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WINNERS
The 'Boydy' Billionaire
Giant Tom Boyd entered the trade period with just nine senior games under his belt, but emerged less than two weeks later near the top of the AFL's rich list. Last year's No.1 pick joined the Western Bulldogs on a seven-year contract understood to be worth about $7 million. It's a staggering show of faith in an unproven 19-year-old, but the Bulldogs needed to salvage something after captain Ryan Griffen walked out on the club and requested a trade to GWS. Time will tell whether the Dogs' move is a masterstroke or not. But, whatever happens, Boyd is set to become a rich young man.
It pays to be free
There is another group of players set for significant pay pikes: 2015's prospective free agents who include stars such as Patrick Dangerfield, Taylor Walker, Tom Hawkins, Trent Cotchin and Scott Selwood. The Crows warded off an inquiry from Melbourne about Dangerfield during the trade period, but clubs will continue to chase the Victorian as long he remains unsigned beyond 2015. Likewise Walker, Hawkins, Cotchin and Selwood. All can expect to be tempted with huge pay increases from rival clubs. Their clubs might not have to match those offers to keep them, but they will at least have to come up with deals in the same ballpark. Either way, the cream of next year's free agency crop can't lose.
Talls in demand
Twelve of the 29 players who found new homes in this year's player exchange period were either ruckmen or key position players. They included free agents Jarrad Waite and James Frawley, and trade targets Patrick Ryder, Tom Boyd, Mitch Clark, Rhys Stanley and Kristian Jaksch. Which might just prove, after all, that a tall man is not hard to find.
Golden oldies
Clubs now seem more prepared to offer veteran opposition players a fresh start in the twilight of their careers. North Melbourne pried spearhead Waite away from Carlton, offering him a two-year deal even though he turns 32 before next season. Adam Cooney, 29, also received two-year offers from North and Essendon despite his history of knee troubles, with the Brownlow medallist ultimately swayed by the lure of playing under James Hird at Tullamarine. Geelong defender Tom Lonergan, 30, was also offered a three-year contract believed to be worth more than $500,000 a season at the Bulldogs, but elected to stay with the Cats.
Lions earn an A+
Brisbane Lions coach Justin Leppitsch said after his team's round 23 loss to Geelong that the club wanted to add mature A-grade players to its list. Leppitsch acknowledged it wouldn't be an easy task and it's fair to say he could not have envisaged just how successful the Lions' trade period would be on this front. In 23-year-old premiership players Dayne Beams and Allen Christensen, the Lions snared two of the best young on-ballers in the competition. When you add them to the likes of Tom Rockliff, Jack Redden, Daniel Rich and Dayne Zorko, the Lions now have one of the most exciting young midfields in the League.
The No.1 pick's prestige intact
It looked like the No.1 draft pick could be traded this year for the first time since 2001. Wooden-spooners St Kilda received firm offers for the prized selection from four clubs during the trade period. Greater Western Sydney was one of those clubs and, given it had assembled picks No.4, No.6 and No.7 by the penultimate day of the trade period, you can assume the Saints received some tempting offers. Ultimately, though, St Kilda held on to the coveted pick, which they will use to choose between the likes of midfielder Christian Petracca and key forward Patrick McCartin.
The busiest pick in town
Pick No.21 was this year's most well-travelled draft selection. It actually started four years ago when Brisbane Lions received it as compensation for losing Jared Brennan to Gold Coast. The pick was then traded to the Suns and then Greater Western Sydney in coming seasons before it was activated this year. This year it was shipped back to the Brisbane Lions for Joel Patfull, jumped from there to Geelong for Allen Christensen, before finally lobbing at Seaford for Saint Rhys Stanley. It's enough to make a young pick weary. Let's hope it still has enough energy to pick a winner for the Saints at next month's national draft.
A Giant of a deal
When you looked beyond Greater Western Sydney's philosophical backflip, the Tom Boyd deal looks an exceptional one for the Giants. Just consider what they got for a player who has played nine AFL games: a seasoned elite midfielder in Ryan Griffen; pick No.6; and a contribution from the Bulldogs towards Griffen's new four-year deal that is believed to be up to $1 million.
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LOSERS
Giants' credibility plunge
As sound as the mechanics of the Tom Boyd trade look for GWS, the manner in which the Giants arrived at the deal could set the club back. Backflipping on their furious public and private protestations that Boyd was not up for trade will make it hard for anyone to take anything they say seriously for a while. But it's the message that they sent in letting 2013's No.1 draft pick go home after just one season that could really come back to haunt them. With such a gilt-edged list of youngsters, many of them from Victoria, the Giants have given rival clubs hope that their other young stars can be lured from western Sydney just like Boyd.
The fallout from the Ryan Griffen-Tom Boyd trade will be fascinating. Picture: Getty Images
Bombers Paddy-whacked
In Patrick Ryder, the Bombers have lost a star big man at the height of his powers. It's a loss that was inevitable once the 26-year-old decided he wanted out of Tullamarine after enduring an agonising two seasons under the spectre of the ASADA investigation of the Bombers' 2011-2012 supplements program. However, the Bombers – renowned as difficult customers at the trade table – at least salvaged something from the wreck. The Power's offer of picks No.17 and No.37 was definitely 'unders' for Ryder, especially when you consider Saint Rhys Stanley was deemed worthy of pick No.21 by Geelong. But the Bombers at least got the deal done two hours before Thursday's 2pm deadline, allowing them time to secure Western Bulldog veteran Adam Cooney (with pick No.37) and GWS ruckman Jonathan Giles as a replacement for Ryder.
Collingwood's vanishing 2010 premiership team
The Magpies continued to trade out 2010 premiership stars this year. Heritier Lumumba and Beams were the latest to leave the Westpac Centre, with Dale Thomas (via free agency) and Heath Shaw departing last year, Chris Dawes and Sharrod Wellingham in 2012. Just nine members of the 2010 flag team remain on Collingwood's list. The exodus can partly be explained by natural evolution, but it is also a sign of a cultural revolution in which coach Nathan Buckley is firmly imposing his own high standards on the club.
Lonergan turns back on big pay day
Tom Lonergan was torn when the Western Bulldogs came knocking with a three-year contract understood to be worth more than $500,000 a season. The Geelong premiership defender was loathe to leave the club he loved but, at 30, understandably attracted by an offer that even Don Corleone would have struggled to refuse. The opportunity to work under Bulldogs coach Brendan McCartney, who had been a development coach at Geelong for the first eight years of Lonergan's career, was also a huge attraction. However, the Cat veteran's decision was almost made for him when McCartney resigned from the Dogs last Friday. With his former mentor gone, Lonergan listened to his heart and not his bank balance, recommitting to Geelong.
Swans trade ban
The Sydney Swans had already lost All Australian defender Nick Malceski to free agency when news surfaced that they could not trade in players over the next two years while the Cost of Living Allowance was phased out. It meant the club widely acknowledged as the best trader in the game had to sit on its hands during the two-week trade period. It was limited to trading Shane Biggs (and pick No.39) to the Western Bulldogs for pick No.37 and looks set to lose forward Tim Membrey to St Kilda in the pre-season draft. Perhaps the only winner at the club was coach John Longmire, who was the designated contact for the media if the Swans were involved in a trade. It's safe to say, Longmire enjoyed some rare peace and quiet.
AFL silent on Swans ban
Although the merits of the AFL Commission decision to impose a trade ban on the Swans can be debated, the League's lack of transparency was a concern. The AFL did not announce its decision until it was revealed in a report last Thursday. Surely, football fans, especially Swans supporters, deserved to be informed before the trade period opened.
Balme misses Monte Carlo
When Geelong football manager Neil Balme arrived at Etihad Stadium on Thursday morning for the final round of trade talks, he told the waiting media he was hoping some snacks had been put on for club staff. At the top of his wish list, he said, was a Monte Carlo biscuit. Alas when Balme emerged from talks a few hours later, he said he had to settle for a cup of chamomile tea.
