Trades
Throughout the year there was much speculation about high profile players such as Jonathan Brown, Alan Didak and Daniel Kerr being likely to be traded during the AFL's annual trading period, but each re-signed with their clubs before the trading period started. The main discussions during trade week were the surprise request by Ryan O'Keefe to be traded from Sydney, as well as the destination of young Fremantle ruckman Robert Warnock, both of whom wished to be traded back to their home city of Melbourne. Other players to request trades include Andrew Lovett, Brent Prismall, Mark Seaby, Farren Ray, Josh Carr and Daniel Harris.
North Melbourne surprised many early in the week by naming Hamish McIntosh and Corey Jones as players available to trade, with McIntosh later being withdrawn from the offer after a backlash from his manager and club legend Glenn Archer.
Like most years, no trades were completed during the first three days of the trade week and for the first time the AFL was requested to assist by providing a mediator to solve the stand-off between Fremantle and Carlton over the Warnock deal. Carlton had offered its second round selection, #24 overall, but Fremantle wanted its first round selection, the sixth overall. On the final day of trade week Warnock was traded. The deal included Fremantle's pick No. 69, in exchange for Carlton's picks 24, 56 and 72.
In total only six trades were completed, with O'Keefe, Lovett, Seaby, Carr and Harris unable to finalise deals during the week. The low number of completed trades prompted calls by the AFLPA for a form of free agency to be introduced, although it could be explained as a one-off event due to a combination of the high regard for the players available in year's draft and the impending concessions to be given to the expansion teams, Gold Coast and Western Sydney in the coming years.
| Player | Original club | New club | Traded for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adam Thomson | Port Adelaide | Richmond | Draft Pick #42 |
| Rhyce Shaw and Draft Pick #61 | Collingwood | Sydney | Draft Pick #46 |
| Anthony Corrie | Brisbane Lions | Collingwood | Draft Pick #93 |
| Farren Ray and Draft Pick #48 | Western Bulldogs | St Kilda | Draft Pick #31 |
| Brent Prismall | Geelong | Essendon | Draft Pick #39 |
| Robert Warnock and Draft Pick #69 | Fremantle | Carlton | Draft Pick #24, #56 and #72 |
Read more about this topic: 2008 AFL Draft
Famous quotes containing the word trades:
“If a man lose his balance, and immerse himself in any trades or pleasures for their own sake, he may be a good wheel or pin, but he is not a cultivated man.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Men and boys are learning all kinds of trades but how to make men of themselves. They learn to make houses; but they are not so well housed, they are not so contented in their houses, as the woodchucks in their holes.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The strongest reason why we ask for woman a voice in the government under which she lives; in the religion she is asked to believe; equality in social life, where she is the chief factor; a place in the trades and professions, where she may earn her bread, is because of her birthright to self-sovereignty; because, as an individual, she must rely on herself.”
—Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815–1902)