For the people who think this is a bad deal, I think you need to have a good think about what we could have got for Miles and Ellis.
12 months ago, no one was that interested in Miles, so he stayed with us. Move on 12 months and he didn't get an opportunity from us, and no one appeared to be knocking our door down for him. Suggests he wasn't worth that much to anyone.
I didn't exactly see a queue at our door to secure Corey Ellis either. The talk that Essendon might have been interested did not materialise. If a club had offered us a third round pick for Ellis, I am sure we would have gone in the direction.
So we took the opportunityto give one loyal player his wish (Miles) and move on another who just couldn't realise his potential (Ellis). In the case of Miles, that goodwill will be worth something some day, I am sure of it. Look after players, and others will hear about it.
Ellis is the classic Richmond hope of the last 30 odd years. In the past we would have hung on to him for 6-7 years, paid him a lot of money for no return, and eventually cut him for nothing except the missed opportunity of having someone else on our list who might have become a player for us.
Materially we did not get much out of this deal. But sometimes the intangibles can be worth making the deal.
