Rogues gallery exposes lunacy of trade week
Chip Le Grand
THe Australian
October 14, 2006
Very good players who do not have discipline problems, a history of alcohol abuse or some other flaw do not get traded. Scroll down the list of big names in yesterday's deals and each one has considerable baggage attached. The story for each is essentially the same; they are in need of a fresh star or new environment.
The pick of this year's bunch remains Jason Akermanis, whose sin at Brisbane was to regularly say things that contracted footballers shouldn't.
The Western Bulldogs got him for a steal within the first hour of trading from the Lions, who were happy to see him go. As a gesture of his changed attitude towards football and life, Akermanis has promised to stop doing handstands when his team wins. He also hopes to be less conspicuous in Melbourne, where there are more teams and players absorb media and public attention.
The most significant deal sent Chris Tarrant to Fremantle in exchange for pick eight in the national draft. Tarrant, when well rested and injury free, remains a very good player.
Good enough, Fremantle coach Chris Connolly hopes, to be the difference between a top-four finish and a flag. But in his nine years at Collingwood, he tested the patience of coaches and officials more times than Mick Malthouse would care to remember.
In a separate deal, Fremantle secured the services of Solomon. If Tarrant and Solomon were at school together, they would be sat at opposite ends of the classroom. Fremantle hopes the pair can share a town such as Perth and not get into too much strife. The Dockers appreciate the risks but are hell-bent on a flag within two years.
Graham Polak was once a rising star at Fremantle. But at 22, an age when most players should be entering the most productive years, he found himself out of the Dockers' best team. Polak is another player whose on-field performance has suffered because of serious personal issues.
Richmond hopes those issues can be resolved somewhere across the Nullarbor, when Polak flies to Melbourne. Michael Gardiner, 27, could be the great success of this year's trade period or its most spectacular disaster. St Kilda merely shuffled a few draft picks to get him so in terms of risk versus potential reward, it is a good deal.
But in his time at West Coast, trouble and Gardiner were constant companions and his fitness to ruck after serious knee surgery in 2004 remains unproven.
Full article at:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20576997-36035,00.html
