Post Game Passion: AFL 2019 Rd 15: Carlton vs. Freo

[LP]

Its not an either scenario.

The better draft pick we get off Adelaide, the better the deal becomes for us.

I'm not worried about Liam.  His ability makes the trade a worthwhile exercise.  The problem starts when you give away a top 5 draft pick, and then that draft yields a top player. It will result in comparisons being drawn between Stocker and that player for the rest of their careers.

Richmond did the same with Tambling.  They said they had enough talls, so they skipped Lance Franklin, and took Tambling.  The pressure was on him to become a superstar of the game afterwards, and he never really lived up to it.

Either way, I am comfortable with the trade.  I just will be more comfortable as the draft pick becomes closer to pick 5 instead of pick 1.  Likewise, if we get a top 10 pick back instead of a top 15, that is also a better outcome.

There is no problem it's flawed thinking. History proves drafting is a coin toss, the minute Stocker played and looked OK we'd already won a 50/50.

Fans talk about low draft picks like they are certainty, when in reality so few picks succeed it's ludicrous not to swap them for a guaranteed player. We swapped a future pick for a player and won, that already puts us well ahead of the curve, no matter what happens in the future!

Retrospectively claiming some later pick was better is not relevant, it's like backing a champion racehorse the day it eventually loses after you've already had a collect on the same horse, or eventually backing a winner after you've lost on the same horse a bunch of times. Nothing that occurs in the future diminishes or enhances your previous wins or loses!