My first instinct when I saw this trade was like yeti’s – that we look to be out of the Jesse Hogan business. I was a bit disappointed about that (disappointed about not getting Hogan, not agreeing with yeti).
But it will be interesting to see how this plays out over time, and whether this is part of a plan to attract other players over the trade period. I know people are quick to invoke the spectre of Trent Croad, but this reminds me more of the SPS/Logue deal. In that deal we traded pick 5 (and a chance at SPS) for (effectively) Logue, McCarthy and Hamling. Did that trade come off? I still have no idea. SPS has shown glimpses, Hamling has been very good for us, but whether Freo benefits from that deal will depend on how the careers of Logue and McCarthy play out over the next decade. The variance for those guys careers is huge - you could tell me that in three years those players are out of the league or fringe All Australians, and I would say there’s a chance you are right.
I’ll give Bell and Rosich some credit (as I did Bond); it takes some chutzpa to make those sorts of deals. If pick 6 becomes and gun and the flotsam from deal amounts to nothing, it can be a career and club killer. But, if you hit on two or three players in exchange for one, well you can look like a genius and set the club up.
