| IF | THEN | |
| Adelaide | you choose to go public with Gibbs wanting in ... | ... we like it, a lot, as a strategy. But you then have to deliver. And when you don't, you know you're going to cop it. Hope fans aren't too angry at the club. It at least had a crack. |
| Brisbane Lions | you're a new coach and you've got picks three, 16, 21 and 22 ... | ... you're going to be happy. And you'll be even happier if you can re-wire Rocky. Good luck with that. |
| Carlton | Gibbs being forced to stay was the big Blues story out of this trade period ... | ... close behind it was the truly bizarre, out-of-nowhere, on-deadline, needs-more-proper-scrutiny, O'Meara-to-Hawks-facilitating exchange of picks with Hawthorn. |
| Collingwood | you have lots of OK-outs and lots of OK-ins ... | ... at best you've only done OK. The big questions we had before the trade period remain. |
| Essendon | there was an award for creating the most near-breathless, "Bombers might trade pick one" or "Bombers will get O'Meara in the pre-season draft" headlines out of a perennially club-friendly media outlet ... | ... the Bombers would've won it easily. The club did well, though, in not doing much else. Picks one, 20, 29 and 41 loom as very nice. |
| Fremantle | you've still got pick seven after landing McCarthy, Hill, Hamling and Kersten ... | ... you're the winners of trade period. But don't get too cocky just yet. Bennell might want to be seen at least once on an AFL ground next year. |
| Geelong | one Scott refused to play him for two years ... | ... here's hoping on behalf of Aaron Black that the other one will. |
| Gold Coast | you Google Tony Cochrane's name ... | ... you'll see he does indeed bluff. O'Meara got to the Hawks after all, despite the Suns not getting what Cochrane set out to get. We still enjoyed his public work, though. It spiced up trade period very nicely. |
| Greater Western Sydney | there was one trade we really liked, on so many levels, in 2016 ... | ... it was Deledio becoming a Giant. |
| Hawthorn | the Hawks were Olympic divers ... | ... getting both Mitchell and O'Meara was the equivalent of nailing a reverse two-and-a-half somersault with two-and-a-half twists in pike. Getting rid of Mitchell and Lewis was the belly whacker. |
| Melbourne | you intend to rough up Melbourne players next season ... | ... make sure you go your hardest. We reckon they might like it. Viney always has. And now he's got Lewis to back him up. And Hibberd. And Melksham. |
| North Melbourne | you're any clearer as to where this club sees itself in 2017 ... | ... please tell us. Another strange trade period. |
| Port Adelaide | we're speaking of strange trade periods ... | ... look absolutely no further. Long-term, highly questionable deals with certain players have stifled movement. |
| Richmond | we were critical of the delay in actually arriving at the inevitable signing of Prestia ... | ... we're very complimentary of the overall work in the trade period. Caddy a very good add-on. And Nankervis should be good, too. |
| St Kilda | you set out to get a midfielder with high-end potential, another one with proven ball-getting ability as well as a dependable key back, and you get all three ... | ... you've had a very nice trade period. |
| Sydney Swans | Mitchell exits and you don't replace him in any form ... | ... that is far from ideal. |
| West Coast | you have taken a close look at the revised national draft order ... | ... you'll see the Hawks' first pick is No.88. That was the pick which ultimately made Mitchell a West Coast player. Eagles are still laughing. |
| Western Bulldogs | you went all-out at Hurley and made a significant play for Deledio and ended up settling for Cloke ... | ... it just doesn't matter, does it? You're the bloody premiers! |
| And wait, there's more, as per constant reader request ... | ||
| AFL | there's a 2pm Friday deadline on trades ... | ... very interesting that it took until 2.30pm to officially finalise them all. Brought back memories of the greatest trade of all which hinged on a fax received after deadline from Ron Joseph's Sydney Swans office in 1994. |
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Follow Damian Barrett on Twitter: @barrettdamian
