After a week of brinkmanship a relieved Brett Ratten emerged from tense last-minute talks with Fremantle's recruiting team on Friday satisfied that he had significantly strengthened his squad.
"He's been a priority for us at that height and potential – it's great for the club," Ratten said after the Blues sent picks 24, 56 and 72 to Fremantle in exchange for Warnock and selection 69.
"But I suppose the biggest thing too is that we keep pick six and we think we'll get a very good player at that pick.
"I think we sit about 16th in the AFL in hit-outs, so with a player of 206cm I think that will help us dramatically.
"We've still got Cameron Cloke, who played centre half-forward towards the end of the year, and Matthew Kreuzer, who we know can play in multiple positions, so I think he will really help our stocks and Shaun Hampson's still developing as well.
"I think he's a young player still in the development phase so I think everyone's going to put a lot of pressure on him, but we think in his first year whatever he does will be a bonus for the club."
Carlton's offer of pick 24 alone was steadfastly refused by Fremantle all week, as was an improved offer that included the fourth- and fifth-round picks.
"It was just a bit of argy bargy towards the end and they wanted a little bit more and we sort of thought the pick was about right," Ratten said.
"We debated whether we were going to move and then they did so there was a bit of to-ing and fro-ing. Probably around 1.30pm Bondy [Chris Bond] came in and we had a chat and it was pretty much done by quarter to two."
Disgruntled Sydney Swans forward Ryan O'Keefe had been another target of the club's early in the week, but initial talks soon became bogged down when the Blues could not satisfy the Swans' demands.
"Our concentration was on Robbie with pick 24. We weren't going to give up pick six, so we thought if we could get that deal done early in the week we might be a chance - but it never happened," Ratten said, adding the Swan would still be a player of interest should he find his way into the pre-season draft.
"We'll sit down and Steven [Icke] will have a look at our numbers. We had some interest in Ryan through the trade period and we'll see there. If we could that would be fantastic if we could get him."
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Follow all the ins and outs of the 2008 AFL exchange period at afl.com.au/trade. Full details of every trade by every club, plus the very latest news via our twitter feed.
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