanding role which appears to have impacted on the form of some players. The loss of Mitch Clark in 2011 certainly robbed us of some flexibility.
With these considerations in mind, we moved into the player exchange period.
KURT TIPPETT
As I revealed last year, we had offered Adelaide our Pick 12 and our end-of-first-round compensation pick for Kurt in 2011. Kurt and his management had, at that time, agreed to the move if a trade could be completed. As a contracted player, Adelaide had every right to retain him and they backed themselves in to retain him. Had we, in 2011, agreed to move one of our South Australian youngsters, then a deal may have been done. But just like Adelaide, we valued our players and are backing ourselves in as a Club to retain these highly rated youngsters.
With that background, we maintained our interest in Kurt - something he and his manager were aware of. We were informed throughout that Kurt would most likely make his decision as to where he would like to be traded at the end of the season. This is what happened and as everyone would be aware, Sydney was his choice. The offer from the Swans was obviously attractive, and we were not going to be able to come over the top with an offer that was superior to Sydney’s. Our intent at that stage was to move on from attempting to trade for Kurt.
Even though the deal between Sydney and Adelaide progressed slowly, we didn’t feel we were any chance of re-entering the fray. However - that all changed in the final week of the trade period when it became apparent that a deal was unlikely to be achieved. We believed that we could achieve a trade and made both Adelaide and Kurt’s management aware of this. Nevertheless it seemed a long shot as Kurt was resolute in wanting to go to Sydney.
Eventually the AFL confirmed to us on Thursday evening that it was quite unlikely to allow any trade to occur (due to the pending investigation into his contract), so at that point the possibility of a late play for Kurt’s services was killed off.
As the football community is aware, the AFL is yet to determine the outcome of its investigations. I am led to believe that at this stage Kurt can nominate for either of the upcoming Drafts. If Sydney does draft him, then every club will have had the opportunity to draft him before Sydney which would satisfy the AFL that the agreement was not a factor in the player ending up in Sydney. Sydney is well placed as their initial offer would be very difficult for other clubs to match, although it now seems that GWS is now an option given the retirement from AFL of Israel Folau. There would certainly be some irony if Kurt landed in Sydney’s West as opposed to Sydney’s East.
To close this topic out I would like to address the additional Sydney TPP allowance. While I don’t dispute that it is more expensive to live in Sydney than any other Australian city, I also don’t think it can be denied that the additional 9.8% TPP allowance provides a greater degree of flexibility for Sydney than is available to other clubs (except GWS). The AFL is currently managing several questions about the evenness of the competition, and I would like to think that the issue surrounding such concessions is placed firmly on their agenda.
One possibility that could be applied across the competition would be to link any allowance to the number of players on a list who have relocated from their home State. The benefit of this could then be applied to every club.
FREE AGENCY
The AFL published the free agency list throughout the year, so every club was quite aware of who the available free agents were. When you consider the gaps on our list, the players we had most interest in as free agents were midfielders. Players among that category included Brent Moloney (Melbourne), Clinton Young (Hawthorn) and Danyle Pearce (Port Adelaide). Brent Moloney was of particular interest because of his ability to win the ball at stoppages. As a team we have been poor in this area, although no doubt Matthew Leuenberger’s injury contributed to that.
Obviously when you are discussing players you can bring in to your club, the discussion broadens out from pure football ability to the value the player can add to your group, the cost and term of the contract and whether or not bringing that player into your group will perhaps stifle the progress of your developing youngsters who play a similar role. On consideration of these factors we felt that Brent Moloney was our first choice option. Prior to the trade period, Brent’s management had also indicated a willingness to move to Brisbane, which was another positive. Discussions with Danyle Pearces’s management didn’t go too far as Brisbane was not in their planning, and I suspect that they were fairly well advanced with Fremantle (where he ended up). Clinton Young’s manager also expressed a preference for Clinton to stay in Melbourne, and it was clear that a move outside of Melbourne would come at a premium.
Once we knew that Kurt Tippett was not coming to Brisbane, we were able to revisit the free agents and with some further research, including discussions with those who had been involved in coaching and playing with Brent, we decided to work towards agreeing terms with Brent. Fortunately this process went quite smoothly and once Brent had returned from North America, he boarded a plane to Brisbane to tick the last few boxes before the deal was sealed.
We are hopeful that Brent can find his 2011 form and help address our poor clearance rate. His inclusion should also spread the load felt by Rich, Rockliff, Redden and Black and take some of the pressure off players like Zorko, Green and Crisp who would be expected to spend more time in the midfield as they develop. Brent has a reputation for working well with young players and we hope that once he settles in, he can act as a mentor for our younger players. He also comes into the club with a good relationship with Matt Maguire and Jonathan Brown, so we would expect him to settle early.
TRADE PERIOD
The Exchange Period, which commenced on 8th Octobers and ran for 18 days, was more orderly than previous years due to the longer period, however my personal preference would be to reduce it in order to accelerate the trades. I particularly felt for players who were out-of-contract and were not going to be aware of their status until the trade period ended, as clubs throw players names up who you know they will most likely delist. The reality of our system is that clubs do need flexibility in their lists as they work through the free agency and exchange period. This is perhaps an unforeseen consequence of free agency.
Throughout the trade period we continued our search for key position players. An interesting occurrence during any trade period is that coaches will throw names forward that have not necessarily been on the recruiting departments’ watch list. Fortunately, our Pro Scout Andrew Farrell and myself had watched a fair amount of State League and AFL footy so we were able to provide a view fairly quickly. Nevertheless it is not always the case that coaches share that view as, by nature, they are confident that they can turn a player around - a good quality to possess if you are a coach.
A number of names were linked to the club during the trade period and I can provide readers with the following information. The only players we seriously considered were Stefan Martin, Luke Delaney and Jesse White. The reasons these players were considered are as follows.
Stefan Martin was put forward on the trade table by Melbourne in the pre-trade discussions that occur when list managers meet informally in late August and September. He sparked our interest on the back of his 2011 season where he appeared to be making his mark as an AFL player. Initially his manager indicated some reluctance to consider Brisbane given we have Leuenberger and Longer as young rucks on our list. On that basis discussions stalled until the new ruck rules were announced.
At this point the coaches felt that the days of the wrestling ruckman were numbered and that athleticism and versatility were going to become even more critical for ruckmen. On that basis, we re-engaged with Stefan and his management and discussed how he might fit on the Lions’ list. As I mentioned last year, Michael Voss is of the view that he would ideally like to play two ruckmen provided they can play another position as well as ruck. Billy Longer is a youngster developing to play in arguably the most demanding position on the ground, and we are of the view that in time he will become a marking threat up forward. However that will take time and work on Billy’s behalf.
Matthew Leuenberger is returning from his Achilles injury and, as supporters would have seen in the first round, he too is developing his forward play. With a young developing ruckman and one on the comeback trail (all is going well with Matthew) we felt that ideally we needed another player who could play ruck and acquit himself in another position.
Stefan’s athleticism (he has run a 10:30 3km time trial and also finished 2nd in a Grand Final sprint) and the fact that he has also played in defence, where he started his career, as well as his ability to pinch hit up forward was attractive. In 2011, his output in the ruck was very strong as reflected by the fact that he finished 8th in Melbourne’s Best and Fairest. Nevertheless it cannot be denied that he is still yet to firmly establish himself at AFL level. Even though he is 25, he has only been playing the game since he was 19 so we believe there is some upside in his football.
In adding Stefan, we are confident we have the makings of a good ruck division with each member having the ability to contribute both in the ruck and in another position. In 2012, Ben Hudson pretty much rucked alone and was not really suited to spending time forward, so we are hopeful that our three tallest players can make a significant contribution in 2013. Beyond the three traditional ruckmen we have Jordan Lisle and Sam Michael who are really developing forwards, but can provide support in the ruck if required.
Trading for Stefan was looking to be quite straightforward in the middle of the exchange period when we held Pick 49, however when compensation picks were announced and Melbourne didn’t receive a second round pick for the loss of their free agents it complicated matters somewhat. At no stage was our second round selection on the table, and we were prepared to walk away from the trade if that was the demand.
With this position in mind, the coaches then threw up Jesse White as an alternative as by this time it appeared that he was unlikely to be traded to Adelaide. The recruiting team had viewed Jesse several times over the year and his NEAFL form was mixed. However our coaches were attracted by his athleticism and ability to play forward. Furthermore he has at times played some good games at AFL level prior to this year. Had we not been able to secure Stefan Martin at a price we were happy to pay, we would have likely traded for Jesse as the coaches felt he could fill the need for versatile tall. Jesse even visited Brisbane and met with Michael Voss - and proved to be an engaging and delightful individual. We wish him the best of luck as he attempts to regain his position in the Swans senior team.
The trade with Melbourne for Stefan Martin was agreed to on the Friday morning, on the basis that we would not be trading for any earlier picks than those we had and that we were willing to supplement Pick 53 with Pick 73.
With respect to Luke Delaney, our Pro Scout had identified Luke as a developing key defender who could hold down a key post for several years. From a Lions point of view, bringing Luke in would have given the coaches the option of moving Daniel Merrett forward and it would also have added to our key position stocks. Our enquiries with North Melbourne didn’t extend too far as their preference was to retain Luke. Hence this option was not genuinely available.
THE KEY FORWARD
Jesse Hogan
Prior to the trade period we had determined that if we could not bring Kurt Tippett into the Club, we would seriously pursue Jesse Hogan via the 17 year-old mini draft. Jesse, who played centre half forward for Claremont under 18’s and Western Australia, was identified by our WA scouts very early in the year and we followed him closely throughout, both before and after the Under 18 championships. We had met and interviewed Jesse in WA and through our discussions he had become quite happy with the idea of coming to Brisbane next year and learning his craft under the tutelage of Jonathan Brown. We had offered our Pick 8 to GWS prior to the trade period in order to keep us in the race. In fact we were growing quietly confident that we may well land Jesse as we had made the most prominent bid in the early stages. However, when Jack Viney was not bid on in the Father/Son bidding process, we felt that hurt our prospects as it left Melbourne with Picks 3 and 4 to trump us. We understood that the Bulldogs preferred Jack Martin, while Port Adelaide had expressed no interest in Jesse.
With Pick 8 on the table, once Jesse tested so well at the combine in the shuttle run we knew we were likely to be trumped. In anticipation of that we offered Pick 8 and 24 - but then the next day Jesse ran an exceptional 3km time trial for a boy of his size. While his football talent had been clear to us, the AFL Draft Combine emphasized his work rate and determination. That display certainly seemed to be enough to prompt Melbourne to offer their Pick 3 and 13 (which later became 14) and our hopes of bringing Jesse to Brisbane were dashed. Nevertheless we wish him well in his AFL career.
Chris Dawes
Once it became known that Chris Dawes was considering leaving Collingwood, we did enquire as to whether Chris would consider a move to Brisbane. Chris was overseas during the trade period and his manager communicated our interest to him. However, after thinking about the possibility of a move to Brisbane for 24 hours Chris indicated that he did not want to leave Melbourne. We hadn’t got so far as making an offer to either Chris or Collingwood so this was a short lived consideration.
Other Options
The only other options that we considered at different times were a swap of picks with GWS who were interested in our Pick 8. Had we been able to get an agreement on a deal that involved the GWS’ Picks 12 and 14 coming to us for Pick 8 and 24, we would have seriously considered it but GWS didn’t want to give up those positions. Similarly, the options put to us by GWS were not attractive enough for us to forfeit Pick 8.
Lions supporters can now at least sort some of the fact from the fiction that is flagged during the exchange period. To round out the discussion, I can report that while some of our young players attracted interest from other clubs, we are committed to developing the talent that we feel we have accumulated over recent years. While it is reassuring to know that other clubs value our group, we want that group to turn the Lions into a powerhouse.
While the above summary appears quite orderly, I can assure supporters it is not always the way the trade period works. The best demonstration of that is the final Thursday when the Stefan Martin deal still had to be concluded, Jesse White was being considered and we were scrambling to see if Kurt Tippett had in fact become an option for us again. I was involved in 75 phone calls that day with player agents, the AFL and Brisbane officials. It was reminiscent of the Saturday in 2011 when the Mitch Clark trade occurred, and it was the type of day that that can only occur in the trade period.
LOOKING AHEAD TO THE DRAFT
On Monday and Tuesday of last week myself, Stephen Conole (Senior Recruiting Manager) and Graeme Hadley (SA & WA Recruiting Manager) presented our thoughts and recommendations regarding the Draft to Michael Voss, Mark Harvey and Dean Warren. The medical team gave their reports and the Strength and Conditioning team presented their view on the physical testing results. We spent hours showing the coaches edits of the players we think will be around our picks and talking about what they can add to the group if they achieve their potential.
See the complete 2012 AFL National Draft order
It appears to me that unlike 2010 and 2011, there is a greater divergence of opinion amongst clubs as to the relative merits of this draft cohort. Some of the selections that have been speculated in the media and online also support that view. Therefore, it may well be that on November 22 there are a few surprises.
One such surprise is that I will be sporting a moustache as part of Movember. For those Brisbane supporters who are inclined to support this charity with a small donation, you can support my efforts and those of my team by going to http://mobro.co/4895677
It would certainly be appreciated and at least confirm for me that Lions supporters read to the end of this summary.
GO LIONS!
- Robert Kerr
