In a time where people often make up their minds without seeing, hearing, or understanding all the details of a given situation, the reaction to the West Coast Eagles trading pick three to Carlton as part of a deal to acquire Liam Baker from Richmond, was close to absurd.
I must stress – this was not the reaction of all West Coast fans, but there was a significant portion of them that went down the “pick three… are they crazy?” line pretty bloody quickly.
There was always a lot more to play out… not that people seemed to care. In their eyes, the Eagles had given up a huge building block in order to get their hands on a pretty handy half-back flanker with a healthy dose of mongrel in him. A good get, but hardly worth the price tag, according to them.
In a way, it is understandable – a high draft pick is a very valuable commodity, but only if you use it correctly.
And that is what West Coast actually did.
What many failed to see, or refused to see, was the bigger picture. By that, I mean the upcoming draft, and the trades yet to play out in the remainder of the trade period. Had they taken a breath, their opinion may have changed quite abruptly.
Maybe it has since.
You see, the highest-rated West-Australian talent in the national draft crop is Bo Allan, and projections see him being picked up somewhere around 12-14 in the Draft. The Eagles picked up Pick 12 from Carlton as a result of parting with pick three, and that was right around the mark to grab Allan.
“Not good enough,” cried the critics.
You see, Fremantle had picks 10, 11, and 18, and in their mind, the Dockers would swoop in and snatch Allan away before West Coast had the opportunity to snag him. Surely, they were not going to give up picks 10 AND 11, right? It’d be 10 and 18, or 11 and 18, meaning they could still swoop on the WA-product, and bring West Coast undone.
There’s a funny thing about all these deals that get done – as much is completed with a handshake and a promise as is completed with pen and paper, and in dealing with Richmond to acquire Baker, I am of the belief that certain assurances would be made.
Number one – the Tigers would stay firm in demanding 10 and 11 from Freo.
And when all was said and done, they would not be taking Bo Allan with picks 10 or 11.
You know what that means, right?
It means that once the deal for Bolton was cemented, Freo dropped down the order to have their first pick land at 14, and Richmond had agreed not to pinch Bo Allan out from under West Coast’s nose with their two picks before that of the Eagles.
Handshake deals – they still exist.
Meanwhile, all the yelling and ranting about giving up Pick Three seemed to subside a little, as that cohort of supporters slowly came to the realisation that their club, rather than just picking the best available kid, who may very well prove to be a flight risk, were now able to get the homegrown player they were after, and secure the services of Liam Baker without selling the farm to do so.
The supporters thought they were watching a game of checkers. Someone had to tap them on the shoulder and tell them West Coast was playing chess. It wasn’t Garry Kasparov-esque, but all it took was some deep thinking. Perhaps some deep blue and gold thinking?
There remain some who are adamant the move to offload pick three is a mistake – rebuilding is a slow process, after all. They’re preaching patience and a slow, steady build with young kids. They have also stated that flight risks don’t phase their team, who have a good record of holding onto interstate players. This may well be true, but it only remains true until one does fly the coop – why tempt fate? Why add that to a plate that has been pretty full over the past couple of years with everything except that which genuinely gives supporters belief – wins!
It’s true that picks in the top three don’t grow on trees – there are clubs out there that would give a hell of a lot to get their hands on a coveted piece of currency like pick three in this draft, but with intelligent trading, foresight, and the ability to make deals that impact not only just the one they’re committing to, West Coast may well emerge as the winners of this trade period.
And yet, people will still complain.
Now, all that remains is for the draft to play out the way I’ve described and not leave me looking like a complete knob.
As always, massive thanks to those who support this work. It is a labour of love for me, and having you guys as members of the site basically keeps me going. So sincerely… thank you – HB
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