• Draft order: Your club's provisional picks
• Click here for the NAB AFL Trade Hub
• Trade period wrap: The verdict on your club's deals
1. The new trade system is a winner
How could it be anything but? A total of 44 players changed clubs this year through the draft and free agency period compared to 31 in 2014.
More remarkable is that only seven of the top 30 selections overall did not change hands over the past two weeks.
The ability for clubs to trade for future picks has freed up the trade period as has the 'points system'. The four clubs with player academies – the Swans, Giants, Suns and Lions – were not so much interested in quality picks as they were quantity. The rationale behind the moves are that the clubs need enough points to bring in emerging talent they have long coveted and into which they have already put in a fair degree of work. If it meant trading down in order to get the points, that's what they did.
The safeguards introduced by the AFL ensured that no club 'sold the farm' and did something silly with respects to player trading, and the new-look November 24 draft should be fun to watch.
But count us in the camp that thinks the League only has it half-right. Notwithstanding the enormous interest it generates and that it keeps footy in the news at an otherwise quiet time, we would like to see the trade period become less of a media event and instead extended up to and including the national draft. Allow clubs to trade players and/or picks right through until the end of the draft and then we will have a player movement system the game needs and deserves.
WATCH: Trade Wrap part 2
2. It was the same old, same old for Freo
Standby for another year of Fremantle trying to strangle its opponents into submission. The Dockers couldn't land the deal to bring the homesick Cam McCarthy back from the wilds of western Sydney, but not for a lack of trying. The Dockers even wheeled in coach Ross Lyon to the last two hours of the trade period at Etihad Stadium in a bid to make something happen. Freo's pick 22 and next year's first round selection were on the table right up to Thursday's 2pm deadline but the Giants would not blink, which consigns Freo fans to a long summer of trying to determine where the goals will come from in 2016, particularly with Matthew Pavlich's future still unclear.
3. The Giants can stare down the League’s big clubs
The Giants were widely pilloried last year for talking tough about Tom Boyd, before an abrupt about-face and trade to the Western Bulldogs. All along this year, they wouldn't countenance trading the homesick McCarthy to Fremantle, despite a less-than-subtle PR campaign orchestrated by manager Colin Young and an army of social media activists branding the Giants as cruel and inhumane. McCarthy will have to suck it up (on about $300,000 a year, mind you) until the next opportunity arises to return to Western Australia. They also held firm through Thursday as Carlton tried to deal for Adam Tomlinson, who was keen enough that he started following the Blues' Twitter account during the day. But he stays put as well and must now knuckle down to win back a spot in the club's best 22 that was his 12 months ago.
4. … and so can the Tigers
All along, the belief was that Richmond would have to part with pick 12 to extract Chris Yarran from Carlton. The Blues wanted a clear-cut first-round pick for the talented but erratic running defender. But with less than an hour remaining on Thursday, the Blues relented and made the trade for pick 19. Imagine if Yarran is best on ground for the Tigers in round one against, ahem, the Blues.
5. Picks can be more nomadic than players
As taken from our indicative draft order, picks 28 and 53 have taken the paths well-travelled to their final destinations.
Pick 28: North Melbourne (received from Collingwood as part of James Aish-Ryan Bastinac deal; received from GWS as part of the trade for Adam Treloar; received by GWS from Carlton as part of the trade for Lachie Plowman, Jed Lamb, Andrew Phillips and Liam Sumner; received by Carlton from Adelaide as part of the trade for Troy Menzel; received by Adelaide from Geelong as part of the trade for Patrick Dangerfield).
Pick 53: Greater Western Sydney (received from Collingwood via a pick exchange; earlier received from North Melbourne as part of James Aish-Ryan Bastinac trade; earlier received from Gold Coast as part of the trade for Daniel Currie; earlier received by Gold Coast as part of the trade for Zac Smith; originally received by Geelong from Adelaide as part of the trade for Patrick Dangerfield).
6. There might be light at the end of the tunnel for the Dees
By Melbourne's reckoning, this might be the last year it finishes far closer to the bottom of the ladder than the top. The Demons also understand that they're perhaps one more year away from being seen as a destination club. So why not make the most of their 'predicament' and position themselves for one more run at the draft? Some deft dealing by the Demons means they ended up with picks three and seven in the forthcoming national draft, and while the draft might not be the strongest, those two picks should yield long-term players for Melbourne. Add Jake Melksham, Ben Kennedy and Tom Bugg joining the club and the debut next season of 2014 No.2 pick Christian Petracca, and Melbourne can look forward to a healthy talent injection. After years of mismanagement, the playing list finally has the right feel and demographics.
7. Expectations are now sky-high on the Pies
Aren't they always? Forget Adam Treloar's 'secret' groin operation and the prematurely-released signing video. Bringing him and James Aish into the club significantly bolsters an already-impressive midfield, while they went hard at Jeremy Howe and eventually secured his signature. Nathan Buckley sold Collingwood to Howe on the basis he could turn him into a cross between Isaac Smith and Jack Gunston. We don't see it; indeed, apart from being the best high-mark of the past 50 years, we're not sure what else Howe is really good at, but his arrival at the Holden Centre raises the bar of expectation at Collingwood even higher. Finals at a minimum must be the goal for the Pies in 2016 or even a Magpie deity such as Nathan Buckley will be shifting uneasily in his seat.
8. The Blues are embracing the rebuild
The Blues will be less watchable for us neutrals in 2016 without Troy Menzel and Chris Yarran, who can be exhilarating to watch when they're up and about (and when they actually care). In their place now are four former Giants (Lachie Plowman, Andrew Phillips, Jed Lamb and Liam Sumner) who between them played eight matches for a side which this year finished in the middle of the ladder. There is every chance that Brendan Bolton's Blues might be even less competitive in 2016 than those of Mick Malthouse and John Barker were this year. But it is the first draft pick overall and four of the first 19 that have Carlton types enthused. Give the Blues some credit; when they finally do decide to bottom out and rebuild from scratch, they do so with gusto.
9. The Dons and Hawks looked back to the future
Not since 1996, when they picked up Chris Heffernan and Daniel McAlister, have the Bombers had two draft picks inside the top five. And not since 2005, a year when they had a priority pick, have the Hawks had two picks inside the top 20. That the Hawks didn't move stealthily to make a big trade (with apologies to Jack Fitzpatrick) was one of the talking points of the past fortnight, but we will spend the next 12 months speculating who they'll snare next year.
10. The Cats are better, but by how much?
Patrick Dangerfield instantly makes the Cats a three-goal better team. Good luck to opposition sides trying to sit on both him and Joel Selwood on any given day. And the belief is that if fit and committed to the cause, Lachie Henderson is also a best-22 player for Geelong and an upgrade to the side. But ex-Eagle Scott Selwood won't train until after Christmas and fellow import Zac Smith would seem to be a depth player given how his stock has fallen the past two years. So we're not quite drinking the Geelong Kool-Aid just yet. Finals? Yes. Top Four? Get back to us in March.
