How things change
When Ivan Maric was selected after John Meesen in the third round of the 2004 NAB AFL Draft, the pair was heralded as the Crows' ruck tandem for the next decade, but times have certainly changed. Meesen has been out of the AFL for two years and Maric was traded to Richmond on Friday.
Maric fell behind Sam Jacobs in the pecking order at Adelaide and the Adelaide Advertiser reports the Crows' big man was sent to his preferred destination at Punt Road where he will be the No.1 ruckman.
In a three-way deal, Maric packed his bags for Tigerland, Richmond sent pick 37 to Adelaide and the Crows flicked that selection to St Kilda, who then moved former first round draft pick Tom Lynch to Adelaide.
Things are getting messy...
... in Brisbane, where Mitch Clark's desire to become a Fremantle Docker is causing headaches for the brains trust.
The Herald Sun reports that Clark has shunned an audacious, last-minute bid by Melbourne to lure him.
Clark wants to go home to Perth and play for Fremantle, but he took time out to consider a big money deal from the Demons. After a period of soul searching, Clark turned his back on the offer, which led Freo to take the extraordinary step of sending out a media release telling the world that Clark wanted to wear purple next year and nothing else.
The Lions have been steadfast in their position that Clark is worth at least a top-10 pick in a compromised draft, but Fremantle can't come up with anything better than its first-round pick which is 16th overall.
It gets messier
Clark's refusal to go to Melbourne instead of Fremantle has stymied the Lions' audacious bid to land Crows' forward Kurt Tippett, according to the Herald Sun.
The Lions have made no secret of their desire to lure Tippett and they believe the Demons' pick No.12, that they had hoped to receive for Clark, packaged with their own pick No.8 might have been an offer too good for Adelaide to refuse.
The Crows have been steadfast in their position that Tippett is not up for trade in any circumstance, but such an offer would give them pause for thought if reports that he has a get out clause in his contract that would see him walk to the club of his choice for a second and third-round draft pick are true.
Tommy a target
The Age reports that St Kilda's Irish project player Tommy Walsh wants to join the Sydney Swans, but the Saints are not willing to negotiate a trade for the Gaelic convert.
The broadsheet says Walsh could be forced to gamble on getting to the Swans through the national or pre-season drafts after St Kilda said it wanted to keep the player and was not keen to trade.
Three other clubs had also made approaches to St Kilda about Walsh, complicating the potential for him to move through either of the drafts.
Who called Fev?
The papers were abuzz with the news that a Melbourne-based club had contacted Brendan Fevola's management company to enquire about the fallen Blues and Lions star.
The Age reports Essendon, North Melbourne, the Western Bulldogs and Melbourne were adamant that they did not give Ricky Olarenshaw a tingle to have a chin wag about Fevola's future.
Northern exposure
Brendan Fevloa isn't going to die wondering.
In the hope of staying fit and keeping his draft hopes alive, Fevola is reported to be heading to Darwin to play in the AFL NT competition, reports abc.net.au.
Fevola could play with the Waratahs as early as this Saturday, and he could be one of three big name former AFL players lining up in that competition.
Geelong's recently retired forward Cameron Mooney has signed with the Palmerston Magpies while Andrew Lovett, attempting to resurrect his AFL career after it was derailed by sexual assault charges at the end of 2010, is going to play with the Tiwi Bombers in the coming weeks.
Hawks no more
Hawthorn quietly moved on premiership ruckman Brent Renouf and rookie Will Sierakowski on Friday.
Renouf is now a Port Adelaide player after the Power sent pick 33 to the Hawks and Sierakowski will wear North Melbourne's blue and white colours next year after the Roos sent pick 58 to Hawthorn.
No trades are official until paperwork has been accepted by the AFL and formally recognised after 2pm on Monday, October 17.
Follow our complete coverage of the 2011 AFL exchange period from October 10-17. Join the AFL trade conversation on Twitter: use #tradeweek in your tweets
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs
