The trade week has kicked off with a bang with the Swans agreeing to trade Mitchell to Hawthorn for pick 14 and an exchange of later picks. The Hawks had already captured Ty Vickery through the free agent trade window after Richmond refused to match the $1m over 2 seasons bid. It's unlikely that we'll do further business, unless we can't re-sign any of the uncontracted players.
I was definitely one of those that had the opinion that we're strengthening our rivals and not getting enough out of it. Fear not, as Hawthorn are surprisingly trading their five time best and fairest winner Sam Mitchell to West Coast in a player/coach role. This is sure to cause a riot with Hawthorn fans, since he's been their best and dominant midfielder the last two seasons. Sorry Tom, but there's no way that you're going to replace Sam in the midfield.
Sit back in the armchair and smile as Hawthorn slide backwards, with Ty Vickery spudding it up all over the ground. They're still chasing a bottle of Jaegermeister, 4 pack of Red Bulls and a box of Winnie reds, and will need to give up a lot to get it, most likely Isaac Smith or Luke Bruest. With an ageing list, it's a desperate attempt to stay relevant and near the top. Giving up a bit for a decent player to replace one of the best ever midfielders, as well as a complete spud that can't kick goals and another midfielder that hasn't played in 2 years is a significant gamble. Queue hilarity and laughs as it fails.
Trading Mitchell, the 2nd best Swans midfielder in the losing grand final, to Hawthorn may hurt us in the short term, but the long term gains will be significant. Beatson declared that we're in for picks, rather than players, even though a player like Isaac Smith or Luke Bruest would have been an excellent pick up to replace the retiring, delisted or traded players. Speed on the outside is undoubtedly needed, since Hawthorn, GWS and the Dogs have exploited that weakness all season.
Landing Hawthorn's first round pick is a good result, especially where draft in concerned, even though he doesn't have a good track record with first round picks. But he can't possibly screw them both up. Fortunately for the Swans, the last three first round picks played in the grand final. However, before 2013, the first round picks have been sketchy, such as Jed Lamb, Dean Towers, Lewis Johnston, Daniel O'Keefe et. al. The only decent picks between 2000 and 2013 were Jarred McVeigh and Gary Rohan. So all we can do is cross our fingers and hope for the best, or throw him in a locker and let him loose when the 2nd round starts, since he's nailed it pretty much every time.
In other trade news, Bryce Gibbs has requested a trade to Adelaide. Even though he can get a bigger contract with the Blues, the go-home factor was too much to overcome. There were whispers over the last 18 to 24 months, so it's unsurprising that it's finally happened. Crows will need to trade players out to fit him under their cap.
Cam McCarthy's trade saga is finally over, after walking out on GWS over a year ago after they refused to trade him the Fremantle. GWS would have landed significant picks in the 2015 draft, at least Fremantle's first and 2nd round picks, but nothing in the end as they forced McCarthy to honour his contract, so he sat out the entire 2016 season. GWS have pretty much thrown him away for nothing, swapping first round picks, and giving up their own 2nd & 4th round picks. So unless they trade players, they'll have only 2 picks at the draft.
And finally, after the Swiss courts dismissed the Bombers CAS ruling appeal, Jobe Watson will need to wait another 6 weeks to find out what's going to happen to his Brownlow. He's already agreed to come back and play for the Bombers, but surely that's at jeopardy if he's stripped of his medal.
"The AFL accepts and acknowledges this Tribunal ruling and the AFL Commission repeats the statement it made when the CAS finding was handed down in January earlier this year – the AFL is fully committed to clean sport, for the sake of all players from all clubs in our competition," the AFL's statement said.
"The next Commission meeting in November will provide the appropriate amount of time for all relevant parties to prepare."
Trent Cotchin and Sam Mitchell could become Brownlow medalists, writing that makes me feel dirty all over. Even though Cotchin was fantastic that year, he's been garbage ever since, and Mitchell, a great footballer, but a massive wanker.
Like what you’re getting? Want more Swans Blog, and the chance to have your input into our site and what we create? We have additional content weekly on our Patreon Service. This is your avenue, what are you waiting for? Sign up today and get more content like this.
If you'd like to support us, you can head over to our Red Bubble Swans Blog Shop, and purchase one of our hideously overpriced mugs, stickers or notebooks. Help keep The Swans Blog alive.
Since you're here...
... we have a small favour to ask. More people are reading The Swans Blog than ever, but we don't accept advertising, and don't want to do so in the future. Unlike many other news and media organisations, fan forums and fan media, we haven't put up a paywall, or displayed ads - we want to keep our content as open as possible.
The Swans Blog is an independent fan blog and community platform. Our content takes a lot of time and hard work to produce. We do it because we love what we do and we believe our perspective matters - because it may be your perspective too.
If everyone who reads our blog, who likes it, is supporting it, our future would be much more secure.
Want instant access to the latest blog and news content from The Swans Blog?
Download our Android App from Google Play today.