Minutes turn to months for disgruntled Ty
Chip Le Grand
The Australian
October 09, 2004
TY ZANTUCK was gone in 60 seconds. A minute sooner and the disgruntled Tiger would have been toasting a new contract with Essendon. A minute sooner and Richmond would have been toasting its own good fortune.
But by the AFL clock on the Optus Oval wall, Richmond football manager Greg Miller arrived one minute too late with the requisite paperwork.
Zantuck will stay at Richmond, where he doesn't particularly want to be. The Bombers will have to turn their minds to the pre-season draft, which they didn't particularly want to do.
It is clearly no way to do business. According to the price set by his management in negotiations, Zantuck's services are worth $240,000 a season to an AFL club. While the figure is a moot point, yesterday's debacle was not.
Every year, at least one trade is left stranded on a fax machine or formica table at the 2pm cut-off.
In 2001, it was Essendon's Joe Misiti trying to get to Collingwood. Last year, it was St Kilda's Heath Black trying to get to Fremantle -- a trade belatedly secured yesterday.
The difference this year is journalists and television crews were allowed on to the trading room floor to witness the chaos for themselves.
"I took the wrong turn," a sheepish Miller said. "I sprinted down the corridor and went left instead of right. But Essendon came in to us about two minutes to go, which was obviously too late."
The scenes which took place before Miller's deadline dash were as intriguing as any of the deals struck.
The clubs gathered at 10am to finalise their trades. Three hours later, only one deal had been lodged and tempers were starting to fray.
How many club officials does it take to change a light bulb? It took a table of seven from Hawthorn and Collingwood and the best part of an hour to find a third-round draft pick for West Coast.
"You'd think they were working on the Israeli peace accord," snapped one rival recruiter, whose own trade prospects were hinging on the deal.
The feel-good story was Geelong, which after years of failed attempts landed a big recruit in Brad Ottens. The villain of the piece was Essendon, who earned the wrath of the Tigers and more than one player manager for their late play at Zantuck and trade tease of Western Bulldog Scott West.
The steak-knife award went to former Demon and Docker Troy Longmuir, who was traded to Carlton for the 73rd pick in the national draft.
But if Longmuir is miffed at his dramatic depreciation, he need only consider the fate of Zantuck. In trade week, it is better to be done dirt cheap than a minute too late.
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