G'day all
To correct the record, it was always a possibility that the AFL was going to take away draft picks from carlton as early as mid October 2002, and before we traded for Sugar. If you google it you will find heaps of comments on bigfooty/footygoss about the possibility of the sanctions.
I remember thinking at the time the Sugar deal was announced that we had in effect traded pick 2 and not pick 4 because of the likely sanctions.
see: http://www.footygoss.com/index.php/forums/viewthread/5840/#55920
We traded away knowing that possibility.
Our fault not the AFL's fault.
What the AFL should have done though, is put back trade week that year to allow the carlton sanctions to be imposed first. Then clubs would have know exactly what number pick they were trading.
We took the gamble- did we lose - arguably yes cos Wells is still playing and Sugar is long retired. But Sugar lead us when we didnt have much cattle on the ground. Gerks might be right - Wells may have been delisted at the tigers cos of our lack of development of our young players in those days.
Well done Tigger. 
It goes to show how stupid the club has been.
And even if we had pick 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 they wouldve either stuffed it up completely as history shows they always did. Or they wouldve ruined the career of a potential great player.
This are the FACTS regardless of the bullcrap anyone associated with the club has said in the past.
History speaks louder than Wallet or any other backroom idiot that was making decisions during those years.
The club was at fault and was a laughing stock.
And I'll say it again, thank God for Benny Gale and his vision.
What you regard as fact is not. It is supposition. If you don't know the difference look it up in the dictionary. If we selected Wells how do you know for sure how things would have turned out? There is a very strong chance he would have bombed out. That is not fact, however, it's supposition.
When the president of the club tells you what he was told by the AFL at the time (not later), and you hear it clearly, that is fact.
I agree that Benny Gale has turned the ship around and both he and Hardwick have been united with March supporting them. It's the best the club has been from an administrative point for many many years.
ok YBB. I suppose we would of stuffed up either the pick or the player we picked.
But the facts are that everything the club did during that period was stupid so historical evidence would support my supposition. Another fact is that the president you spoke to during that period the one and only Clinton Casey was the worst president in the clubs history so I couldn't care less what he said to you in private.
Oh let's not forget his appointment of Anthony Mithen to the Board as well. Only problem with it was that Anthony didn't even know he was being appointed. No wonder we have been the joke for so many years.
