• Check out every confirmed move on the Trade tracker
• NAB AFL Trade Hub: moves, rumours and your reaction
• All the free agency moves and news
• Click here for the 2014 indicative NAB AFL draft order
GREATER Western Sydney has bowed to the Western Bulldogs' demands and traded Tom Boyd for Ryan Griffen and the Dogs' pick No.6.
GWS had been adamant that Boyd, the No.1 pick in the 2013 Draft, had been untouchable when he requested a trade to the Bulldogs on Monday.
But the trade price was too good to refuse with the Bulldogs throwing in their first-round draft pick to get the deal over the line, and agreeing to pay some of Griffen's new contract with GWS.
Boyd will arrive at the Whitten Oval on a seven-year deal understood to be worth an average of about $1 million a season.
It is an unparalleled deal for a 19-year-old who has played nine AFL games and kicked eight goals.
Griffen, 28, has signed a four-year deal with GWS and will add experience and class to the competition's newest team.
The South Australian played 202 games in 10 seasons with the Bulldogs after being taken at pick No.3 in the 2004 NAB AFL Draft.
At his best, Griffen, 190cm, is one of the most damaging midfielders in the competition.
He won two best and fairest awards at the Bulldogs (2010 and 2013) and was named an All-Australian last year.
GWS chief executive David Matthews defended the club's backflip on Boyd when he announced the trade on Wednesday afternoon.
"First, the Bulldogs have made a revised and attractive offer which now includes their first draft pick (No.6), an elite player in Ryan Griffen and salary cap assistance in relation to his contract," Matthews said.
"Second, our coach Leon Cameron has consulted the leadership group and they have agreed they want a united and loyal playing group heading into an important season in 2015.
"Third, as a club we are proud to represent western Sydney and Canberra and it's critical that our players share that value. Clearly Tom doesn't and the best course of action is for him to leave the club.
"We believe this is an excellent trade in the best interests of the club and gives us the best possible chance of achieving success in the coming seasons."
Young forward Tom Boyd has joined the Bulldogs on a lucrative, lengthy deal. Picture: AFL Media
The Giants now have picks No.4, No.6 and No.7 in the national draft and are in an incredibly strong position to broker a trade for St Kilda's No.1 pick.
Matthews did not rule the Giants out of that scenario, but also said they could use the picks to lure another experienced player on the final day of the trade period.
"As it's fallen we've now got some early picks," Matthews told NAB Trade Radio.
"We don't rule out in the next 24 hours or less, examining what might be possible with those.
"We're a club that continues to need to bring some experience and depth in if we can. We'll have a bit of a look at what's there."
The trade is a coup for the Bulldogs after a disastrous couple of days last week, when then captain Griffen walked out on the club on Thursday and coach Brendan McCartney resigned on Friday.
In the 200cm Boyd, the Dogs will hope they now have the elite key forward they have been lacking since Barry Hall's retirement at the end of 2011.
Bulldogs chief executive Simon Garlick said the club was thrilled to secure Boyd.
"To attract last year's No.1 draft pick and a standout elite player of the class of 2013 to the kennel is a major coup," Garlick said.
"We know our supporters will be thrilled to see Tom play alongside the likes of Liberatore, Roughead, Wallis, Bontempelli, Macrae, Stringer, Dahlhaus, Johannisen, Hunter, Hrovat, Smith, Roberts and Talia, not to mention Minson, Murphy, Morris and Boyd and the rest of our dedicated playing group."
