The AFL has done one of those click bait things “your clubs best trades”. They’ve rated Purple Jesus as tops for us. Hard to argue against but I’ve always had a lot of love for AA Luke. While the AFL article suggests that it came at a “hefty” cost, my memory was that he was virtually thrown in as a sweetener for the Croad deal and came to us with a severe case of osteitis pubis (one of our rare successful rehabilitations!). If we want to talk hefty deals I’d say Belly was right up there - we had him, gave him away, then paid 6, 8, 37 and a reasonable player to get him back. There were all good players for us but I’d say Luke McP’s 244 games was best value bang for buck
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Jeff Farmer (131 games from 2002-2008)
'The Wizard' brought his magic from the Demons after he was traded for pick No.17 at the end of 2001. Farmer gave Freo some legitimate star power and went on to kick 224 goals in many match-winning performances, including kicking an unforgettable after-the-siren goal to sink his former side. He was stiff to miss All-Australian selection in 2006 after bagging 55 goals and was also named in the club's greatest ever team. The Dockers haven't had much success with trades, but the relatively cheap price gave Farmer the nod.
Other candidates: Peter Bell (traded for Jess Sinclair, picks No.6, No.8 and No.37) will go down as an all-time great, but they paid plenty to get him back after originally delisting him. Luke McPharlin (traded with Trent Croad for picks No.1, No.20 and No.36) was also edged out due to the hefty deal. The Dockers turned the Chris Mayne compensation pick (No.23) into future Doig medallist Bradley Hill, but he only played 54 games before leaving. - Chris Correia