The Dogs went after several established key position players during trade week, including Sydney Swan Barry Hall and West Coast Eagle Ashley Hansen, but were unable to reach an agreement with any club.
Football manager James Fantasia said while it was disappointing to miss out on acquiring an experienced forward, the club is confident it has an emerging brigade of prospects all capable of becoming that type of player.
"To be honest, we were quite active behind the scenes. We did a process of elimination; we worked on all the 190cm-plus players on every list, and then we virtually went to every club and spoke about their best two or three to see what it would take," he told afl.com.au after the Dogs wrapped up their trade week talks on Friday at Telstra Dome.
"Most clubs just don't want to move on their talls, it's just too difficult. I think historically, if you look at what's happened through trade week, there hasn't been a lot of first graders in terms of talls go.
"It was reported early that we had a go at Hall, and yes we did, and we also had a go at Hansen and those types of players. But in the end, it just didn't fall our way.
"But it comes back to drafting and developing your own, and that's where we're keen to see if we can do that.
"We've got a great development team and great coaches, so we think that we can.
"One of the great things for our club at the moment, we have three young guys coming in that fit that bill: Ayce Cordy, Jarrad Grant and Jarrad Boumann, who are all genuine prospects and play key position roles.
"From a rookies point of view, we've got a really good crop of guys there and we're looking for big years from those guys."
The Dogs put through one trade during the week, with midfielder Farren Ray going to St Kilda for selection No.31.
Fantasia, who previously stated the club would only accept a second-round pick or better for the 22-year-old, said the result is a "win-win" for both parties.
"In the end, we got a second round draft pick so it put us back into play in terms of drafting new players," he said.
"With the quality of the players there, the types, we think it will give us a chance to secure the tall that we needed to get.
"We might end up with two with pick 31 and 32, and then you add Ayce Cordy at 202cm and so, if anything, it's probably given us a bit more flexibility in and around that cluster of players. We could arguably get the best midfielder as well as the best tall in that cluster.
"And, Farren wanted to stay in Melbourne, and it was all about opportunity.
"St Kilda showed by the deal that was done by the second round draft pick that they were prepared to offer him that opportunity, and he goes with our best wishes."
Follow every trade as it happens with afl.com.au's trade tracker.
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The 2008 AFL exchange period runs from October 6-10, 2008. Please note, no trades are official until paperwork has been accepted by the AFL and formally recognised after 2pm EST on Friday, October 10.
Follow all the ins and outs of football’s most intriguing week at afl.com.au/trade. Track every trade as it is confirmed, plus the very latest news via our twitter feed.
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