Koby Stevens became a Bulldog today, but the news barely registered a blip on the radar as Adelaide dropped a Tippett bombshell.
In a day marred with controversy, there was still some action to be had on the trade tables as we countdown with two days remaining in the 2012 trade period.
The AFL has launched an official investigation into Adelaide’s last contract with on-the-move forward Kurt Tippett after the Crows board revealed they had come forward last Friday and confessed to a possible issue of draft tampering and outside compensation in Tippett’s 2010-2012 contract.
Crows chairman Rob Chapman said today “it was the right thing to do – we’ll take whatever comes out of it” as the Tippett saga seems set to drag on for at least another day before something eventuates.
The revelation explains why a move that seemed close to completion with Tippett’s preferred destination – the Sydney Swans, who reportedly offered pick 23 (their first round draft pick) and forward Jesse White fell through at the final hour last Friday.
Much now hangs on the results of the AFL’s investigation, with Tippett’s future and a trade with the Swans now teetering on the edge.
In more concrete news, a deal was finally done with West Coast midfielder Koby Stevens, returning home to Victoria to his preferred new home at the Western Bulldogs for their pick 44. The deal comes at just the right time as the Bulldogs prepare to depart for London for an exhibition match with Port Adelaide.
The Eagles however were still steadfast in their desire to retain contracted defender Mitch Brown, again refusing any trade that involved young Saint Jamie Cripps.
On the North Melbourne front, there was barely any news despite the seemingly large number of movements rumoured to be in the works. They did not acquire Port Adelaide defender Ben Jacobs after the Power baulked at the offer of a second round pick.
Matt Campbell, Cruize Garlett and especially Cam Pedersen remain in limbo – the first two without any news and the latter without enough able to be offered from his preferred new destination, Melbourne, to get the deal done. Pick 49 is on the table and the ball is in the Kangaroos’ court as to whether that will be enough as we close in on the 2pm Friday deadline.
One of Melbourne’s big men, Stefan Martin, also has his future up in the air after no information came out after his meeting with the Brisbane Lions on Tuesday.
Finally, Hawthorn defender Stephen Gilham seems very likely to move either to Greater Western Sydney, to add experience and depth to their young line-up (especially after losing young key-position prospect Jack Hombsch to the Power yesterday) or to St Kilda if they indeed cannot secure Brown from West Coast, but no offers are believed to have been tabled.
Join BigFooty News tomorrow for the latest on the Tippett drama and for all confirmed trade news. With such a quiet week so far and so many deals still on the table, we await the countdown to the final feeding frenzy.
Completed Trades:
Western Bulldogs traded second round draft pick (#44) to West Coast for Koby Stevens
